Chapter 3
I ’d only been in the Shadow Industries office for a total of seven minutes, but the moment a steel wall of a man barreled into me, sending me and my four-inch stilettos careening backward, I had a hunch I should’ve heeded Lainey’s warnings and stayed home.
Probability of hitting my head on the corner of my brand-new desk? High.
Probability of this looking anything like how romance novels describe meet-cutes? Low. Very low.
Just as the thin points of my heels started leaving the hardwood floor, my forearm was grabbed, and I was jerked forward. Except the hand grabbing me didn’t belong to the man I’d bounced off, who was now standing there with a box of donuts, watching me fall as ungracefully as humanly possible. It belonged to my new boss, Asher Briggs, who just so happened to be reaching around the steel wall of a man. And since I was now being flung through the air like a ragdoll, I smacked back into Steel Wall...with my knee...in an incredibly unfortunate place for him.
Yikes.
“Oh!” I cried out in horror as the man lurched forward with a strangled sound of pain.
For how slowly the previous seconds had drawn out—letting me see the contemplative and stunned expressions of the men between my own realization that I was falling—the next dozen or so flew by.
Steel Wall dropped the box of donuts and began choking on one he’d apparently been eating as he fell to his own knees. A third man walked in and immediately fell into a fit of laughter, as if the possibility of someone choking to death could possibly be seen as funny to anyone. I clumsily sank to the floor in front of Steel Wall and reached for him, my hands hovering just in front of him as if I might recall how to perform the Heimlich in a real-life situation—I absolutely could not . And somewhere in the middle of it all, Asher Briggs roughed out my name like he wasn’t sure he was actually seeing me.
Which, somewhere in between saying, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry,” to Steel Wall and trying to remember how to help him, I realized if Asher was saying my name like that , then Ada had one thousand percent lied, and Lainey was never going to let me live this down.
But, you know...still in desperate need of a job here, so I’d get over it.
“What are you doing here?” Asher demanded, but I was so not worried about him getting all grumpy with me because someone needed to be worried about the man in front of me.
An exasperated sound left me as I spared a glance at Asher. “He’s—” Oh . I shifted slightly back when I realized Steel Wall was no longer choking as I took in his angry, golden eyes, just inches from mine.
That’s . . . unfortunate.
“Ada!” Asher shouted toward the back of the office, making me flinch with how terrifying that man could sound. Pointing at me, he repeated, “What are you doing here, Chloe?”
My stare quickly bounced between Asher and Steel Wall. One was outwardly seething at me—or the world in general—the other was silently raging at me, and me alone.
Fantastic way to start your first few minutes at your maybe-maybe-not job, Chloe.
“Ada said—” I stopped myself just as soon as I began answering Asher because Ada had clearly lied. Keeping my stare firmly on him and not on the eyes I could feel burning into me, my nose scrunched up as I tried figuring out exactly how to admit to Asher Briggs that I’d ignored his fiancée’s warnings about this position.
But in the three months I’d known him, the one thing I’d learned about him—other than the fact he could make the simplest statement sound incredibly frightening—was he demanded honesty. Like, always .
So, that’s what I went with. “Lainey said this might happen...”
“What might happen?” Asher ground out before yelling Ada’s name again.
“Ada stopped by this weekend for coffee and to see Lainey’s ring,” I hurried to explain as I scrambled to stand, then backtracked. “Which— oh my gosh —good job on that one.” I lifted my hands, making a little gesture that showed just how perfect her new engagement ring was. “Anyway, when she was at our house, she said you’d decided to hire me as her replacement.”
If I hadn’t already realized Ada had lied, the way Asher’s eyes rolled as he dragged his hands over his face and through his beard would’ve been a massive indicator. The slow, fortifying breaths he took after would’ve been another.
“Is she—” His gaze snapped to the side when Ada rounded the corner, and his voice came out like the cracking of a whip as he turned his frustration on the sweet woman. “Ada, we talked about this.”
Ada’s smile didn’t falter, as if she was truly unfazed by Asher’s anger. “We did,” she confirmed with a slight nod. “You didn’t listen to me, so I didn’t think it necessary to listen to you. And now, I’m officially retiring.” The words were released with a weighted breath, as if just saying them had her feeling that much lighter. “So, Chloe’s gonna take my place. No need to thank me.”
A warning of a laugh crept from Asher before his dark stare locked on me. “This isn’t about you,” he informed me. “I just wasn’t looking for Ada’s replacement, and she keeps forgetting she isn’t in charge of hiring people.”
“Right. Then this is awkward,” I mumbled, then gestured to where Steel Wall was now sitting back on his heels, watching the entire interaction. Offering him an apologetic smile, I forced my stare to remain on his and not drift to his heavily tattooed arms and hands as I added, “I mean, more than it already was, considering. ..you know...”
“I do,” he affirmed through clenched teeth.
Oof. Definitely still in pain and not happy with me.
Worry and remorse wove through me. “Sorry. Seriously, that’s . . . yikes.”
From the way one of Steel Wall’s eyebrows ticked up, he wasn’t thrilled with my choice of wording, but I didn’t have time to worry about that or why I was all too willing to look back into his narrowed eyes, because Asher and Ada were having a heated argument—and my name had just been said.
“Wait, she—” Asher held up a hand to keep Ada from speaking, the corners of his mouth lifting in an irritated smile. “What do you mean ‘Chloe’s interview?’” he asked. “When did she interview?”
