The Billionaire's Troublesome Triplets - Holly Rayner Page 0,21
would give her a good recommendation.
She emailed the employment agency to let them know that she would be at the interview. Then she laid back on the bed, one hand over her stomach, and smiled.
Finally, things are looking up.
Chapter 10
Elise
Quadra-Well’s offices were located in the heart of Albuquerque, in a low brick building with wide, gleaming windows. Elise parked and made her way inside.
A receptionist sat behind a polished oak desk. She smiled when Elise came in. “How can I help you?”
“My name is Elise Johnson,” Elise said. “I have an interview with Rebecca Moss.”
The receptionist consulted a book in front of her, then nodded. “I’ll let Ms. Moss know you’ve arrived,” she said. “You can take a seat right over there.”
Elise sat in one of the armchairs the receptionist had indicated. A large potted tree stood between her and the doors, and Elise wondered whether it was real or fake. She considered poking the inside of the pot to see if there was real soil there but decided against it. She didn’t want to be called in for her interview with dirty fingers.
The office seemed like a friendly enough environment. It was open plan, with employees working in cubicles, many of them leaning over the walls to talk to one another in between phone calls. Elise saw smiles on lots of faces. That was encouraging.
Glancing around, her gaze landed on a limousine pulling up outside the building. She frowned slightly. Who came to work in a limousine?
Someone must think they’re pretty important.
She leaned back in her seat a little bit, allowing the tree to obscure her so that she could watch whoever it was without being seen.
The rear door opened and the passenger stepped out.
Elise had to stifle a gasp.
Lucas!
He was right there. What were the odds? But it was definitely him. Elise would have recognized his face anywhere.
It was bizarre seeing him here, when the last time she’d seen him he had been naked in her bed in Rome. It was like seeing a mythical creature.
Did he come here to find me?
No. Of course not. That didn’t make any sense. How could he possibly have known she would be at Quadra-Well?
Then it hit her. Quadra-Well is a pharmaceutical company.
She felt like an idiot. She had seen their name on the list of conference attendees! How could she have failed to make the connection when she had booked the job interview?
But then…how could she have known there was any connection to make? Lucas had told her that he lived and worked in Boston. What was he doing in Albuquerque?
He entered the building, strode right past the receptionist, and made his way to one of the doors on the far wall. He opened it and disappeared inside.
He definitely works here, she thought dizzily. He’s not visiting. The way he went into that office…that’s his office. He had walked through the building like…
Like he owned it.
Elise got to her feet and approached the receptionist’s desk again.
“Excuse me,” she said.
The girl looked up. “May I help you?”
“That man,” she said. “The one who just came in. Who was he?”
“That was Mr. Gainsborough,” the receptionist said, her confusion at Elise’s question apparent in her eyes. “But you didn’t have a meeting with him, I don’t think.”
“No,” Elise said. “I just… Does he work here?”
“Not usually.”
“What does that mean?”
The receptionist squinted at her. “Why are you asking?”
“I’m sorry,” Elise said. It occurred to her how invasive her questions must have sounded. “I just…I know him. We…” She thought quickly. “We went to high school together.”
“Oh, you’re from the East Coast?” the receptionist asked brightly.
Elise cursed inwardly. Way to get off on the wrong foot. She was about to ask these people for a job, and she was leading off by lying to them.
She dodged the question. “I just didn’t realize that he worked here,” she said. “I thought he lived in Boston.”
“He does,” the receptionist said. “Quadra-Well’s main headquarters is located in Boston.”
“So he works at that branch?”
“He’s the CEO of the company,” the receptionist said. “He comes down here all the time to check on our operations.”
Elise felt as if she had been punched.
He knew I was from Albuquerque. And yet he’d said nothing about the fact that his business brought him here all the time.
She knew that there was no reason he should have told her. They hadn’t planned to see each other again. But on the heels of the maybe-fake number she had been given, it felt like a horrible betrayal.
And