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The floor was made out of glass.
“Holy crap.”
“Yeah, it takes some getting used to,” Jack said with a grin. “Good luck.”
I glanced over my shoulder. His lowered voice incited a flood of anxiety in my belly. Was it going to be that bad? He was just a man. I’d been around powerful men all my life. Okay, they were usually wearing wrinkled linen shorts on a golf course or boat, but I still knew how to handle myself.
I straightened my shoulders and stepped onto the glass floor. It made me feel weightless and even a little dizzy as the panoramic Boston Harbor opened under and around me. What kind of man needed to be this on display?
Silly, Grace. He’s not on display—he likes to watch.
He’s hidden away like a coward.
Speaking of coward…where the heck was he? I turned around. The entire room was glass. I could see the whole office from this vantage point.
Yeah, he definitely liked to watch.
Was he watching from some secret room right now?
Trying to figure me out?
I lifted my chin. Well, let him watch. I didn’t have anything to hide. Okay, except that I lied to get in here, but that was just semantics. All I needed was five minutes with him, and then I could figure out how to handle the situation.
Surely, he’d be reasonable.
What if he wasn’t?
Shut up, Negative Nancy. I shook my head. I couldn’t think that way. Not and keep my world together. Because I couldn’t lose that house. I was willing to do anything to keep it. Even stand here and beg a stranger.
The little voice that kept trying to pipe up finally shut up when a door opened out of the seamless glass. My jaw dropped. Had we been transported to a spaceship between the time Mr. Hollister had shown me in and now?
My teeth snapped together. A very tall man walked in, and I knew he wasn’t expecting me. He had the stem of a pair of glasses between his teeth and was buttoning the cuff of a crisp white dress shirt.
Was that ink swirling up his arm?
He cleared his throat and the flash of deep sepia tones were gone. My gaze shot to his face, and I had to swallow. He was deeply tanned and sharp-featured. Young. Surprisingly young.
He took the stem out of his mouth. “I was unaware I had another appointment.”
His deep voice was commanding and clipped. I managed to get my tongue and lips to work. “Last minute addition.”
His dark brow rose as he slid the glasses on his face. They instantly changed his features into something more serious and somehow older. His hazel eyes were startling behind the lenses. There was no polite interest there. Actually, there was nothing there.
Not displeasure.
Not humor.
Not even a drop of friendliness.
How the hell was I going to approach this?
“Let’s hope you’re more competent than the last eleven applicants I’ve seen this afternoon.”
My breath stalled. That wasn’t good.
He moved to the large glass and chrome desk by the window. He flipped through papers in a file. “Which agency are you from?”
“No agency.”