I watched Ada’s stare drift to the ceiling like she wasn’t entirely sure and nearly answered I never had one . But the betrayal radiating from Asher had me clamping my mouth shut.
Then again, the longer I watched Ada, the more apparent it became that she was doing this to frustrate Asher that much more. That she was enjoying this.
She was one brave woman.
“Oh, well, let’s see...” Ada lifted one of her hands in a careless gesture before clasping them together. “I’d say she’s been interviewing you for the last three-or-so months.”
At that, Asher’s expression fell a split second before I realized exactly what Ada was saying.
She’d been planning this ever since Lainey moved in with me—wanting to make sure I could handle working for someone as irritable as Asher Briggs.
Before I could figure out if I was more shocked or upset that she’d played me too, I noticed the way Asher’s dark gaze fell to the side, clearly trying to hide the hurt there. Knowing what I did of Asher, he wasn’t hurt that Ada had gone behind his back yet again. This looked like loss . And for the first time since agreeing to Ada’s proposal yesterday, I felt terrible.
“You really are leaving,” he muttered, the words just barely above a breath.
“Now, you know it don’t mean a thing,” Ada said with a click of her tongue. “Just an old woman wanting to slow down. I’ll still be a constant nuisance in your life.”
Seconds passed in heavy tension before he breathed out, “Fine,” as if it pained him to let Ada go. But just as quickly, his tone was back to that hard, unforgiving tenor I’d grown used to as his dark eyes narrowed on me. “Ada will train you. Let me know if you need anything.”
I didn’t even have time to relish the knowledge and excitement that he was letting me stay—that he was officially hiring me after months of trying to find something. Because as soon as Asher stalked away, Steel Wall was up and rushing after him. Snapping, “Briggs,” in disapproval, like he was already readying his case against me working here.
“Uh oh,” I whispered, then jolted when an opened donut box was held out directly in front of me.
“Don’t worry about them.”
I looked over to the voice behind the donuts—to the same guy who’d burst into laughter over Steel Wall choking—and found the clearest green eyes staring down at me.
“Ma’am,” he murmured with a subtle nod, the word a smooth drawl that I was sure would have other girls melting into a puddle. “Chloe, was it?”
“Yes, hi,” I said excitedly and held out my hand for him to shake. “What’s your name?”
“Hudson Gray.” A smirk slowly edged at the corner of his mouth as he curled his free hand around mine in a way that most definitely didn’t shout greeting . “Now?—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Ada cut in, smacking Hudson’s shoulder. “Take your charms elsewhere.”
Hudson released my hand, only to hold his up in the air. “I was just gonna ask about her shirt.”
My hands flew to my nerdy graphic shirt of the day, my smile widening at the prospect of someone else appreciating it, but Ada’s scoff stopped me short.
“You don’t fool me, boy,” she said, then gave me a warning look while pointing at Hudson. “He is nothing but trouble and a shameless flirt. Don’t fall for it.”
A stunned laugh left Hudson, almost as if he was choking over the sound. “Ada, Ada, Ada,” he crooned as he deftly lowered the donut box onto my new desk and draped an arm around Ada’s shoulders, turning her away from me. “Let’s not scare the new girl away with your crazy.”
“If anyone’s bound to scare her away, it’s you and Adam,” Ada said as she continued in the circle until she was facing me again. “Now, get.”
“I’m going,” he said as if that’d been his intention all along. But as he grabbed the forgotten donut box on the floor and stacked it on top of the one on my desk, he sent me a wink that told me all I needed to know about Hudson Gray.
Ada was right. Absolutely shameless.
But I’d read enough books and watched enough rom-coms to know it wasn’t me he was interested in. Guys like Hudson Gray would probably hit on a tree if they got bored enough.
Once he rounded the corner and was out of sight, I whirled on Ada, already hissing, “Lainey’s never gonna let us—” The rest of the words abruptly died in my throat when Ada carelessly shoved a thick binder my way, not waiting for me to reach for it before letting it fall from her bony, jeweled fingers.
Just as a strangled sound of confusion or laughter or something in between left me, she said, “That went much better than expected, and I have all the confidence in the world that you’ll do beautifully here.”
“Better than expected?” I countered with a breathless laugh. With my free hand, I gestured toward the rest of the office, even though it was blocked from my view by the large wall my equally large desk was up against. “One man nearly died. Asher was yelling.”
Ada made a scoffing sound as she waved off my words. “That boy’s always yelling. Now,” she went on as she grabbed her purse, the action making my body lock up tight with apprehension as I watched her start toward me—toward the door.
“Ada . . .”
“Everything you need is in there,” she went on, tapping the binder as she eased past me.
“Ada—”
“If you need anything at all, you just give me a call.”
“I thought you were gonna train me,” I blurted out when she grabbed the handle.
She glanced back at me, seeming surprised. With another meaningful tap on top of the binder in my hands, as if she was worried I’d missed it the last time, she said, “There’s your training.”
My stomach dropped so quickly, it felt like I was going to be sick. In that moment, I regretted eating breakfast almost as much as I regretted not listening to Lainey.
“But I don’t,” I began, stumbling over the words a little, even as I automatically reached to open the door for her when she pulled on the handle. “I don’t even know what my position is. I don’t know what I?—”
“All in there, sweet girl,” she said without a backward glance as she shuffled out of the building, leaving me gaping after her long after she’d pulled out of the parking lot.