McKnight in Shining Armor Read Free Page A

her thumb and forefinger, wondering if they had been wise in deciding to bring Darwin and Millard along. Steve had thought the chimp might be able to help their cause by charming McKnight. Darwin bared his teeth and hissed at Alec.
    Alec sat back and cleared his throat. “I’m sure Steve has explained to you how we’re handling this campaign, Kelsie, Mr. Krispin. Eugene Van Bryant, head of the Van Bryant chain of stores, has asked me to oversee the project personally. I’ve asked all our top people to come up with ideas for the campaign, ideas I will screen. Finally,I will present what I consider to be the best of them to Mr. Van Bryant. The ultimate decision will be his.”
    “Have you had a chance to look at my ideas, Mr. McKnight?” Steve asked.
    “Ah—yes, I have,” Alec said, shuffling through the papers in front of him. “I’ll be honest with you, Steve. They’re not what I had in mind.”
    Kelsie’s heart sank. If Alexander McKnight didn’t like their idea, Kelsie figured she’d be selling lingerie at night until she was eighty.
    “But I’m willing to listen,” Alec added, catching himself staring at Kelsie Connors’s mouth. It looked so soft. He wondered what it would taste like, then shook his head. How could he be thinking about kissing Kelsie Connors when he should be concentrating on business? How he could be thinking anything pleasant about women in general after his visit from Vena was beyond him.
    “That’s all I ask.” Steve grinned, his spirits lifting. He scooted to the edge of his chair, brown eyes glowing. “I see an entire series of ads—print and video—with Darwin as the star. Just Darwin and Van Bryant merchandise, which, I mightpoint out, is very cost effective. Compared to what we would have to pay models or actors, Darwin here works for peanuts, or, I should say, bananas.”
    “That’s a valid point,” Alec conceded, frowning in concentration as he doodled a nasty caricature of Vena on his ink blotter. “However, our main concern has to be the quality and tone of the ads. Van Bryant’s has always appealed to a more sophisticated customer.”
    “True,” Steve said. “But they’re looking to broaden their customer base. Traditionally they’ve been thought of only as an upper-class chain. Now they want to capture those yuppie spending dollars, bring in the middle-class, white-collar baby boomers, and baby boomettes.
    “The way I see it, they need an ad campaign with mass appeal, something that will make Van Bryant’s seem friendly, welcoming, fun.”
    Darwin left his owner’s lap for Kelsie’s, wrapping one long hairy arm around her shoulders. He fingered the cameo she wore at the throat of her khaki cotton blouse. As comfortable with animalsas she was with children, Kelsie smiled at him and gently tickled his tummy.
    “What’s more fun than a monkey?” Steve asked, smiling his most engaging smile.
    Millard sat up, ready for a fight. “Darwin is not a monkey.”
    “Figure of speech,” Steve said between clenched teeth.
    Darwin became interested in the items on Alec’s desk. He scooted forward on Kelsie’s lap, his fingers reaching out to caress an appointment book, a rough pottery cup filled with pens, a heavy glass paper weight. Each piece he moved, Alec reached out and moved back.
    “Animals are very hot right now,” Steve continued. “Darwin could be to Van Bryant’s what Spuds MacKenzie is to Budweiser. And I think the slogan is very catchy and adaptable to all of Van Bryant’s merchandise.” He held his hands up as if he were picturing the slogan on a billboard. “‘When it comes to fashion, don’t monkey around. Van Bryant’s.’”
    Millard sucked in a horrified breath, drawingeveryone’s attention. “Darwin is
not
a monkey!” he said emphatically.
    Kelsie rushed to placate him, wishing—not for the first time—that Millard Krispin weren’t so unbalanced. “Millard, like Steve said, it’s just a figure of speech. I’m sure everyone