Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
“Mya!” I hear his voice, so gruff and so sexy, call out behind me. Then his footsteps in the gravel as he comes out into the parking lot.
“Thank you!” I call back without turning. “But I’ve got to go. Have another interview lined up!”
“Wait!” he calls. “Another interview? Where? What? What did I do wrong? I don’t understand.”
“Don’t worry about it! I just don’t think this is a good fit for me!”
His footsteps quicken. He’s catching up with me. At this rate, I’d have to break out into a full-blown run to reach my car before he reaches me, and that would look really suspect.
My whole body tightens as he catches up to me and circles around in front of me. The confused look on his face pains me for a moment, but I try to push it back down. I can’t let him get to me.
“Hey, what happened?” he asks. “I thought that went well back there.”
“Yeah, no, it did,” I say. “I just…I don’t think it’s a great fit, that’s all.”
“Even with you bragging about knowing everything there is to know about plants, flowers, soil, greenhouses…?”
He flashes me that grin again, and I just pray that I don’t start blushing.
“Tell you what,” I say. “I’ll go to this next interview and let you know…”
“Tell you what,” he says, cutting me off. “I’ll bump your pay by twenty percent. How’s that sound?”
That stops me. Of course there is no other interview after this one. I’m just lying to get out of here. And I desperately need the money. I’ve barely been scraping by and missed my last rent payment. If I miss one more, my landlord says he’ll start the eviction process. The pay for this job was already great, and a twenty percent bump would be amazing.
But at the same time, when I look back at those eyes…those eyes that seem to see right into my core as they stare at me, I know that taking this job is going to be trouble.
“I can’t—” I say as I try to step by him.
“Twenty-five,” he offers.
I stop, turn, and look at him. An adulthood of looking out for myself has taught me to stay away from gorgeous sweet-talkers with great smiles like Ethan, but there’s something inside of me right now that’s absolutely screaming at me to not only take this job, but to also hurl myself into his arms and spread my legs wide open for him. And that’s something I’ve never felt before.
“Why do you want me so badly?” I ask, realizing immediately that that question could be interpreted more than one way.
I’m pretty sure Ethan realizes it too from the quick gleam in his eyes, but he maintains his professionalism and responds with, “Well, I need someone now, Mya. And you made a great case for yourself in there. Your application was good, and you seem to know everything this job requires and more. I hate interviews, and if I can hire you now and not go through any more of them, well then, that suits me just fine.”
Great sales pitch. I can see why he’s the owner of his own successful company. And what’s worse is I can feel my resolve slipping. I’m also running out of reasons to deny him.
“Listen, Ethan—”
“I’ll even give you your own workspace,” he says.
“My own office?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an ‘office,’” he chuckles, causing something like butterflies to flutter through my chest. His magnetism is undeniable. “It’s not swanky or somewhere Don Draper would want to spend time, but it’ll give you a place to get away when you need a break or you’re sick of looking at my mug.”
Sick of looking at his mug!?
I almost blurt out his last words in repetition at just how ridiculous they are, but then I see the way he’s looking at me, and a thought enters my mind.
Does he understand why I don’t want the job?
That is a possibility. Maybe Ethan isn’t just incredibly good-looking and successful. Maybe he’s perceptive too. Maybe he sees that I’m attracted to him and that that attraction scares me, and that’s why he’s offering me my own space to get away from him and pretending it’s like I won’t be able to stand being near him.
It’s a bit of a long shot, I guess, but the look in his eyes and knowing smile on his face has me thinking this might be the exact reason behind his offer. I mean, why else would he give an office to me, basically a glorified grunt? It makes no sense.
“Come on, Mya.” He smiles, clasping his hands together like he’s about to pray to me. “Don’t make me beg!”
He moves like he’s about to get down on his knees before me, and I feel my resolve weaken.