“Bet you Mr. Sterling wouldn’t have forgotten his wallet,” Kim says slyly.
“Would you stop? He’s my boss. Besides, he’s got too many crazies around him.” I tell Kim about the furry-bikini lunatic at the clinic. And the determined desire on her part to win him at the auction.
“She must really want him, but then, a lot of women do,” Kim says. “I doubt he’ll let her, though. He’s supposed to be the nicer younger brother, but he never struck me as soft, despite the friendly vibe he gives off.”
“He won’t. He asked me to bid on him at the auction.”
“Whoo! Tell me you said yes.”
I give her a look reserved for the mentally deficient. “Of course not. I turned him down.”
Kim gapes. “Why?”
I can’t believe I have to point out such an obvious reason. “Because I don’t have the money to bid on him.”
She waves it away. “Oh, please. He’ll front it. Probably as a work expense.”
It’s amazing how she’s giving me the same solution he did. “And I don’t have anything fancy enough to wear to the event.”
“So tell him! He’ll let you expense it.”
Argh. Did she and Nate share notes? “He has other friends who can help him.”
“But did he ask them…or you?”
The question makes me stop. He didn’t ask anybody else. He asked me.
Apparently my expression is answer enough. Kim straightens. “Okay, here’s the deal. Some people might look at us and see glorified coffee fetchers or whatever. But we’re not. We’re managers. We manage our bosses. Some of these guys can’t tie their own shoes without us around. Like Nate. He can’t even decide what to wear without you to choose everything for him. And you have to take care of his breakfast, too. What does that tell you?”
That he needs me to bail him out of this auction thing. But what if people jump to the wrong conclusion? What if I lose my job over it or have to start over somewhere new again? “But does it have to be me? Can’t it be somebody else?”
“Our bosses trust us. They need us to make them feel safe from people who want a piece of them. We’re the ultimate gatekeepers. You bidding on him at the auction is you doing your job. Nobody gets to him so long as you’re the
re, not even his family.”
“But it’s so complicated,” I say, then shovel the rest of the chicken and rice into my mouth. “I don’t want to go on a date with him after the auction.”
Oh yes, you do! He’s probably filled out the date plan for the auction already—about how he’s going to whisk the winner away to a gorgeous private beach on Bora Bora. Hell, his family probably owns half the island.
“You don’t have to,” Kim says. “It isn’t like anybody’s going to be watching.”
Hmm. That’s true.
“And you can probably swing a pay raise out of it. I would.”
I keep my mouth shut and don’t tell her he already offered. And out of all the things, that tempted me the most. I’d love a pay raise, even though it’d be a little early, employment-wise. I need to rebuild my savings, just in case. Sometimes financial security and independence are the only things that can help you start over. If I hadn’t had any savings, I’d be still stuck in Dillington, enduring the whispers of people who believe the worst of me because of my ex. He thought I was good enough to fool around with, but not enough to keep. I was basically a box of Kleenex to him, and I deluded myself into believing it was more. Then, to add insult to injury, he told everyone I was the sleep-my-way-to-the-top type. As if! I worked my ass off at that job. But again, nobody believed me.
Obviously having taken my silence for incredulity, Kim adds, “You can totally get one, depending on how badly Nate wants you to do this. Negotiate, girl! It’s extra time and effort, beyond the standard scope of the work. He should value you for that, and you should make sure he rewards you properly.”
Chapter Four
Nate
Saturdays are terrible. So are Sundays.
The cuckoo clock hoots seven times, but Evie isn’t here. Just me in this damn big mansion and the perfect sapphire-bright Pacific over which the sun shines. I swear the orb is saying, “You’re going to be alone. Alone. Alone. Alone,” as it travels through the sky.
Bastard.