Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Amy
I had absolutely no idea why I came here in the first place. The second Lynx had made the job offer, I'd been suspicious.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t interested, just that I knew I needed to be cautious.
Staying off the radar was important, and I'd be better off working at the diner and at Reagan’s, even if I wasn’t getting paid nearly enough.
Being so visible wasn’t exactly the best way to hide out, but so far, it seemed to be working.
People saw me, which made them believe they knew me, which, in turn, caused some of the curiosity to die down.
Oh, sure, they were still asking questions, but people didn’t seem to mind when I brushed them off with a smile. At least I didn’t think they minded.
Unfortunately, the lure of more money was more than I could refuse.
The house had drained every penny I had.
The money I'd received when my parents died had been left alone in an account for the past nine years, drawing a little bit of interest. It had been a whole lot more than I'd ever anticipated; still, I hadn’t expected it to go far. Fortunately for me, the houses were relatively cheap out in this part of the country. After buying my used Nissan, a few pairs of clothes, and the house, I had no choice but to work in order to eat. Sadly, one job didn’t cut it, though, so I was wearing myself thin at the bar and at the diner.
So, I'd spent the majority of my morning thinking about it, tossing around the idea of being an office manager. How hard could that be?
No, I didn’t have any experience, but I hadn’t had any experience waitressing when I applied for those jobs, either. I was confident that it was something I could learn over time.
“You gonna come in?”
I spun on my boot heel at the deep, rumbling voice. I found Wolfe leaning one shoulder against the doorjamb, his grin wide, straight white teeth flashing. He’d obviously been watching me pace the parking lot.
“I’m thinking about it,” I admitted, a small smile tilting my lips.
I wasn’t quite sure what it was about Wolfe, but I found myself relatively comfortable in his presence.
He definitely was the type of guy you didn’t want to mess with, but I didn’t feel threatened by him.
Perhaps it was his laid-back nature, or the protective gleam in his pretty green eyes.
Whatever it was, I found I didn’t fear him.
Not physically anyway, even though by anyone’s standards, he was the kind of man you would walk away from, not toward, if you encountered him in a dark alley.
His sheer size alone overwhelmed everyone and everything else around.
Word around town was the Caines were a bunch of badasses. From what I could tell, people didn’t mess with them unless they were drunk or stupid. I'd witnessed some of both working at Reagan’s.
Wolfe gave me a quick nod. “Well, when you’re ready…”
I watched as he disappeared back inside, his butt looking damn fine in those jeans.
Damn it.
I wasn’t supposed to look at his butt.
Taking a deep breath, I debated on whether I should hop back in my car and go home or suck it up and go inside.
Since my car didn’t have any air conditioning and it was at least a hundred degrees in the shade, I figured the interior of the big warehouse was probably significantly cooler than the parking lot.
I hoped.
“How hard could it be?” I mumbled to myself as I made the trek to the door.
When I stepped inside, I was instantly assaulted by the sweet smell of sawdust. Not surprising, considering it was everywhere.
The metal building was even bigger than it looked from the outside. Probably a few thousand square feet on the main floor with three-story-tall ceilings, at least. It would probably hold two of my houses inside, just on the ground floor. Maybe three.
Laid out on the concrete slab before me were various pieces of furniture, all in different stages of assembly.
Tables of all shapes and sizes, various styles of chairs, dressers, media stands, even mirrors.
The far end of the warehouse held planks of wood standing on their ends against the walls and shelves full of other items—paint cans, brushes, a wide assortment of tools.
It was just as I'd expect a furniture warehouse to look.
Not that I'd ever given it much thought, honestly.
“Can I get you somethin’ to drink?” Wolfe offered.
I shook my head. “I’m good. Thank you.”
He watched me for a second, and I felt the urge to smooth down my dress. It was the only one I owned, but I'd figured I needed to wear something other than the jeans and T-shirts that had become my go-to wardrobe these days. This was, after all, a job interview.
At least I thought it was.
“Come on into the office.” Wolfe nodded his head toward a metal staircase that led to the second floor.
I followed, taking it all in.
The second floor extended over one end of the warehouse with a metal railing that allowed one to see everything down below.
