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Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.
The elevator doors opened, and I could have sworn a choir of angels sang when my eyes landed on the glass entryway at the end of the hall. Aqua-blue letters painted on the impossibly clear glass spelled Blue Pacific Travel Agency. Curved palm tree silhouettes flanked either end of the words and stylized ocean waves were situated beneath, finishing off the oval-shaped logo.
My new job was calling my name.
I had it in my sights, or I would have, if Kai hadn’t stepped in front of me. I walked down the carpeted hall as fast as my stilettoed feet could take me, but my short, choppy strides were no match for his long-legged gait.
So that was the way it was going to be, was it? A footrace in the hall? The competition was on. He was no longer the adorable guy I’d happened to meet during a fated morning commute.
No.
He was the one person standing in the way of my chance to get out from under the soul-sucking, control-freakish manipulation of my stepmom. Taking a job at her travel agency had been the second-worst decision I’d ever made.
Borrowing money against the fat checks she paid me had been my worst.
My clueless dad thought she paid me well out of the goodness of her heart, but I knew better. She told me on the daily that I wouldn’t be anything without her. The only reason for her kindness was to get me hooked on the money, so I’d stick around and take her garbage.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit, but her plan had worked.
Now I was stuck—I couldn’t afford to take an entry-level position anywhere else. I needed this management job and the money that came with it just to keep my bills paid.
There was no plan B. I had to get this job so I could turn in my notice and get her manicured claws off my back once and for all. I couldn’t let a pretty face distract me a moment longer, no matter how good he smelled.
This was war.
I narrowed my eyes, not feeling all that guilty anymore about the skid mark on the seat of his pants when he beat me to the door.
There would be no more eye gazing. No more cheek blushing. No more…
He opened the door and held it for me.
“After you.” He flashed that dimple again.
What kind of trickery was this? “Thanks,” I said, playing along while trying to figure out just what kind of a game I’d stepped into.
I marched up to the reception desk acting like I owned the place. Possession was nine-tenths of the law, as they said. The receptionist sat up tall and smiled from ear to ear. It was good to be noticed—great, actually. I was going to be a somebody here, I could feel it.
“Morning, Kai,” she said, looking right through me.
Excuse me?
“Rachel,” he said.
Dang that sexy voice.
I couldn’t blame Rachel for ignoring me when Kai was in the room. I didn’t really want to look at anyone else either. But that didn’t mean I had to enjoy being the invisible woman.
“Beth and I are here for our interviews.”
“I’ll let Mr. Peters know you’re here.”
Hopefully she meant “you’re” in the plural sense. But with the way she only had eyes for Kai, I wasn’t so sure. I had to do something to stake my claim—or at the very least, make my existence known.
I cleared my throat while a flurry of imaginary pink hearts hovered in the air between Kai and the very unprofessional woman sitting behind the desk. “Do you have any water?” Yep, that was the best I could come up with on the fly.
The woman couldn’t have looked more inconvenienced if I’d just spilled a bucket of cold water over her head. She heaved a sigh and moved to get up.
“Stay put, Rachel,” Kai said. “I’ve got this.”
