9. Luke
CHAPTER 9
Luke
“No.”
Annika sighed. “You didn’t let me finish.”
“You don’t need to finish. It’s a hard no.”
I leaned back in the chair and nodded to Ollie as he walked through the lobby to the garage. A sense of longing tugged at me. I wanted to be out there, getting my hands dirty, not stuck behind a desk.
Annika leaned forward, her elbows on the front counter, her eyes imploring. “She’d be perfect. You need someone to fill in. She needs a temporary job. She’s smart and capable. You could probably teach her everything she needs to know in a day, and she’d be off and running. You could get back to your job.”
I did want to get back to my job, but Melanie was not the answer. “It would never work. We can’t stand each other.”
“It was just the shock of seeing each other for the first time in a while. You’d get over it.”
“If we were going to get over anything, you’d think we would have by now.”
“I admit, you two seem to have some unresolved feelings— ”
“No, we don’t.”
She tilted her head. “Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely. I don’t have any feelings for Melanie. Except loathing.”
“What are you even mad about?”
That was a great question. What was I mad about? “I’m not mad about anything. Except that she moved back to my town, almost hit me on the road, and then took my seat at the bar.”
Annika blinked a few times like she was confused. “Or something happened between you all those years ago, and you’ve never resolved it?”
I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t even remember what happened.”
“Liar.”
“Come on, you know me. When have I ever held a grudge?”
“Two words. Evan Bailey.”
I started to argue, but she wasn’t wrong. Evan and I had been sworn enemies when we were younger. “We get along great now.”
“But you didn’t for a long time. And don’t say it was because of the feud. You two took the feud to another level.”
“Okay, you have a point about Evan. But he doesn’t count anymore. We’re friends.”
“Which proves my point.” She gave me a triumphant smile. “If you can become friends with Evan Bailey, you can learn to get along with Melanie.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Freaking sister logic.
“I know she’s…” Annika trailed off, as if trying to decide how to describe her.
“Dramatic? Full of sass? Frustrating as hell?”
“A little bit extra. But she’s also very smart, and sweet, and personable. ”
“I agree she’s smart, but I take issue with sweet.”
“She is. She’s nice.”
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.
“Fine, she’s… spicy nice.”
I tried to hold back a chuckle. Spicy nice. That was Melanie. “She’s probably personable around anyone else, but around me, she’s nothing but a spitfire.”
“And I’m sure you don’t do a thing to antagonize her.”
“She antagonizes me !” I placed a hand on my chest. “Why do you assume it’s my fault?”
“I’d bet money on it being mutual.”
I scowled. “Whatever. I’m not—”
The door opened, and I forgot what I was about to say. Melanie swept in, dressed in a dark gray suit jacket and skirt with bright red heels. Her hair was up in some kind of twist, and her lipstick matched her shoes.
I gaped at her. What was she doing there? And why was she dressed like that?
“Well, isn’t that perfect timing,” Annika said cheerfully.
“Did you know she was coming?” I asked.
“No.” Annika smiled and shouldered her purse. “But it looks like my work here is done.”
She hugged Melanie on her way out. Fantastic, my sister and my ex-girlfriend were friends again. As if that hadn’t been frustrating enough back in high school.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as the door shut behind Annika.
“Ooh, déjà vu. Is there a glitch in the matrix?”
“What?”
“You asked me that question in the bar the other night. Anyway, I’m here for my interview.”
My eyes swept up and down, taking her in, and a pulse of arousal burst through me. I didn’t want to notice the curve of her hips or the way her hairstyle showed the soft skin of her neck. I didn’t want to, but I did .
“Since when do you have an interview? I don’t remember calling you and asking you to come in.”
“You didn’t, but I figured I should be proactive in case you decided to be stubborn and refuse to call me.”
“I was going to refuse to call you.”
“Exactly,” she said with a smile. “Should we do it here, or do you have an office?”
Heat swept through my veins, and a shot of adrenaline made my whole body buzz. I could do a lot of things to Melanie in my office.
No, no, I couldn’t.
I slid my tongue along my teeth, feeling like I teetered on the edge of a knife. I could tell her to leave—burn that bridge all the way down to ash. We had to live in the same town, but that didn’t mean we had to get along. There was no good reason for me to extend an olive branch.
Except the tiny glimmer of hope in her eyes tugged at something in my chest. I didn’t want to acknowledge that I could have feelings for Melanie—other than antipathy—but for a moment, there was something else there. Something I’d tried to bury a long time ago.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
I led her through the garage to my office. There was a leather couch that I rarely used, a large desk, and the walls were covered in pictures of restorations I’d done. I sat at my desk and gestured for her to sit in one of the extra chairs. She sat, crossing her legs at the ankle and folding her hands in her lap.
