Page 5 of Anything To Be With You

"Ladies, don’t you think it was a little rude to assume Carrie was going to ask you what you wanted to drink?" I ask.

They look at each other and cackle. "That’s her job sweetie," one of them says, flipping her long extensions over her shoulder.

"No, sweetie, her job is to greet you, take appointments and answer any questions people may have," I respond. "She can offer to get you something to drink but after the way you walked in here, demanding she get you a mocha latte, I wouldn’t say a damn thing if she shoved her shoes up your asses."

They gasp and turn away, while Carrie chuckles and fires me a wink. Her desk phone rings and as she rushes over to answer it, I check my phone. One text from my son Mason and one from Erin.

I check Mason’s first.

Bubba: Good luck Ma. Oh btw Axe went through ur underwear drawer

Me: Thank you, Bubba and tell Axe I’m going to cut his hands off if he does it again

That little shit is definitely being buried in the backyard. Axe is nothing but trouble. He’s a charmer and a sweet talker and has one major crush on yours truly. I guess it comes with the territory of being a young mom. Mason was bound to have one friend who would develop a crush.

I open the text from Erin next.

Erin: Be the best applicant he has ever had…

Erin: With your vagina

I snort out a laugh as I text back.

Me: Oh, my fuck, Erin!

The two women next to me give me a look as Carrie raises her brows at me.

"The interview will begin shortly," Carrie says as she walks past with a bunch of papers in her arms.

I let out a slow breath and stand. "Carrie, washroom?" I inquire.

"Down the hall, second door on the left." Carrie answers with a nod of her head and walks inside the meeting room.

I amble in that direction, finding it between the two smaller offices. I lock the door behind me and use the toilet.

I look at myself in the mirror as I wash my hands. I’m thirty-three with a seventeen-year-old. I’m competing with women in their twenties who have experience as a PA.

While I, on the other hand, have zero experience and on top of that, I have multiple scars and burn marks that are visible no matter what I do to try and hide them. Who wants to hire someone that looks like they have been dragged through hell. My scars don't bother me as much as they used to, however I still have days where my insecurity over my appearance makes me want to hide away from the world.

I pull myself away from the mirror, blowing a piece of my hair off my face as I sigh. The only thing that will get me this job is the fact that I have years of experience dealing with boys who have temper tantrums and that’s exactly what Luke Archer is.

A boy in a man’s body.

I exit the washroom and head back towards the waiting area. I sit with my purse on my lap and take a few deep breaths.

I can do this; I must do this.

She's The One

Luke

It’s my job to read people. That’s how I win my cases. I can tell instantly what a person’s intentions are by the way they stand, carry themselves and treat other people.

The two blonde women with the dark roots are here only to be attached to my name. How do I know? The way they are dressed and the way they treated Carrie when they first walked in the office. They use their bodies to get whatever they want and have never been told ‘no’ once in their lives.

Now, that honey blonde is a hard read.

When our eyes met, she didn’t look away—like most people tend to do—instead, she mimicked my brow raise. She’s going to be a very big problem.

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