Chapter Seven #2
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. It’s long hours, Monday through Thursday. You’ll need to be here by two o’clock for the daily meeting and stay through the broadcast at eleven, with a break for dinner. You’ll have Friday and weekends off and accrue paid time off as well, of course.”
Paid time off sounded like heaven. I’d never had that perk. But working so many hours, could I manage my editing deadlines? Or would I have to finally let that pipe dream go?
I must’ve looked like a deer caught in the headlights because Shelby snapped her fingers then lifted an envelope. “These are forms we’d need to have back before you start. You can read through the employee handbook, and of course we’ll make sure you get all the training manuals.”
“Wait. Are you offering me the job?” She hadn’t asked me a single substantive question. That felt like a huge red flag. Did the last associate producer die? Was the news station haunted? Was I being pranked? This didn’t add up.
“We ran a background check already, and we want to fill this position quickly.” A small smile played at her mouth as if I needed to be coaxed into accepting.
“There are plenty of opportunities to grow here. You could be doing the lead producer’s job in a year.
” She laughed. “Hell, you could be doing mine in five.” She slid the envelope over.
“The salary offer is in the paperwork. Go ahead and see.”
I peeked at at the number, holding my breath until my eyelids stopped blinking out an S-O-S. The salary wouldn’t make me wealthy, but it would allow me to quit working at the bar and the inn.
I’d been dreaming Kate, my editing boss, would extend an offer like this, but since she’d been content to let me drown, it took me about negative ten seconds to grasp at an honest-to-god lifeline even though I’d likely fail spectacularly. Money was money.
“When do you need me to start?”
“We can begin your training Monday afternoon. We’ll start with a two-week trial period, but after that you should settle into the job within the month.” She stood and reached out her hand to shake once again.
“Thank you.” I knew I should ask for more time to think it through, but why risk the opportunity? I could always quit later. “I hope I can meet your expectations.”
Her smile tightened. “I expect you to exceed them.”
No pressure then. I hugged the envelope to my chest, like it might disintegrate into dust. I didn’t know if I’d made a wish on a monkey’s paw, but what was the worst that could happen? Shelby was right that I’d handled chaos in my other jobs. I could deal with stress. I could learn.
I could quit my job at the bar.
As I crossed the pedestrian mall, I texted Chelsea with my news.
I looked up from my phone to find Basil passing by with another guy—noticeably not Evan, of course.
He glanced my way, eyes widening briefly, and a Wheel-of-Fortune of possible responses spun in my mind.
I nearly crossed over to pepper him with questions about his awol friend, but my loyalty lay with Chelsea.
He raised his hand to wave, and with great effort against my upbringing, I turned my attention back to my phone, debating whether to shoot off another text to warn Chelsea her erstwhile boyfriend was on the loose.
When I glanced up again, Kyan King was striding toward me, oozing smug confidence.
Perfect timing.
Kyan was ridiculously attractive with dreads spiked almost like a mohawk, drawing attention to the diamond studs he wore.
Dark sunglasses hid the caramel eyes he used like a smoldering weapon.
He’d deployed them on me plenty, but I’d grown immune to his charms. Though, I’d nearly fallen prey once—thanks to a shitload of tequila. I blushed to think of it.
Guys with an edge were Chelsea’s thing. Evan was more my type—clean cut as the boy next door. But maybe the packaging had fooled me. Hadn’t he used me and left me hanging?
I heaved in a breath and stepped closer. “Hey, Kyan.”
His head jerked up, and he lowered his sunglasses a half inch. “Elizabeth.” He pitched his voice low, comically seductive.
“I need a favor.”
His eyebrows rose. “Oh, you’ll talk to me outside of work when you need something.”
I had that coming. He’d invited me to countless parties at his place, but I knew how he operated.
He could charm a snake, and one of these days, I’d be lonely enough to take what he was offering.
Kyan’s flirtation was usually harmless, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a serious player, and I was already nursing a bruised heart.
I didn’t need rebound sex to compound it.
“Look, I’m sorry I’ve been distant.”
His honey eyes pegged me, making me feel about two inches tall. “Distant? Girl, you haven’t been in the same universe lately.”
“I know. But we’re good right?”
“Are we? I was starting to worry you were mad at me.” He sucked in his lower lip, trying to look upset, but he couldn’t help smile. “So, what’s the favor?”
I steeled my nerves for this ask. I could make a fool out of myself in front of total strangers, and I could don a persona to fake my way through all kinds of situations, but I balked whenever it came to voicing my true needs, when I had to ask for help or special treatment.
