Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance) Read Free Page A

it out over their computers and
calculators. They’d had plenty of failures and had made endless
mistakes over the years, but there’d been enough success—along with
part-time engineering jobs to keep the bills paid—to continue
moving forward with their plan.
    This morning, when the three of them had put
on suits and ties to come to this meeting with Allen Walter, they’d
assumed he had great news to share with them about how things were
shaping up for their big holiday product launch. Walter Industries
had been one of the early investors in Hewlett Packard and, as far
as Jack was concerned, they were the only partner he would have
trusted with his baby. It had been a thrill when Allen’s company
had signed on earlier in the year to manufacture and distribute the
Pocket Planner to retailers this Christmas.
    Jack had worked too long and hard to let
Allen and Walter Industries pull the plug. Even if several other
new products had underperformed this year, he knew his wouldn’t.
Fortunately, he’d done extensive research and he knew exactly what
had underperformed and why.
    “The Factomatic doesn’t appeal to a broad
enough market," Jack said. "And the Playerphone is too similar to
the Stylophone. But our Pocket Planner isn’t just a gadget for men
to get their tech fix with. Women will love using it, too, because
it will make their busy lives easier. Even kids can use it to keep
track of homework and after-school games.” Jack remembered how busy
his mother had been raising four boys while putting in part-time
hours at the school district office. She would have loved having
his invention at her disposal to keep track of household purchases
and school schedules. His father would have used it to track his
favorite sports teams and investments.
    “I don’t doubt that you’re right, Jack,”
Allen agreed. “The problem isn’t whether or not people would enjoy
using your invention. I’m sure they would. The issue is getting the
retailers to stock it in the first place. Between rising inflation
and slowing economic growth, we’re finding it more and more
difficult to get stores to give a new product a chance. They truly
have to believe that people will want to part with their
hard-earned dollars to buy it.”
    Jack could see his partners, Larry and Howie
deflating more and more with every word out of the chairman’s
mouth. But it would take a heck of a lot more than a couple of
lukewarm sentences to make a Sullivan give up.
    “We appreciate your concerns, Allen, and
would like to come back in twenty-four hours with a marketing and
publicity plan that will convince you that our invention can be
extremely profitable for your retailers.”
    Howie shot Jack a look that he could read
without needing to hear him speak aloud: Why are
you volunteering to come up with a marketing plan? We’re engineers,
not PR people.
    Larry’s expression was even easier to read: It’s over.
    Allen shook his head. “I admire the work
you’ve put into this, Jack, but times have changed—too fast, if you
ask me. People aren’t interested in wholesome or helpful anymore.”
He picked up the Pocket Planner again. “Tell you what—if you can
figure out a way to give this device sex appeal, we may be able to
continue the conversation.”
    Jack could have easily proved its usefulness.
And he could have definitely detailed its time-saving benefits.
    But sex appeal?
    Even Jack knew when he was staring straight
into a dead end.
    Still, he’d bought them twenty-four hours.
Now it was time to use those hours to make absolutely sure he and
his two partners came up with something big enough, reassuring
enough, and “sexy” enough, that the retailers couldn’t say no.
    Careful not to let his doubts show, Jack
stood up to shake hands with Allen and the other board members.
Then the clock began to tick.
    In silence Jack and his two partners took the
elevator down from the twentieth floor to the lobby. None of them
said a word until they’d