Three doors lined the narrow walkway. Nothing fancy, but I doubted they needed to be.
Since their main focus was building furniture, I didn’t figure they had much need for office space.
Wolfe stopped at the door closest to us and pushed it open, then stepped back and waited for me to enter.
Keeping my eyes down, I quickly moved past him. His sheer size had me sucking in a breath, but I fought back the fear that tried to take hold. Wolfe Caine wasn’t going to hurt me. I knew that much.
Then again, I'd thought the same thing about…
“So, what do you think?”
I lifted my gaze to his face. “About?”
“The warehouse?”
“It’s … uh … big?”
Wolfe grinned and the smile changed his features from handsome to devastatingly attractive.
No wonder all the women in town talked about him.
Admittedly, I didn’t have much interaction with him, but that was by choice.
Although I saw him at the bar and at the diner, I'd done my best to keep my distance. Befriending people in this town would only cause more problems. Didn’t matter that there were some days I'd give just about anything to have at least one friend.
Realizing I looked like an idiot staring back at him, I glanced around the room as he took a seat. “What does the job entail?”
Wolfe leaned back in his chair and the creak of the leather caused me to look at him again.
“A little this, a little that.” He steepled his hands and set them on his flat stomach.
“But mostly, it requires you to answer the phone, take orders, call the customers when there are questions. Maybe some light accounting work to start off. Every now and again, my old man might need help over at the store.”
I nodded. That didn’t sound too difficult. Well, except for the accounting part. I didn’t have the first clue about that, but again, I was a quick learner.
“In the summer, we work from six to three with an hour lunch. Monday through Friday.”
That meant I would have to quit the job at the diner, but I could continue to work at Reagan’s.
“Do you have any experience?”
I should’ve known he’d ask that question. Although I had considered lying to him, I knew he’d figure it out soon enough if he did hire me. “No, I don’t.” I bit my tongue to keep from telling him that the two jobs I now held were the first time I'd worked in my life.
Wolfe nodded but didn’t say anything.
I had to chew on the inside of my cheek to keep from rambling.
Wolfe made me nervous, but not the panicky kind.
There was something in the way that he looked at me.
Like a man who liked what he saw but wasn’t exactly sure what to make of me yet.
It made me want to tell him things, to assure him I was responsible and could be trusted.
When he leaned forward, my gaze slammed into him.
The sudden movement made me jump, and I realized there was no way to hide the reaction, so I kept watching him, praying he wouldn’t ask me why I was so twitchy.
It’d been a year since the attack that had nearly taken my life, but I still remembered it like it was yesterday.
Wolfe’s tone was soothing when he spoke again, the deep rumble of his voice reassuring. “The job’s yours if you want it. You can start whenever you’re ready, but the sooner the better.”
“And the pay?” That was what it would all boil down to.
“We’ll start you out at twenty dollars an hour if that’s good for you.”
Twenty dollars an hour? Wow. I wasn’t expecting more than thirteen or fourteen. And that had been more like wishful thinking on my part. I didn’t even know what the going rate for an office manager was.
Nodding, I tried to calm the pounding of my heart. “I’ll … uh … need to give notice at the diner.”
Wolfe nodded, then pulled open a drawer.
My eyes flew to his hand, watching intently.
He pulled out a packet of paper and slid it over.
“I’ll need you to fill out the paperwork.”
My palms started to sweat. This was the part I was dreading.
I'd managed to convince Reagan to pay me cash.
She had agreed since most of my earnings were from tips, anyway.
The diner had been a little more difficult, but they finally agreed, with the warning that if I stayed for more than a couple of months, I would have to go on the payroll.
The day I had walked in, the place had been in chaos, their last waitress having bolted after a heated argument with the cook. Luck had been on my side that day.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have the necessary documents for employment. I had a birth certificate and a driver’s license. The birth certificate had been in a safe deposit box, which had allowed me to get another driver’s license after…
“That gonna be a problem?” Wolfe’s tone didn’t change.
“No,” I lied, wringing my hands together in my lap. “Can I fill it out at home?”
“Of course.”
When Wolfe didn’t say anything more, I got to my feet, smoothing my dress down and picking up the papers.