Page 65 of Dear John

We were the only three in the elevator. Why would the number 23 be pressed if he was taking us to 24? I didn’t like any of this, and if we weren’t about to go for the interview of a lifetime for Isla, I might pull her aside and yell at her for leaving without me.

When we reached the 23rdfloor, the doors opened, but there was no office space here. In fact, the whole place was a construction zone. Thick plastic hung from various parts of the ceiling, separating different areas. There were power tools laid out on work tables and spotlights set up all around. It was a fucking serial killer’s haven.

“This will be one of our office spaces when construction is done,” Jerry said smoothly. He stepped out, but as Isla took a step forward, I grabbed her arm and held her back. She scowled at me, but I didn’t give a shit. There was no way I was letting her go into a construction zone where anyone could be hiding.

“I think we’ll stay in here,” I smiled at him. “Safety protocols and all.”

“Of course,” he smiled, getting back on the elevator. “Our current offices are on 24.”

I could have sworn he gritted his teeth as he turned to face the doors again. However, it was hard to concentrate on Jerry when Isla was pinching the shit out of my arm, nearly breaking the skin through the fabric of my suit. Yep, she was pissed at me and wasn’t going to forgive me anytime soon. But at least she was alive.

However, my life expectancy was dwindling by the second.

23

ISLA

The doors openedand Jerry smiled at me, holding his hand out for me to step off the elevator. “Thank you,” I returned his smile.

I could feel Kavanaugh at my back, breathing down my neck. The man just couldn’t stop. He looked like he’d rushed over here to be by my side. It was an interview. I didn’t need him tagging along and pretending to be my assistant.

“Would you give us just a moment?” I asked Jerry.

He must have sensed I was not happy because he nodded and motioned down the hall. “The office is the last one at the end. Join me down there when you’re ready.” His eyes lingered on Kavanaugh for just a moment before he turned and walked away.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed.

“You left without saying a word.”

“Because I had an interview. You knew that.”

“I told you I wanted to be with you.”

“For what?” I asked, disbelief coursing through me.

“To protect you.”

I almost started yelling at him, but now wasn’t the time. I had to get in there before this whole thing was shot to hell. “Just do me a favor and stay silent.”

“Of course,” he muttered, but somehow I doubted he could do it.

Taking a deep breath, I turned and strode down the hall, entering the office with a smile on my face. Jerry was already at the conference table getting set up, so I pulled out the research I had done, along with all my ideas for the company.

At first, everything was going fine. He asked for a little information about my background and where I saw my own company headed. After that, we got into ideas for a launch and different areas I could help market. But when I mentioned how I thought he was undervaluing his social media and presented him with a few models I had made up for the company, that’s when I really snagged his attention.

“Amazing. You’ve done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the company.”

I beamed with pride, but tried not to let it show too clearly on my face. I opened my mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by Kavanaugh, who had sworn he would stay silent.

“Why don’t you have someone working in-house on your marketing?”

Jerry turned to him, taken aback by his question. “Well, until now, we’ve been expanding rapidly by word of mouth and some fumbling around in the dark,” he said, turning to face me with a wink. “Which is why we need someone like you.”

“There are plenty of graphic designers in the business and in this area,” Kavanaugh continued. “Why her?”

I turned beet red, shooting a death glare at him.

“Well…I did my research and I liked her style.”

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