He laughed. “Don’t get judgy, Miss Interview. Want their number?”
“Yes, please. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan.” My Bluetooth beeped with an incoming call.
“You’ll get it. I gave them yours, so they’ll call soon, I’m sure. Good luck, Christie.”
He hung up, and warmth spread throughout my body with his words.Good luck, Christie.It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did, and at that moment, I realized that I liked him. I liked this pain in the ass, horrible-at-managing-time man who had a son and an ex-wife, and who stole my phone.
What kind of love story was that?
My hands trembled as I grabbed my phone, and a vaguely familiar number lit up the screen. I answered before punching inMayhew Industriesinto my map as a voice greeted me on the phone. A dozen or more results came up with locations all over the US, but I clicked the one in Dallas and let the GPS guide me on.
“Yes, this is Christie,” I said in response to the voice on the other end of the line. It was dark and silky, and without trying, I knew who it was.
“Yoursecretarysaid you could come in now but take your time. I’ll be here a while. Don’t worry about office hours.”
Thank God. I had an hour, but in this traffic, who knew when I’d get there? According to the map, it would take thirty minutes. “Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate it.”
“Oh, you recognize me, do you?”
I blushed. “I recognize your voice, anyway.”
“Is it that easy to recognize?”
Was I dense before, or were there a lot of men hitting on me lately? “Easy enough. I’ll see you soon.”
“Look forward to it.”
I called up another Uber and panicked the entire way there. I felt so underprepared I wanted to cry. I didn’t have a resume, though I could pull one from my cloud drive, but I didn’t have a portfolio on hand or anything. While I busied myself cursing my anxiety, I also planned my way through the interview as if I were asking the questions.
We pulled into a large parking lot almost forty-five minutes later. Not that it was a big deal, but I hoped at least HR would be there too. That was protocol, right? I walked into the building and to the front desk only to see the very same man who had interrupted my dinner with his charm.
“Andrew,” I said breathlessly.
Andrew’s grin almost made me shudder. “You’re early and out of breath. Everything okay?”
“Yes, definitely. I’m sorry. I thought traffic would delay me more than it did.”
He rose from behind the desk and waved a hand at me. “Don’t worry about it.” His dark hair glistened in the light, stiffly in place but masterfully so. Either he had a stylist, or he knew how to apply mousse without clumping a single hair.
“Follow me.”
I trailed behind him and felt grossly underdressed and stupid. I’d never shown up to an interview so underprepared, but at least I was wearing black slacks and a blouse rather than the pink shirt and jeans I wore to breakfast. Andrew tugged at his blazer sleeves as we walked, and I tried once again to calm my nerves.
When we entered a small office, Andrew offered me a seat and took his place behind the desk. He started asking questions right away, and I sheepishly told him I didn’t have my resume.
“I swear I’m not usually so unprepared. When Ryan told me you’d called—”
“Is this your secretary?” He had a wicked grin that sent chills down my spine. Despite his intimidating demeanor, I didn’t feel like he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“The friend, then,” he offered. “The one with your phone?”
I glanced at my fingers in my lap and flicked off a white speck from my pants. “Yes. Wait, how do you remember that?” I met his gaze again.
He chuckled. “I have a great memory. If I recall correctly, you didn’t call him a friend, but now I know he’s just a friend.”
“So about the resume...”