“I was going to send you my résumé, but I don’t have your email address,” she said. “And I would have printed it, but my printer broke in the move.”
“That’s all right.” I was trying to act like this was a real interview—and I wasn’t distracted by her sultry cadence or how her lips moved when she talked. I cleared my throat. “What can you tell me about your recent job history? ”
“I’m an actor. I’ve done it all. Waitressing, tending bar, answering phones.”
“Do you still act?”
She nodded. “My real career is as a voice actor. But I’m waiting for my next gig to start. Hence, the need for a temporary job.”
“Voice acting, huh?” She’d always been an incredible actress. “Do you still do theater?”
“Not really. I did for a while, but voice acting felt… I don’t know, safer.”
I met her eyes. Safer? Something in her tone tugged at my chest again. I wanted to know why she’d ever felt unsafe. Maybe even fix it.
Clearing my throat, I glanced away. What the hell was wrong with me?
“So, you’re waiting for your next voice acting job to start. When will that be?”
“At least a couple of months. Maybe more.” She shrugged. “Divorce and moving are expensive, and I’m bound by a noncompete until my contract is finished. That means I can’t line up another voice-acting gig to fill the gap. I could use something temporary so I don’t have to go back to eating ramen noodles and searching out the almost-expired discount section at the grocery store. Not that I need a handout. Or your sympathy.”
“I know you don’t need my pity.”
“Nor do I want it.”
“Obviously, Annika already talked to you about the job, but I don’t know if she told you any details.”
“Not much. Just that your front desk person is on maternity leave, and you need someone to fill in. I assume that means things like greeting customers, answering the phone, maybe some admin work.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“I’ve had jobs like that. ”
I nodded. What was happening? Was I actually considering this? I couldn’t hire Melanie.
Could I?
“Look at us, having a civil conversation,” I said.
“I’m proud of us. I wasn’t sure we could do it.”
I grinned. “Me neither. Helps that you’re not in my chair.”
Her lips turned up in a smile.
Okay, maybe Annika was right. Maybe it had been the shock of seeing each other for the first time in a while, and we could learn to get along.
“Were you always so territorial?” she asked.
“Probably. I get a little possessive.”
There was a flash of something in her eyes. Heat? Interest? I couldn’t tell. I expected her to say something snarky, but surprisingly, she didn’t.
“You haven’t offered me the job, but obviously, you will. I just have one question.”
“What makes you so sure I’m going to offer it to you?”
“I’m your best option. There are only so many people in this town. If there was anyone better, he or she would be sitting at the front desk right now and I’d be home trying to decide which bills I can safely ignore this month.”
“Okay, so what’s your question.”
“Do I have to be me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was just thinking, I could be someone else to make it more fun.” Her voice changed to the Southern drawl she’d used the other night. “I doubt you’d care for this one since you didn’t appear to find it amusing at the bar.” She shifted to a British accent. “But perhaps you’d be interested in hiring a fine young lady from London. She does sound sophisticated, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “How about just Melanie?”
“But Melanie is so boring, mate.” She started off Australian, then pitched her tone higher. “Or a little forest pixie. That’s cute, right?”
She was good. Not that I was going to tell her that. But she was.
“No forest pixies.”
“You’re no fun,” she said in her natural voice. “I think your customers would get a kick out of it.”
She was right. They probably would. But she was brushing up against something inside me—something that made me want to ensure she didn’t win. “Maybe, but you’ll drive the rest of us nuts.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Don’t get mad. Don’t get mad.
“Do you want the job or not?”
“I mean, do I want the job? That’s a complicated question. It’s not exactly my dream to work the front desk of my ex-boyfriend’s auto shop. But I suppose dreams don’t have much to do with anything when you move back to your hometown to start your life over.”
I leaned forward. “Now you’re trying to get a rise out of me.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
She crossed her arms. “I’m not. Sometimes I just… don’t know when to stop talking.”
“Or when the performance is over, and real life begins.”
“This is an interview. What is it if not a performance?”
I hesitated. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”
“Oh, undoubtedly.”
Her expression felt like a dare. I dare you to let me in your space and not let me affect you. Not let me get under your skin.
I could handle it. If anyone in the world could handle Melanie Andolini, it was me. I knew what I was getting into. She was a handful, but I could give it as well as she could .
This was a challenge. I wasn’t sure what beating her meant, but I was absolutely going to win.
I locked eyes with her. “Do you want the job?”
“I’ll take it.”