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“I need a job.” I clear my throat. “I don’t want to keep living with them. Thomas and Natalie. They took me in, and it’s been two months… I feel like I’m a burden.”
Great. Another confession I didn’t mean to make.
“Come with me.”
He loops his arm around my waist again, his fingers grazing my hip. I find myself mirroring him, my arm going around him. I grip his sweatshirt and lean in, not entirely mad at the intimacy of it.
It should scare me.
But… I don’t know. It doesn’t.
We walk for almost ten minutes, and I gaze up at the arena. The stop that Jacob got on the train at is just across the street, taunting me. He leads me into the building through a side entrance, waving at a security guard that sits just inside the door.
I follow in his footsteps through the metal detector, which doesn’t make a peep even with my purse on my shoulder and my phone in my back pocket.
“You got to the train fast,” I finally say, once we’re in an elevator shooting upward.
“I was just pulling into the arena parking garage. It was good timing.”
I swallow. “Thank you. I didn’t know who—”
“You can always call me.” He glances at me, then focuses back on the door. “Anytime. For anything.”
Who were you to me?It’s on the tip of my tongue—but the words simply don’t come out.
The elevator chimes, and the doors slide open. He leads me into what looks like a corporate office reception area. He talks to the receptionist in a low voice, then motions for me to follow him.
“Good morning, Phil.” Jacob raps on a glass office door, pushing it open without waiting for an answer.
An older man in a suit rises from behind his desk, trying—and failing—to hide his surprise. “Mr. Rhodes. Good morning.”
“This is Melody Cameron,” he introduces. He gestures for me to come in with him. “She’s in need of a job, and I heard through the grapevine that we have an opening. Thought I’d come and make a personal recommendation.”
They have some sort of silent conversation while I stand there and fidget.
Finally, Phil exhales and nods. “Yes, of course. I’ll have Denise set her up downstairs. We just hired on someone else. I suppose she can join their training.”
Jacob beams. “Perfect, thanks.”
And just like that… I have a job.
10
JACOB
Phil, the assistant to the owner of the Colorado Titans, walks Melody down to meet Denise. She’s a human resources person, I think. I don’t know, I try to avoid her whenever possible.
The position I negotiated with Phil—who owed me a favor—is as a social media assistant. Which usually means traveling with the team, especially in playoff season. I head to the gym, smiling to myself.
Job obtained. Independence—or, rather, dependence onme—solidified.
Getting her out of that house is the next step.
I watched on the screen as she freaked out this morning, her attention going to her bedroom door like Thomas was going to burst through it.
She doesn’t suspect me. If she did, she wouldn’t have texted me. She would’ve asked her cousin for help.
I go straight to the treadmill. I need to burn off this extra energy before I attempt to tackle the weights. We’re headed back to New York for game five. We leave early tomorrow morning. I shoot off a text to Phil, making sure to emphasize that Melody needs to go with us.
