Read Reluctantly Charmed for Free Online Page A

eyes shifting narrowly from side to side.
    “There’s a porn account?” I asked. F & P is a huge company, and if I was honest, I didn’t know what half the accounts were. They were split between departments and disciplines, so I shouldn’t really have been surprised that there was an account I didn’t knowabout. But porn . . . I sat myself down on a vacant seat and pulled in beside Marjorie.
    “New to the agency, Internet-based.” She nodded knowingly.
    Marjorie didn’t normally lead creative accounts. Normally, she assisted.
    “Are you taking the lead on this?”
    “I’m ready for it, Kate. Anyway, it’s not something that you and Matthew would be interested in.”
    “Porn?” I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t imagine.”
    “I’m a good fit for it. I told Colin you wouldn’t be interested.”
    “Okay,” I said, immediately thinking that was weird. I wouldn’t be interested in a porn account, but I didn’t need Marjorie to vet my work. Still, Colin was so busy these days, he would have been happy that she volunteered. And yet it seemed strange.
    “The client,” she lowered her voice even further, “Hugh Delaney, is a most hateful man.”
    “Well, you’re never going to expect a porno guy to be nice, are you? I’d imagine they’re lowlifes, scummy types? Is he all string vests and medallions?”
    “He is . . .” She paused, blushing slightly. “Absolutely hideous. Repulsive, even.”
    “Really?”
    “Seriously awful. Stinks of aftershave, looks like he has a hairy back, bad teeth. A horrible, horrible man.”
    “He didn’t ask you to star in one of his movies, then?” I laughed.
    She ignored me. “He has terrible manners. He’s so gruff and rude, and he doesn’t seem to appreciate the way the agency works. He called our planning report a load of bollocks.”
    I bit my lip to stop a smile creeping in. Planning reports often were a load of bollocks, but it was a case of the emperor’s new clothes—not to be mentioned aloud for fear of discovery.
    “He comes to meetings with this big, hairy, flea-riddled, filthy dog, and he’s filthy, his jeans are dirty, he wears these muck-laden boots. He calls everything ‘shite’ or ‘bollocks.’ He really is difficult.”
    “He sounds pretty horrible, dirty and dirty. Porn, eugh . . .” My face crumpled in disgust. I was still wondering how F & P had let a porn account slip into the building. They’d pitched for the Church of Ireland last year. It was an unusual fit.
    Later I quizzed Matthew about it. He wasn’t much help, other than telling me with a wink that the client was supposed to be a wanker but he didn’t know much else.
    I had bigger fish to fry than porn, anyway. Two days later, Matthew got a phone call, one that made him drop his briefcase and race to his computer. He tapped on his keyboard with a look of intense concentration.
    “You’re not going to believe this!” he shouted from his desk to mine.
    “You cracked the Starshoot campaign?”
    “Seriously, you’re not going to believe this.”
    I’d never seen Matthew so animated. I rolled my chair over to his desk, forcing him to budge up his armrest.
    “Seriously.”
    “The drama! What?”
    He gestured toward his computer screen. Spacemonkeys.com was up in all its neon glory. It was the Kate McDaid page. There were comments posted on a message board underneath the letter.
Grrrril_n_boil: wow this is v interesting. Who is Kate mcdaid?
johnnyBgd: Whats with custodians of mother earth???? Who are???? The fairies?
Herman: I whistled at a flower, it whistled back.
Anna_89: whats this got to do with Red Horizon? Where’s Jim? Jim I love you
Richie_84: The fairies used to take people for 7 years and send them back to their village with powers.
Grrrril_n_boil: Good people = FAIRIES. Any ideas?
johnnyBgd: I thought fairies were evil. Are they still around now?
Anna_89: jim is not a fairy
Marie2x: looking fwd to the next one kate—what else do u know?
    I felt a pain