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“You’d think we were part of the monarchy with how much she encourages me to…” I cringed. “Reproduce.”
“The act of reproducing ain’t so bad.”
I shook my head. “Nope. That’s worse. The fact that you just implied my mother wants me to bang a guy is just—” I shuddered. “Alright, I’m off.”
She cackled. “I knew I could make you leave.”
“You’re the worst.” I gave her a warm hug and rubbed her back. “And by that, I mean, you’re the best. Love you.”
“Love you too. Get some rest.Seriously, girl. Don’t make me call your mother.”
Goodness, if I had a dime for every time she said that, I wouldn’t have any of the problems that I’d been having lately. Mom was one of them. I mean, money usually helped get rid of most problems, enough money, anyways, but Mom wasn’t entirely swayed with cash.
She wanted things to be perfect. And by that, she meant that she wanted me to be paired with a guy at her annual luncheon she hosted at the house with the rest of the family. We just had to look good long enough for people to quit asking questions about when my parents were going to get a divorce.
Either way, the situation wasn’t ideal. Mom looked worse every time I saw her. The wrinkles under her eyes were enough to makemefeel nauseous. Goddess, if I had a dime for every time that came up in conversation, I could just outright buy my apartment from Raven and have a solid place to stay.
I scrubbed the back of my neck as I wandered through the lobby and out the double doors. Bright, gorgeous colors greeted my vision and invited me to the garden. I spent some time standing under the trellis, tilting my head back to inhale the wonderful floral scents surrounding me. Leo and his father spent most of last week working on this garden. It was a shame nobody stopped here except me.
My brows crowded together as I sighed. Being an aerobics instructor was great, but it didn’t pay me enough. Raven was sinking so much into the gym. Everyone was pitching in where they could, volunteering so many hours that weren’t at all paid. Our pack wasn’t rich, but we flourished by nurturing each other. A lot of our income relied on people working outside of the pack, so it made sense why Raven started renting some office spaces in the hallway where the events coordinator office was located.
That must have been why Andres offered me that job, I thought as I picked a flower from the trellis. I raised the petals to my nose.I mean, he’s probably got a lot of clients in town now. He needs an assistant. Makes sense.
What didn’t make sense was how he made me feel. Something about him made me squirm. It was like watching a suspenseful horror movie where I didn’t want to close my eyes to the action to come. That sort of wiggling around in my seat feeling hadn’t come about much with anybody else. There weren’t a whole lot of people I liked being around other than the usual suspects.
I almost laughed while twirling the flower between my fingers. Sheesh, I was making it sound like Andres was some kind of serial killer. The man was intimidating. I’d give him that much. But I wasn’t easily swayed like that.
So, why did it feel good to kneel in front of him?
Nope—I wasn’t about to think aboutthat. I had to tuck that away and keep it from the light of day. None of my daydreams were allowed out of their bin until I had everything under control.
Goddess, when will that be?
My phone buzzed. I knew it was my mother without having to look. She’d been blowing me up all day about the upcoming family luncheon. Even though it was useless to do it, I peeked at my phone. Just in case. Maybe she had a stroke or something.
I grimaced. Awful thoughts like that weren’t going to get me anywhere. I loved my mother. She was superb in so many ways—and also annoying, insistent, aggravating. She made me feel like I didn’t have a hand in my own life sometimes. It was suffocating just standing near her during any occasion.
And then there was Andres.
He seemed to have everything under control from what I could see. His space was relatively organized, he had consistent work, and he was reliable. He never took sick days. He was in his office every morning at the same time, and he stayed long after I left. How could I havethatkind of success?
While staring at the text from my mother, I wondered how much the guy made being an architect by day and engineer by night. The payment for an assistant would probably be pretty good. I mean, it had to be if he was offering all kinds of benefits and packages and things like that.
I frowned at the phone screen. Another text from my mother nagging me about bringing a date to the luncheon. She wasn’t ever going to quit until I found someone or lied about it. Lying would be difficult because she would probably ask for a name and then go stalking the person’s Facebook page.
Windchimes jingled nearby, tickled by the breeze. Seconds later, I felt it kiss my cheek. I turned to it, closing my eyes while trying to think of what to do. I felt like I was caught in a cycle, a trap. I needed a change of pace. I needed to do something differently before this became the cadence of my remaining life on earth.
I stood up. Yeah, I needed change. And I knew just how I could make that change happen.
Andres had been pushy about the job. Maybe that meant he had confidence in my skills as his assistant. Forget the fact that he had stood in my space. I could handle that. He probably just needed me to say something if it bothered me.
It doesn’t bother me.
Shoving that thought away took more effort than the first time. But I had to be professional about this. I had to be committed to excellence. If Andres offered great pay and benefits, then why in the world would I ever turn that down? I could still do a few aerobics classes every so often. Maybe weekends.
That depended on whether I would even need the money.
I headed back inside and walked directly to Andres’ office. He was facing the window with the paper open, totally engrossed in reading about the Dow. I could see the top of his dirty blond hair, trimmed short and styled with a bedhead look.
