Page 5 of Come A Little Closer

The girl was gorgeous, short and curvy with bouncy dark curls and a knowing tilt to her chin. Something about her threw me off kilter, which was refreshing, but she had also acted like she knew more about my own house than I did and she’d essentially thumbed her nose at me when I’d told her to get out.

All of which did not bode well for someone Jake wanted me to employ. I glanced at him before shaking my head and turning back to my laptop. “Absolutely not.”

To my surprise, she tittered with laughter. Scoffing, she moved back toward the door. “That’s okay. I don’t want to work for you anyway.”

The comment set me off a little bit. My competitive nature surged up from deep within and I snapped my gaze back to hers. “Why is that?”

“No offense, but you’re a little bossy for my taste.”

“I would be your boss.” I frowned. “I’m pretty sure that’s where the term originated from.”

She shrugged, those blue-gold eyes dancing with amusement and, once again, smugness. It was infuriating. “Actually, it originated from the Dutch word ‘baas,’ which means master. Or boss, I suppose.”

“Six on one hand, half a dozen on the other.” I stared at her for a moment, weighing up the options in my head.

She was the kind of person who would push every button I had if I wasn’t careful, but at the same time, something about her had been nagging at me since our first run-in. It was that same thing that threw me off, and while she was a know-it-all I didn’t care to employ, I motioned for her to take a seat anyway.

There was no way I was letting her out of my office thinking that she was the one turning me down. “Sit. Let’s talk.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. “I thought you’d already decided against it.”

“I have,” I responded honestly, nodding at Jake to leave us. “Trust me. The second to last thing I want is to appoint an insufferable project manager who thinks she knows everything and appears to have some kind of problem with me.”

She folded her arms loosely across her chest and cocked an eyebrow at me. “What’s the last thing?”

“I was getting to that.” I sighed. “The last thing I want is to go into the Halloween season with no project manager at all. So once again, sit. Let’s talk.”

She regarded me for another long moment before she finally slung her handbag off her shoulder and pulled out one of the visitors’ chairs, taking a seat right on the edge. “You could’ve said please. I’m not a dog. You shouldn’t just tell people to sit.”

“It was an offer to sit, not a command.” I shrugged her off, folding my hands on my desk and staring at her intently from across it. “Do you scare easily?”

Her dark eyebrows jumped up, and when she realized it was a genuine question, she laughed at me. The sound was melodic and beautiful, and it did something to my insides even though it was also just a little bit unhinged.

“No, I don’t scare easily. Why would I be here, talking about managing a festival that’s all about being scary, set to be happening at one of the most notoriously haunted properties in the whole city if I was going to be too scared to attend?”

“You’d be surprised what I’ve heard during this process,” I said lightly. “Very well. Would you like to hear about the job?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Depends. Are you seriously considering giving it to me?”

I nodded. “Yes. I told you I need someone. I don’t have the luxury of being picky.”

“Gee, thanks.” She rolled her eyes at me.

“Are you seriously considering taking the job?” I asked.

She sighed and nodded. “Tell me more.”

“For the next few weeks, your main priority would be to prepare for the haunted house that takes place at the Carmichael Plantation at Halloween, but this is a long-term gig with a lot of opportunities and projects year-round, if everything goes well at the festival. I can’t imagine that it will, but technically, the opportunities are there.”

“Alright,” she said easily. “So what you’re saying is that if I impress you with the Hallow’s Eve events, I’ve got a permanent place on your staff?”

I nodded. “In the highly unlikely event you don’t completely screw this up, sure, we can discuss it. Do you have any questions for me?”

She shrugged. “Does Uber go out to the Carmichael Plantation at night?”

“I’m not sure.” I frowned. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have a car right now and I live all the way on the other side of the city in the Lower Ward, so it’s too far to walk home after work.”