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“I thought you'd be smarter than this,” he said in a tactless manner. “Hookieswas a dating app, and the name obviously came from the idea of hooking up with people. And the idea came from my stupid twenty-year-old mind that wanted to hook up with girls.”
“Yeah right,” I said underneath my breath, scoffing.
If Mr. Beckett continued speaking to me this way, he won’t like the resulting article very much. I didn't say that to him. All I did was jot down his answer, praying that he didn’t remain this unbearable through the entire interview.
Turns out, I was praying for the impossible because Ethan not only remained unbearable, but he also frustrated me and it took all of my willpower to remain seated. What made it even more frustrating for me was the way his eyes made me feel whenever I looked into them.
I hated this!
I wished he had acted differently, more cordial, and I wondered why I was given this assignment. If I could have transferred it to someone else, I would have, but in what world would it make sense for the newbie to reassign her assignment to another? I would have been suspended, or even worse, fired. And I wasn’t about to lose the one job I spent most of my life dreaming about just because a certain man was acting like a man-child.
As the interview neared its end, I had little to no information that would help me in writing a great article, but I tried to write down the little he said before rounding up. I couldn't help but notice the way he was pointedly staring at me and I wanted to ask why. I didn't need to because he asked me.
“Do I know you?”
I looked up to meet his very curious eyes once again roaming around my face. I raised a brow. “I don't know. Do you?”
His upper lip curved up in a smirk as a look of amusement settled in his eyes. “I’m serious, have we met before?”
“Yes.” I nodded my head even though I hated to admit it. “Twice.”
“Where?” He propped his hand under his chin as he gave me another once over. I could almost see the wheels turning inside his head.
“I'm Olivia McKenna,” I said, hoping the last name would ring a bell in his head and it did because he sat up. “James’s sister.”
“What James?” Ethan’s voice matched his expression. He sounded and looked distraught.
“James McKenna, your best friend.” I shrugged as though it didn’t mean anything, even though it did to me.
As annoying as this man was, I still found him very attractive even though it went against all things normal for me to feel this way.
“James’s little sister!” He exclaimed, sounding very much appalled as his eyes ran over me once again, this time his gaze was colder than before. “How? When? You're much different than I expected . . .” He trailed off, his eyes traveling down places I didn’t expect. I looked down at my light blue chiffon shirt, noticing that the first button was open, revealing a portion of my cleavage. I felt goosebumps creep up my arms as sudden shivers sprung through me. I quickly buttoned it up and saw him avert his eyes, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I packed up my things and stuffed them in my bag. I needed to get out of here before this man drove me any more crazy.
“I have a feeling you don’t like me very much,” he said in a quizzical tone.
“No, why do you think so?” I said flatly.
He scoffed. “Can’t fool me, Olivia.”
Olivia. Damn, I had no idea my name would sound so seductive coming from his mouth.
I ignored everything else I wanted to do or say and stood up. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Beckett.”
“Do you have everything you need to write the article?” Ethan shocked me when he asked this. He stood up, his eyes peering at me.
I felt really small and quite intimidated next to him that my sarcastic response got lodged in my throat. All I did was gently shake my head as I stared up at him. “No.”
“Well I can give you more of my time if you still have anything you need to ask,” he said in a calm tone. This was odd for me, it felt strange to have him be . . . nice. It was definitely because he knew I was James’s sister. As tempting as his offer was, and as important as I needed that extra time with him, I didn't want to accept it. “I’ll even let you shadow me for a day if it will help.”
Now this was an offer I couldn't refuse. If my editor caught wind of it, he'd definitely fire me for saying no to such an opportunity. Ethan knew I couldn’t say no to his offer, and that had to explain why he offered it in the first place.
“Why will you do that?” I asked, not willing to let my curiosity slide.
“Because you’re James’s little sister,” he said, shrugging his shoulders so casually I could swear I heard my heart break. “You don't like me that much, so it’s only expected that I try to change your mind by helping you out with your work.”
“Oh, because I’m James’s little sister,” I muttered to myself once again as though trying to make the words sink in.
