“What did you tell her about that?”
“I said that she would only work with a select few most of the time. Many would come to her, rather than her to them. She’d have to learn to say no and weed out the noise. Confidentiality is massive for this role.”
“And her response?”
“She keeps to herself,” Blair said. “And she likes it that way. I don’t think she’s a fan of conflict but didn’t say it. So that could be something to keep an eye out for if it progresses.”
“All that sounds good. Give me your personal take on her.”
Blair grinned. “I think that she’s a younger version of me. I’m not sure how anyone could handle having Norris as a father and that’s my own opinion. Doesn’t appear as if they are that close, but they both seem to be trying. She gets credit for that. She’s got courage to move here and try to figure it out on the fly. She admitted she is a planner and this is uncharted territory, but she’s adapting as fast as she can.”
“It’s not Vermont,” he said.
“Norris told you where she was from?”
Guess he slipped there. “I’d heard it before. I remembered it after.”
Not really a lie. “Got it,” Blair said. “I think she’s got ambition, but it’s on her terms. She’s out to prove something, if not just to herself, but I think there is a tiny part there to prove something to her father.”
“So you think she’d take the job for that reason? If she were hired.”
“No, I think she is liable not to take it for that reason,” Blair said, laughing. “And it scored points for me. So I’m putting it out there, if you want to interview her, I’m sure she’ll do it, but I don’t know if she’ll take it. It might have to be a sweet deal because when I asked her feelings about working in the same building as her father, she was on the fence.”
“Understandable,” he said. “Few could do that.”
“I couldn’t,” Blair said. “Do you or don’t you want me to set up a second interview?”
“I’d like that,” he said. If for no other reason than to have a conversation with her about how they’d left before. If Blairthought Nora would be a good fit for this job, he wasn’t going to disregard it.
But they’d have to come to terms on how they’d met prior.
Why she knew him and didn’t say it.
And how they’d navigate the future.
He’d love more than what they’d had. Not just the sex. It was more than that for him.
But he wouldn’t nor couldn’t push and that would be on him to stick to those guidelines.
If his father knew, Mitchell would be the first person in his face saying not to set himself up for any fallout..
Not a whisper of gossip or a threat of a lawsuit.
He knew those things, yet he still said, “Set it up. You know my schedule. The sooner the better.”
5
ASSUMING THE WORST
“Tell me how the interview went with Blair,” her father said the minute they were seated in a booth of a restaurant a few buildings down from Bond Enterprises.
“It went well,” she said.
“Good thing you were dressed appropriately. Though you should have had a suit jacket on with those pants. That’s probably why you haven’t gotten other calls back.”
She kept the roll from her eyes. If she weren’t interviewing close by she wouldn’t have stopped.
Her father was old school and still thought everyone should wear a suit and tie to work. He was the only one that was.
