Page 27 of Fake it For Good
“What is it?” Cane asked.
“John Sweets is here,” Denton said.
I had no idea who that was or why it meant something. Cane straightened up a little taller and unrolled the sleeves he had rolled up earlier in our tour. “Why?” he asked. “Did we have a meeting?”
Denton shook his head. “No. Remember the cocktail party a few months ago?”
“Vaguely,” Cane replied.
“You invited him to stop by the next time he was in town,” Denton said. “He’s in town.”
“Shit,” Cane muttered.
“I’ll show myself out,” I told him. “You have business to deal with.”
“No,” he said. “Wait. This actually might work out well.”
Denton and I both looked at Cane. “What do you mean?” Denton asked.
“John is the buyer for Target,” Cane explained. “We’ve been tossing around the idea of them selling our toys in their stores. He’ll be at the Macy’s Day thing. This is a good way to get the rumor mill circulating.”
Then they both looked at me. “What?” I asked and quickly ran my tongue over my teeth. The way they were looking at me made me think I had something in my teeth.
“Can you put that ring on?” Cane asked. “I’ll add this to the contract.”
“Add what?” I frowned.
“I’m going to introduce you as my fiancée,” he announced.
My eyes widened. I looked down at my outfit. I didn’t look like a total bum, but I also didn’t think I looked like a millionaire’s fiancée. Or billionaire. I had no idea how wealthy he was. “Right now?” I croaked out the words. “But I’m not ready. I look so, I don’t know, normal.”
Cane smiled. “You look perfect. He’s the one that caught us at the factory. This only works in our favor. You’re here when he stopped by without warning. It makes it seem more natural.”
“Good thinking,” Denton said, grinning. “I knew you would see the light.”
“Really?” I asked. “Right now? I don’t know if we’re ready for that quite yet.”
“Sure, we are,” Cane said. “We don’t have to give the guy our life story. I’ll get Denton to schedule a formal meeting with him. This visit is meant to be a surprise because he wants to try and catch me off guard.”
“Why?” I asked.
“We’ve been trying to secure this deal for a year,” Denton explained. “They don’t like our profit margin. It doesn’t leave them a lot of room.”
“But they want our name,” Cane said. “Their customers want to see a brand like ours in their favorite store. It’s a dance. A little give and take. This is just the start.”
I looked down at my hand feeling comfortable with the ring on my finger. “Let’s do this.”
Cane and I followed Denton up the metal stairs to the office area. A man in an expensive suit was staring at the shelf with more toys neatly lined up.
“John,” Cane said.
The man turned around and offered a smile. He was older, late fifties I guessed. He had that smooth car salesman look about him. His suit was expensive, but it wasn’t flattering, not like the suit Cane was wearing. Cane wore the suit, not the other way around.
“Cane,” he said and extended his hand. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time. I was just around the corner. My meeting ended sooner than planned. I thought I would take you up on your offer to see the operation up close and personal.”
“I’m glad you stopped by,” Cane said. “This is my fiancée, Noelle. We were just checking on the recent orders for last-minute production.”
John’s eyes moved to me. “It’s nice to meet you Noelle,” he said. “I’m John. I wasn’t aware you were engaged.”
