eye candy, or else why would he care what the women he rejected looked like? But if he wasn’t gay, why the hell did he only want to work with men? Bizarre times one thousand.
“That we’re at a little bit of an impasse here.” I got the impression that, my mind having wandered a little, I’d missed something that Carla had said, but I didn’t want to admit that fact, so I made sure to listen carefully as she continued. “Mr. Davies and the rest of the BR&ND team are very important clients to us, and we need to do our best to keep them happy. That being the case, despite the not-very-promising start, Arianne and I were wondering if you would be prepared to...” I let the words hang in the air. “...fill in for him this week? Just while we see if we can gather a new candidate pool for him to interview.”
I couldn’t speak. The whole scenario was so increasingly outlandish that it made absolutely no sense. After being bluntly told that I in no way fit the bill, and having the door literally slammed in my face, they were now offering me the role, albeit temporarily.
“It’s just a week. We’ll pay you double.” She sounded kind of desperate.
“And Mr. Davies is okay with this?”
“I don’t know if okay is the word I’d choose. I mean, I’d say that he’s less unhappy than he was half an hour ago.” Hence the danger money.
I sighed, weighing up my options. Which was ridiculous. I had none. It was take the job, or go back into the pool and wait for another one to come up. Hopefully one where the client didn’t hate me on sight for having the wrong genitalia.
While that was a very appealing prospect—the boss who didn’t reject me part, not the waiting for work part—I felt uncomfortable looking a gift horse in the mouth. It was an opportunity, and even a shitty opportunity was better than none. It was my first role with Personnel Matters, and I didn’t want them to bench me for not being a good sport.
“Uh... okay. I can do that.” I laughed hesitantly, instantly nervous about what the fuck I was getting myself into.
“Great! Thank you so much. I knew you were a team player. We won’t forget this. Thanks so much again.”
“Sure.” I mean, what the fuck could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 3
Raine
* * *
As I lounged back on my chair, feet up on the edge of my desk, I figured Confession was going to be a fucking blood bath, and I couldn’t decide whether I was going to fight, or if I didn’t even have the energy to bother. As I watched my three best friends and business partners’ reactions and body language while they filed into the room, I figured it could go either way.
“What the fuck is that?” Nate came out the gate swinging. No surprises there. Beck probably couldn’t even trust himself to speak without losing his ever-loving shit, and having me lose mine, and Dillon was likely doing his standard affable Brit routine. For the most part, he didn’t like to rock the boat or pick sides. He was like a well-bred human Switzerland.
“What, you don’t like my new shirt? I think it’s pretty—the cornflower brings out my eyes, don’t you agree?” I was an asshole, and I knew it, but sometimes I needed to agitate just to remind myself that I was a living human being, not a shell of a man. Some feeling, even if was anger or irritation, was better than nothing.
“Don’t be a douche. You know what I fucking mean. What the hell is going on outside?"
“So, you mean, who is that, not what. Right?”
“Whatever. I meant what is going on outside, like I just said.”
“Nothing as far as I am aware. Just another workday in paradise.”
Nate balled his fists and moved his head from side-to-side, cracking his neck, signifying that he was close to breaking point. That was quicker than usual. He must have been on a short fuse. Interesting.
He gave me a death stare, raising one eyebrow in question. Wow. Now he couldn’t trust himself to speak. That wasn’t a good sign.
“That is Noa.”
“Noa does not appear to be in possession of a penis.” Each word was carefully gritted out between clenched teeth.
“Honestly, I have no idea, it’s not that kind of arrangement.” I smirked. He made it so easy to amuse myself at his expense. They all did, at times.
“Okay.