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He was dressed down more than she had ever seen him. He wore blue jeans that showed off his very muscular legs, and a fitted t-shirt with some logo on the front. But she really wasn’t looking at the logo as much as his chest and biceps.
Jordan managed to stop staring before he noticed, and shrugged. “I was on break and my curiosity got the better of me.”
“This is Jared,” Noah said. “He’s a friend of mine. He’s been helping me get set up.” Noah tipped his head towards the rear of the space. “Why don’t you come back to the office, I’ll grab us some waters?”
“I’m not here about the job offer, and I think you know that,” she defended.
“I know, but I can dream, right?” He smirked. “Just give me five minutes of your time.”
She took a deep breath and looked around the room. This place was going to be gorgeous and hip.
“Five minutes. Then I have to get back to work.”
Noah led her carefully around the paint cans and ladders to the office in the back.
He offered her a bottle. “Water?”
“No thank you. I have coffee.” She held up her cup. “It is a really nice place.”
“Thanks. It’ll look much better once the remodel is done.” He opened his bottle of water and took a sip.
“When are you opening?” She had no idea why she was bothering to ask. She certainly wouldn’t be dropping in to eat, much less working here.
“Just a few weeks.” He looked at her with a serious expression. “If you’d consider my offer, whatever you’re making now, I’ll pay more. You’d be the general manager, and my right-hand lady. I see what you do for Talia, and I need that kind of responsible person here. Obviously, I can’t be here as much as Talia is at The Sin Bin. But with it being attached to the arena and right across from my apartment, I can stop in often. Jared is responsible for hiring, right now. But you—or whoever takes the job—would be in charge of hiring once it opens. Jared will head back to Las Vegas as soon we’re up and running.”
“Las Vegas?”
“Yeah. He runs a chain of burger joints on the west coast.” He set his bottle of water on the desk and gazed at her with a gleam in his eyes. “So what do you think of the place? Think you might be happy working here?”
“Noah.” She stopped him. “You do remember that I am not taking the job, right? I just stopped by to look at the place.”
“Oh, I know.” Noah sat back in his chair and smiled. “I just want you to have all the information in order to make an informed decision.”
That cocky smile did things to her. And that was a good enough reason for her not to take the job. She shrugged. “I guess Jared better get looking for your new general manager.”
“Can I ask why you’re not interested?” He leaned forward. “This is legit the next step in your career. Or at least it should be. Unless you are satisfied being a manager forever?”
She didn’t care for his condescending tone. But he wasn’t wrong; this would be the next step. But there was no way she was going to agree with him on this. “My goal is to someday own and run my own restaurant.”
“You didn’t answer my question. You’d have control over the day to day here. You’d have a manager to be the Jordan to your Talia.” He eyed her patiently. “But you’re still not interested? Are you?”
She shook her head and shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Okay. I’m going to have Jared keep looking, but if you change your mind, the position is yours.” His strong shoulders and grin showed nothing but confidence, but his words had a sense of defeat to them that made her feel a little regret.
“Well, I need to get back to work.” Jordan started for the door, but again her curiosity got the better of her. She paused and turned to him. “Why me?”
“Why you?” He grinned and pushed his hair out of his face. Then he coolly leaned back in his chair. “Because you’re everything I’m looking for in a general manager. I’ve seen you work. I don’t need a resume to tell me your qualifications; I’ve seen them live and in person. So the real question is, why not you?”
The way he ran his hand through his hair caused butterflies to dance in her belly. The sheer fact that he made her giddy and annoyed all at the same time should be a warning sign. Even if the offer was tempting—and she wasn’t going to admit that it was—working for him would be a big mistake.
“At least think about it?” Noah asked. He grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled on it, then handed it to her. “If you change your mind, call me.”
She took the paper and hurried out of the restaurant.
Once she was safely on the sidewalk, far away from Noah’s seductive grin and intense stare, she could breathe again. She hurried across the street, and tossed her empty coffee cup into the nearest garbage can. Pausing before entering her building, City Towers, she looked back at the sign for Slap Shot.
Part of her wanted to jump at the opportunity Noah presented to her. As general manager, and with Noah not being able to spend much time at the restaurant, she’d be responsible for running it. On the other hand, she practically ran The Sin Bin now. However, there was a big difference between practically running and actually running a place.
