Page 21 of Say Yes To The Fake Date

He starts his truck and backs out of the driveway. I can see my mom standing in the doorway, watching us, and even from here, I can feel the disapproval coming off her.

We get almost to the edge of town when Dom fills the silence. “You ready for this?”

I blow out a breath. “As ready as I’m going to be.”

He just laughs. “You’re going to be awesome. You got this, Lucky.”

As we pull into the parking lot for the rehabilitation center, I look out at the building and the gardens surrounding it and realize that the pictures on the website don’t do it justice. I’ll definitely add that to the list.

We don’t have to wait long at all. As soon as we get to Walker’s office, we’re led inside where he’s waiting for us. I’ve seen him one time before when I was in town for a brief time, visiting my parents. He stands up, walks around the desk, and comestoward me with his hand out. “Luciana Raven. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

I put my hand in his. “Walker, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

He then moves to Dom and shakes his hand with a squeeze of the shoulder too. “Dom, good to see you, man.”

“You too, brother.”

Walker releases Dom and walks back around to his chair. “Have a seat. Thanks for coming so soon, Luciana. I’ve been meaning to update the website, but it keeps getting put on the back burner.”

I wave my hand in front of me as I sit down. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for meeting with me.” I reach into my briefcase to pull out my notepad. “So I looked at your online presence, and I have quite a few ideas on updating the website.”

When I raise back up, Walker holds his hands up. “I want to hire you.”

My mouth falls open, and I look over at Dom, who’s just openly smiling at me. Walker continues. “I’ve seen your work. I look into anyone that I’m thinking about hiring. You’re innovative, creative, loyal, and a hard worker. Your websites have been known to increase productivity, social attention, and the bottom line.” He reaches for a piece of paperand hands it over to me. “Everything is on there. Your duties, what would be expected of you and your pay, holidays, insurance, etc.”

I look at the large amount, and my mouth falls open. “But…”

“Give it a day to think about it. I know you didn’t plan on moving back to Whiskey Run, and even though you can work in an office here or at home or anywhere in town, I would like to have you close because we do have fundraisers that will need coverage for social media.” He gestures to the paper. “But any of this is negotiable. Take a look at it and let me know if you have any questions. My personal number is at the bottom. Just give me a call with your questions and when you make your decision.”

I just stare at him wide-eyed before I pull myself together. “Thank you for this. I’ll look everything over and let you know.”

Walker leans on his desk. “As a future employee, I feel like I should let you know that your partner is stealing from you.”

My cheeks heat, but I’m not shocked. “You mean now… he’s trying to steal the company from me?”

He shakes his head. “No, I mean he’s beenlaundering money out of the business and stealing from you for years.”

Today has already been a roller coaster of emotions, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. “Okay, thanks for letting me know. I just… thanks.”

Dom reaches over and wraps his hand around my arm and squeezes it before taking the attention off me. “So, Walker, you got that check for me to sign?”

Walker laughs. “You mean a check for you to take with you and deposit into your account?”

Walker shoves a check toward Dom, and he flips it over and signs the back of it before sliding it back to Walker.

Walker just shakes his head. “I’m not sure what kind of business you’re running, but you make more money when you actually accept payment for services.”

“And I told you that I’m not going to accept your money. I’m perfectly happy that you make the donation to the women’s shelter each month.”

Walker taps his knuckles on the desk. “When I asked you to do a class every month about standard car maintenance for women in town, I didn’t mean for you to do it for free.”

“Trust me, Walker. I’m fine with volunteering my time.”

Walker nods and gives in. “Okay, fine. Are you coming to the fundraiser this weekend?”

Dom grumbles but nods his head. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Walker turns to me. “You’re invited, of course. It would be a great way to meet everyone.”

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