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They’re both married. He’s barking up the wrong tree.
“Aidan, hey. You met Mazie already?”
Aidan? As in one of the guys interviewing me?
“I haven’t formally met her. We just rode up on the elevator together.” He raises a brow at me and smiles.
Damn it.
This guy is good.
Chapter 4
Aidan
I can’t believe my good fortune when I see the woman from the street in my building…in my elevator.
I immediately want to know everything about her. But especially why she’s here. At first, my ego wants to believe she hunted me down, that she felt that exchange of heat between us when we saw each other before and had to find me, but with the way she’s shooting venom with her eyes and the hostility she’s throwing my way, I’d say that’s not even in the realm of possibility.
It’s really a shame we got off on the wrong foot and I start to tell her just that on the elevator, after I beg her forgiveness for the dousing, but I’m too stunned, and when the door opens, Mya and Emma greet Mazie like a long-lost friend. Should’ve known that even they’d like her—it’s not that they’re hard to please, more that dating in New York City is like lighting a match to your clothes and hoping they won’t go up in flames.
When Emma tells me Mazie’s name, I try to catch her eye and smile.
“Oh, you’re here for an interview?” I ask, feeling a stir of unease the longer we stand here with her avoiding eye contact.
She smiles at Mya when she nods. “Yes. Fortunately, I didn’t get drenched on my way—” Her voice fades as it must hit her that her dig is directed toward the guy about to interview her. Me. I feel fucking terrible, and yet I’m entranced by the way her cheeks flush as her eyes dart toward mine in a moment of panic. Dare I say, silver lining?
I clear my throat and take a step toward her. “About that, I am so—”
“The gang’s all here,” Jack says, walking up to us. “Aidan, you ready for back-to-back interviews?” He glances at his watch. “Looks like it’s about that time.”
“Yes, we have our friend Mazie here,” Emma says, grinning at Mazie. “We talked her into applying and you may as well clear the rest of your schedule because she’s a keeper.”
Jack grins. “Yes, Mya texted late last night that she had the perfect candidate. Excellent. Well, come right this way, Mazie. Aidan and I just have a few questions to ask you. It speaks volumes if Emma and Mya are vouching for you—you might need to see if we’re up to your standards.” He laughs and so does Mazie.
Right. One look at me and she’s probably ready to get out of here as fast as she can.
Jack motions for Mazie to walk with him and I step in place behind them, my mind fixated on how to make things right with her. I’m not paying attention to where I’m going and when she stops abruptly in front of Jack’s office, I barrel into her.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her. Fucking hell, I can’t seem to do anything right around this girl.
She grips her hot drink from Starbucks precariously, as far from her white blouse as she can get it, and the look she gives me would bring me to my knees if we weren’t at my place of employment. A place where I am normally ready to take on the fucking world.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeat. “For everything,” I add under my breath.
Her eyes shoot to mine in surprise, but she quickly looks away, following Jack inside the office, where Jack and I wait to sit in the chairs across from her until she’s seated on the couch.
She hands Jack her résumé and he reads through it, murmuring his appreciation for her school choice and business degree, before handing it over to me. I glance at it, thoroughly distracted, while Jack tells her he loves the chili at Gino’s Diner.
I look up and watch as she answers Jack’s questions with an animated face and a ready smile. I might get lost in that smile for a while because when Jack looks at me and there’s a long pause, I realize he’s waiting on an answer.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask, a hand going to the back of my neck.
Jack reaches out and clasps my shoulder. “You’re awfully quiet today, Willoughby. I was just giving you the floor. Ask Ms. McCarthy whatever you’d like.”
“Oh, just Mazie is fine,” she says, beaming at Jack.
I lean forward, propping my elbows on my knees, and her eyes still focus on everything but me. “I think Jack’s covered everything important and you sound like a great fit for the firm. I guess I’d just want to be sure that you knew coming into this that the hours are long and hectic. It might make Gino’s and your Pilates classes sound appealing, truth be told.”
