"Oh." She looked between the guys. "Really?"
"We told you our deal with Tyree. We're looking at a big project on a short fuse. We need someone who can help us get the word out. Who can increase the customer base and, well, do whatever it is you do to drum up business."
"Oh," she said again. "I can do that. But if I get this job..."
"We'll take whatever time you can give us," Brent added, leaning forward, but his urging was unnecessary. Of course she was in. This was for Tyree. And now that the guys had invested, it was for them, too. No way would she let them down. No way did she want to.
She leaned back, thinking. "My friend Maia works in marketing. An Austin friend, not LA. I'll do some brainstorming with her. And we need to see about doing a little work on the stage if we're going to bring in more acts. If we shift the angle, we can increase the size of the stage and the floor space for dancing. Double-win."
Reece flashed a wide grin--the kind that went straight to her gut and made her look away quickly. "So you're in?"
"You know I am," she said, meeting Brent's fist-bump as Reece waved to an incoming customer, then slid down the bar to take an order.
"We knew you'd come through," Brent said. "Tell Reece I'll talk to him later. I've got to go run a systems check on the security cams. Congrats again," he said. "And good luck tonight."
"Thanks," she said, reaching up to accept his hug. Then she watched as he headed to the back of the bar. Once he'd disappeared into the hall, she turned her attention to Amanda again, then drew in a deep breath to calm herself. "I went from nothing to do, to way too busy."
"You can handle it," Reece said, returning to put the new order in the computer. She gave him the message from Brent as he tapped the screen, and he nodded acknowledgment. "Listen," he said, once the order was processing. "I'm sure you'll get the job--who wouldn't want you? But are they going to mind if you're moonlighting?"
"I'm sure I can make it work with them. They really seem to be interested in me. The interview was like something out of the Manual for Awesome Interviews."
"So what's the point of tonight?" Reece asked, his arms crossed as he studied her.
"Don't do that," Jen ordered. "Don't get all cynical on me."
He raised his hands. "Just asking a question."
She made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. This was so Reece. "It makes perfect sense. They want to see how I perform under pressure. And I thrive in the hot seat, so I'm golden."
"What's the event?" Amanda asked, though Jenna couldn't tell if she was legitimately curious or trying to help shift the conversation.
"The company's been doing a campaign for a bridal company that centers around the selection of women for a wedding and bridesmaid calendar. The girls sent in their pictures, and tonight the winners are being announced. So they want all hands on deck. Like I said, it's the perfect time to see if I'm a pressure player."
"A wedding calendar?" Reece's brows rose.
"Just because you think marriage is a hideous trap that destroys love--"
"I'm pretty sure I said it was a ridiculous institution that sucks the lifeblood out of relationships and is doomed to failure. But the idea's the same."
Jenna rolled her eyes. She knew his views on marriage. She even understood them, to a degree. With a mother who'd walked out when Reece was fifteen, a father who'd remarried and divorced three more times and a best friend whose wife had packed her bags and skipped out on Brent and their newborn, it was no wonder Reece thought the institution of marriage was a crock. The last time one of their friends had gotten married, Reece had given them eight months.
They'd been divorced in six, and he'd practically oozed self-righteousness. "The only good marriages I've seen were Vincent's and Tyree's," he told her once. "And those ended in death."
Definitely a cynic. She, however, didn't share the sentiment. It was the lack of a marriage that had forced Jenna's own mom, Arlene, to struggle as a single mom, foolishly believing that Jenna's dad would see reason and return on a white horse, especially since he'd always told Arlene that he loved her and their daughter. He hadn't come back, of course, and Jenna had grown up with no sign of a father, except for four Christmas cards during her first five years, and with an over-worked mother.
But Arlene had finally married five years ago and was now blissfully happy in Florida with Jenna's stepfather. Which, as far as Jenna was concerned, disproved Reece's gloom-and-doom view of marriage.
"I think the idea of a bridal calendar is lovely," she said. "And from a marketing standpoint, it's very smart. Those girls will share with their friends, and then the calendars with the company logo will end up plastered on bedroom walls all over the city. Of course, if it were me, I would have done a contest. Had some sort of fashion show for sponsorship and then--"
She sat up straight, almost unable to believe she could be so incredibly brilliant.
"What?" Reece tilted his head, eyeing her. "You okay?"
"Jen?" Amanda leaned forward. "What is it?"
Jenna leaned back slowly, smiling so broadly her cheeks hurt. "Well, there you go," she said, eyeing Reece. "I've done it. I've just totally earned my way into this partnership."
Chapter Nine