“You mean, you’re offering me this job, just like that?” She snaps her fingers and the action does something to my stomach. And the part of my brain controlled by my dick.
Standing, I push back the chair and offer my hand again. “Just like that, Marin. You’ve already proven to me that you have what it takes. The question is whether you can prove it to yourself. I look forward to hearing from you.”
4
Marin
What the devilwas that all about?
I am literally still shaking from whatever it was that I just felt after meeting Nathaniel Leeds. My body and brain are still reeling from the jolt of unexpected lightning that hit me when I shook his hand.
Who knew I could experience snow and a lightning strike all in one day?
And he wants me to go to Costa Rica? Holy shit, I don’t even know what to think about that.
The old me –prior to my resolution– would have declined the job on the spot. The old me would’ve left the adventure to someone more daring and less risk-adverse. But the new me, the one who is part daredevil and risktaker, is jumping up and down inside over the prospect of spending a month in Central America with the hottest man I’ve ever met in real life.
Now I understand the warning Dolly issued before I met her cousin.
Holy shit-on-a-shizzle-stick.
That man could burn a building down with his looks alone.
He’s got that hot professor vibe going on, with his dark-rimmed glasses framing his perfectly angular face and jawline. The jawline that is covered with at least a three-day old beard. I couldn’t stop staring between his eyes and his lips. The green of his eyes is more vibrant than what I envision the rainforest in Costa Rica looks like.
And his lips – they looked generous and demanding. When he wasn’t scowling and offered up that sexy, crooked smile of his, he was both alluring and provocative. As if he held a secret that he wanted to share with only me. He’s tall. So very tall. His hair was in bad need of a trim, edging over the sides of his ears, dark and thick. But it looked so soft and in need of my fingers running through it.
Hooboy.
I really should decline the offer. I may have been able to work for an asshole boss in the past without a problem, but working for a sexy man like Nathaniel Leeds?
That just might be my tipping point.
While that’s what I should do, unfortunately, it’s not practical of me to look this gift horse in the mouth.
Not only did Dolly go out of her way to set this up for me, but I’ve made my resolution to be bold. I am in no position to turn down this job. I need it to survive. Even if it means working for this ridiculously handsome, and might I add, seriously inflexible man, in the jungles of Central America.
There’s no way I’ll be sleeping any time soon tonight, so I get out of bed and open up my laptop and email.
Dear Mr. Leeds,
Iaccept your offer of the role of Research Coordinator and can begin immediately. Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward tosleeping with you. Working with you.
Sincerely,
Marin Cooke
I finish typing out my email and review it for any typos, realizing my error immediately. I laugh at my Freudian slip as I erase it and then hit Send.
And then I pat myself on the back and nod at my courage for taking this step.
Now maybe I can get some sleep and put the past behind me and wake to a future full of adventure.
5
Nathaniel
“Nope,not this….and you definitely don’t need this…and good lord, what the hell is this?”