I blamed it on the middle child syndrome—always lost in the shuffle.
Kyan squinted, and I spit it out. “I’ve found another job, and I need someone to take my shifts next week.”
He winced. “How many?”
“Two. Tuesday and Wednesday.” I bit my lip, willing him to agree.
“You want me to work every day next week?”
“Not Monday,” I added helpfully. The restaurant was closed Mondays, anyway. “I could take your Friday night shift.”
“The hell you will.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Friday nights were insane. “Could you please do me this one little favor?”
“What will you give me?” He leaned in, leering over the shades, his tongue dragging across lips I’d almost kissed, with copious booze flowing through my system.
I took a step back. “You know you’ll get good tips. It’s getting cold out. All the college kids will want to be indoors.”
He walked toward me, and I backed up until I pressed against the bricks. He put one hand above my shoulder and stared into my eyes. Last summer, that move—and tequila—had reduced me to putty, but today? If I hadn’t needed his help, I might have kneed him in the groin.
“I always knew we’d eventually hook up.” God, his confidence was outrageous.
“What makes you think that?” I asked flatly.
“All that flirtation, the coy looks. The constant innuendos.”
He thought my dick jokes were a come-on? I swallowed. “Funny, I thought it was the Cuervo.”
“Nah. We have mad chemistry.” He let loose his charmer smile and lifted his other hand to touch my cheek. “Maybe we could have fun again sometime soon?”
“Kyan,” I growled, ducking under his arm. “Not gonna happen.”
He croaked a laugh. “Just messing with you, Ebert.” His grin widened. “Your face!”
Fucking Kyan. This was why I could never take him seriously. “Don’t do that again.”
“Sorry. You kind of asked for it after the way you’ve treated me. Like you’re too good for me.”
“Well, that makes us even.”
He grabbed his collar and straightened his shirt. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a couple of weeks, but never got a minute free with you.”
“What’s that?”
I braced for him to find another avenue to hit on me, but he surprised me. “Did you meet a guy named Evan recently?”
My eyes shot wide, giving him the answer without so many words. Had they talked about me?
He chuckled. “I thought that had to be you.”
“Did he tell you that?” Or had Kyan set me up after all to get back at me for shooting him down?
“Let me guess, Chelsea dared you to lie to him for her list.” He tilted his head, appraising me. So maybe he hadn’t put Evan up to it.
I burned with mortification. The whole incident seemed so ridiculous in hindsight. “How do you know about Chelsea’s list?”
He cradled his chin with one hand, a finger tapping his mouth, like he was a particularly clever detective. “I believe I may have heard of it.”
“Oh, fuck. Right.” I blushed to my hairline. The night I’d shown it to him, he’d helpfully offered to check off Have a party with me, which led to shots—off his tight stomach—and almost more. I stared up at the sky. This was why I’d been avoiding him.
Was that what had happened with Evan? Had we just let alcohol fuel bad decisions?
Kyan brushed his mouth with his thumb. “I’m going out on a limb here, but did you somehow convince Evan you went to our high school?”
How had he guessed that? His mocking laugh made me pray the ground would swallow me. But then again, here was my chance to gather intel. “He seemed like a decent guy.”
“Mm hmm.” He ran his tongue across teeth so white, they rivaled Evan’s. “He’s a good-looking guy.”
I pushed the offensive. “Oh, were you interested?”
“I have eyes. No harm looking.” He splayed his hands with a shrug. “He’s super straight, sadly.”
“What, uh, is his deal?”
“What’s your interest?” His lip tipped up at the corner, teasing me for catching a crush. He had way more practice at strings-free encounters than I did.
“I thought we hit it off.” I left it there, praying Evan hadn’t confided our whole encounter to Kyan. “But I haven’t heard from him. Is he married or seeing someone?”
“Oh, you’re for real gonna ask me the deets on some other guy?” He poked my shoulder with his knuckle. “Is that how it is now?” But he was still chuckling, and I knew he was just messing with me.
This was going nowhere, and I only needed Kyan to take my shifts, not fix my social life. “You know what? Never mind. I was just thinking out loud.”
“Sure.” He kept that Cheshire grin, and I felt exposed, like he had me at a disadvantage somehow, but I wasn’t sure how. It wasn’t like he could exploit any of that information. Evan had already blown me off. “I can take your shifts, no problem.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“Yup.” He grabbed the door and yanked it open. “But you owe me one.”
“I know. Thanks, Kyan.”
When I turned to walk home, I caught sight of Basil coming back the other way, holding a paper coffee cup. A cup with a logo from the shop Chelsea worked at.