Our lunch was brought out in waves. Everything was basically sample size. It was all good and I was thoroughly impressed with the offerings. Chase made notes about every single menu item. I had a feeling his chef would be less than thrilled with the critiques but there was no stopping the man.
“I’ll show you guys your workspace,” Chase announced after our lunch was over. “Let me drop these notes with the chef and I’ll be right back.”
I was surprised when we walked out a door leading outside. There was a winding path that led to a cute little chalet tucked into the trees and out of sight of the main guest areas. Chase opened the door and we walked into what looked like an upscale office space. On the outside, it looked like a quaint cabin, but inside, it was all very modern.
“Your workspace will be here,” he announced, opening a door.
“Wow!” Parker exclaimed.
We were shown into a large open room with design tables in the middle and several desks with laptops set up. It was a designer’s dream office. “This is nice,” I said, not wanting to give the man too much.
“I hope it will inspire you,” he said.
“It is very inspirational. How many people do you plan to have working out of this office?”
“This is yours,” he said. “And Parker and anyone else you think you might need to bring on.”
“Do you have art supplies?” Parker asked, opening a drawer in one of the tall filing cabinets along one wall.
Jake walked to another cabinet and pulled open a drawer. “We have these in here. We weren’t entirely sure what supplies would be needed. The storeroom is stocked with more. I’d be happy to show you.”
“Yes, please,” Parker said.
“I want to see,” Cori chimed in.
Before I could say I wanted to see, the three of them were gone, leaving me alone with Chase. I couldn’t breathe. He was standing too close, staring at me in the silence of the room. My heart pounded in my chest.
“This is nice,” I said again.
“I’m glad you like it. I’m really glad you agreed to work here. I have faith in your abilities. I’ve seen what you did at the store and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do here.”
“Thank you, but I have to warn you. Those displays were planned nearly a year in advance. I had months and months to prepare and plan. You are expecting a miracle and I think you need to rein in those expectations.”
“Finding you was the miracle,” he said with a smile. “If I got that, everything else is bound to fall into place. It’s fate.”
He was looking at me far too intensely. I couldn’t be this close to him. It was dangerous. I needed space. I took a step back. “I should probably get back to my room and collect my work stuff. I don’t think there is a minute to spare.”
He offered a small smile. “I understand. I’ll leave you to it. You don’t need to go.”
“My laptop is in the room.”
“Okay. Take a minute to look around. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He left the office. I released the breath that I had been holding. I took a few minutes to really look around. I ran my fingers over the smooth desk that I was going to claim as my own. It was a really nice space. There was lots of natural light and I loved how open it was. Now Parker and I could talk face to face instead of via chat or running back and forth to each other’s offices.
It was a great office and the pay was awesome but there were strings attached. Chase would be my boss. I didn’t think I had gotten over what happened ten years ago. Obviously, I hadn’t, or this would have been a dream job.
I was going to approach it like a temporary gig. It was a long interview for a job I had yet to find. I needed to do well and get offers from other companies. This would be a shining star on my resume if I could pull it off. I wanted to impress Chase, just like he was trying to impress me. We were both trying to prove to each other how awesome we were.
I was confident I could create a marketing campaign that would blow his socks off. He was going to beg me to stay. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I could get through the