He frowned at it. “You sure?”
“She’s got to eat. You do, too.”
He worked his mouth to the side, then nodded, taking the money. I knew it meant I was probably going to be skipping lunch today, but I also knew the state of my brother’s pantry and fridge.
I got back in my car, then took the sort of deep breath you took just before jumping into a freezing pool. I’d taken all the kinds of jobs I could imagine taking to avoid going there, but I’d reached a point of absolute desperation. I’d coached tennis lessons, waited tables, mixed drinks, and even picked up dog poop. But I was getting less hours across the board, and it was time to try to land the kind of job that wouldn’t require my closet to be packed with more uniforms than personal clothes.
I stepped inside Rose Athletic Representatives, or RAR, as I lamely enjoyed calling it. The building practically screamed you do not belong, from the smells to the way the receptionist was dressed.
I cleared my throat and straightened the skirt I’d been thrilled to find on clearance. It fell to just above my knees but was made of a comfortable stretchy material that looked good without feeling constrictive. I was sure everyone here could still tell I was poor, but I didn’t need to focus on that.
It was all completely fine. Nothing to panic about. No reason to mentally run through the procedure for walking like a normal human being again. Straight spine. Pull my head back for good posture, but not so good that I was rocking a double chin. Act like my arms aren’t glued to my sides.
When I was feeling insecure, I always thought back to the way Elsa from Frozen walked once she let her hair down. The lady walk, as I called it. And so, I imagined releasing my not-so-luxurious locks and walked toward the reception desk like I’d just magicked the shit out of the place. Damon Rose never bothered me anyway, or something like that.
No. He just defied the laws of probability and put a baby in me, broken condom and no ovulation be damned.
The woman—a twenty something like me with brown hair—gave me an expectant look. “Do you have an appointment?”
“An interview, actually.”
“With whom?” I hated how her tone said everything she was too professional to say aloud. You’re not getting a job here looking like that. Are you really dumb enough to think you would?
“Jason. From HR.”
She tapped her keyboard for a few seconds, giving me a moment to take in her perfectly manicured fingernails. Well, on the bright side, even the secretaries here were making enough money to keep up appearances. Maybe I could take this girl’s beauty budget and pay for a chunk of daycare. Probably not.
“Jason is out today. Do you want to reschedule?”
I put my hands on the desk to brace myself. Did Jason realize how much I was putting my brother out to ask him to watch Luna on short notice? “Could I possibly interview with someone else?”
I heard the doors open behind me and felt a subtle change come over the room. The receptionist slid her eyes past my face and focused on something in the distance. She went visibly straighter as she adjusted her hair and puckered her lips a little.
I followed her eyes.
I’d been prepared for this from the moment I decided to apply here, so it shouldn’t have come as a shock to see him. But my stomach still sank into a pit of fiery anger when I saw Damon Rose himself storming through the lobby. It had been almost five years now since our little encounter, and he was one of those obnoxious men that only became more distinguished with age. He’d been in his late twenties then, and now he had a hint of lines where there had been none before as well as a little more muscle on his lean frame. I still reckoned he could wipe his own ass, for the record.
Damon was on his phone, and from the sounds of his deep, gravelly voice, he was in the middle of chewing someone out.
The receptionist seemed to remember to do her job after a few seconds. She smiled slightly, then pursed her lips as she shook her head. “I’m sorry. The interview will have to wait until Jason can reschedule, but if—”
“What’s going on here?”
I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice directly beside me. Damon was towering over me, those nearly turquoise eyes of his regarding me with interest.
He was the definition of intimidating, but I refused to bend my neck to him. Not after everything that happened.
“Lucifer, hi. It’s been a while.”
The receptionist’s eyes bulged like she was expecting Damon to throttle me. All he did was look slowly down from my eyes to my chest and back up again with the faintest shadow of a smile.
The silence was broken by the receptionist. “She’s here to interview, but Jason called out this morning. I was telling her she’d need to reschedule.”
Damon started walking, then paused after a few steps and half turned. “Are you coming or not, Tinkerbell?”
He still remembered that stupid nickname?
Now the receptionist wasn’t trying to hide the awe in her face. It was like I’d grown an angel halo and wings. I had to fight the urge to wink at her before scurrying after Damon.
He was already in the elevator when I reached him. He tapped the button for the top floor and waited.
Don’t say thank you. Don’t even acknowledge his vileness. Just stand here and let this play out, because you need the money, but you also don’t need to show gratitude to the devil himself.
“Thanks,” I said quietly. Damn it, Chelsea.
He stood silently until the elevator let us out on the top floor. “There’s a conference room nobody uses on the next floor. Did you come for round two?”
I looked at him in disgust. “You think I’d go to the trouble of setting up an interview again just to sleep with you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really know the first thing about you. I have no idea what you would or wouldn’t do.”
“Then know this.”
I paused when the elevator doors opened and a couple of young women filed in, but not before giving Damon a pair of salacious looks. I had to lower my voice and lean in toward him to finish my thought.
“I’m never letting that happen again. And I scheduled an interview here because it’s the last agency I haven’t applied to. Shockingly, I hoped to avoid working for you.”
“I see.”
I balled my fists at my side. That was all? I see? In a split second, I felt all the frustration and rage I felt toward Damon boil over in a blinding flash. I spun and punched his arm as hard as I could.
The two women behind us gasped, putting their hands to their mouths. Damon looked down at the spot I’d hit him and then took me by the wrist. The doors opened a moment later and he walked me out with him, then spun me against the wall.
There was rage in his eyes, but something else, too. “Nobody touches me. Nobody fucking punches me. Especially not in front of my employees.”
“Those were your employees? They looked like they were former fuckbuddies from the way they were eyeballing you.”
The nostrils on his annoyingly perfect nose flared. “Tell me, Tinkerbell. Why do you think you would be a good fit here at Rose?”
“You tested the fit five years ago and didn’t have any complaints.”
There was a pause, then the hint of a smile. “Funny. So your contribution to my company would be a childish sense of humor? Thanks, but I’ll pass.”