Page 18 of Promise Me Forever

He smiles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. That’s the smile that put me at ease in my interview, and the questions he asked and the way he asked them allowed me to overcome my nerves and present the best version of myself. He understood the gaps in my resume and didn’t judge when I told him I’d been focusing on my family. He was interested in the different places I’d lived and how it felt to be back in New York. He had a way of drawing truths out of me, of reading me better than I’d ever been read in an interview.

I release the breath I was holding. The fact that he liked what he heard enough to offer me the job should be enough reassurance. He was certainly more pleasant than Linda, the poker-faced woman from HR who sat in with us. Even the memory of her scowl is enough to make me shudder and want to cross myself with holy water. Hopefully I’ll have no run-ins with her any time soon.

Nathan gestures to the corridor on our left. “If you come with me, I’ll show you where you’ll be based.”

I glance in the other direction. To the hallway that leads to his office. “Is it not…?”

He frowns. “Not what?”

I clear my throat. “Isn’t your office that way? I assumed I’d be sitting near you if I’m your secretary.”

He winces, and my heart drops through my chest. I’m so nervous that the slightest sign of anything going wrong has me heading for a tailspin. Have I made a huge mistake on my first day?

“Ah. It appears there’s been a misunderstanding, Miss Ryder. You see, I already have a secretary, and while I’m sure you would do a very good job…” He looks around as though he’s checking for witnesses, then leans in and whispers, “I’d be kind of lost without her. Plus, she’d kill me if I even considered replacing her. I mean that. I’m terrified of her.”

His tone is light, and his body language says this isn’t a big deal. That it’s amusing, if anything. Maybe that’s how it seems to him, but my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I feel like an idiot who doesn’t even know what job she applied for. I was absolutely convinced that my role was as secretary to Mr. James, the man who interviewed me. I guess it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, provided the pay and conditions are the same, but I’m humiliated. I came here thinking I was working for the man in charge, and instead I’m… well, who knows? I suppose there’s only one way to find out.

“I see,” I say calmly, amazed at how unflustered I sound. “Then whose secretary have I been hired to be?”

He laughs, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. There’s something oddly familiar about him now. Something I didn’t notice at my interview last week and that I can’t quite put my finger on. “Please accept my apologies,” he says, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “This was all done in a bit of a rush. Perhaps we should have been clearer.” He gestures toward the hallway again, and I walk with him. “You were hired to work for the other Mr. James. My brother.”

“Oh?” I blink, taken aback. I was aware from my research that James and James is run by two brothers, but I was under the impression the other one ran their Chicago office—at least that’s what it said on the website. As I wasn’t applying for a job in Chicago, I didn’t pay a great deal of attention to his name.

“Yeah, he’s only recently returned to the city, and he’s in desperate need of some help. I hope that’s okay? The pay and position are exactly the same, and on the bright side, you don’t have to work for me. I’ve heard I can be a bit of a grouch.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I reply politely, even though that’s exactly what I heard too. I’m relieved that the job is basically the same, and how different can the other Mr. James be? They are brothers, after all.

“So you’re happy to stay and give us a shot?”

“Of course I am! I’m a bit surprised that you’re doing this yourself though. Don’t you have, um?—”

“I think the word you’re looking for is minions. And yes, ordinarily, I might have sent one of them to show you to your desk. Today, though, everyone’s pretty busy with our annual staff HR training, and I really wanted to make sure you were given a proper welcome. I would have asked my brother to come and greet you at reception, but he’s still trying to work out his new coffee machine. And that, to let you in on a little secret about my caffeine-addicted brother, takes top priority.”

He stops outside an office that has the door propped open, and points to a desk with nothing but an iMac and a welcome basket of fruit on it. I smile at the neat and tidy workspace, looking forward to making it my own. “Thank you, Mr. James. This looks perfect.”

“Let me tell him you’re here.” He knocks on the door of the adjoining office, then turns to face me, his eyes pleading. “Perhaps you can help him make an espresso before he has some kind of withdrawal-related seizure?”

“I’m sure I can,” I reply, eager to appear capable. “Uncooperative coffee machines are a specialty of mine.”

He pushes open the door, revealing his brother, who has his back turned to us and is wearing a charcoal-colored suit that I can tell cost more than my annual rent. He doesn’t seem to notice we’re there, mainly because he’s too busy abusing a poor, innocent coffee machine. He slams his fist down on top of the expensive-looking device. “Useless piece of shit,” he grumbles.

“Drake!”

The word doesn’t even have time to register in my mind before he spins around. His eyes land first on Nathan, and then on me. My heart surges up into my throat, and the shock takes my breath away. My knees start to buckle, and I hold onto thedoor handle to stop myself from crumpling into a heap. How can this be? What have I done in a past life that was bad enough to earn me this kind of karma? And who do I need to pray to make this go away? I blink slowly, harboring a childish hope that I might have imagined it. That when I open my eyes again, I’ll realize it was all an optical illusion or a stress-related hallucination.

No such luck. He’s still there, standing before me. He’s still Drake James, my new employer. Still the other half of James and James, the man I thought was based in Chicago.

More alarmingly, he is still the gorgeous sex god who made me scream using only his tongue. Still the man with the biggest dick I have ever seen. Still the one-night stand I spent the most insanely passionate time of my life with. My boss.

I close my eyes again and try to convince myself this is my mind playing tricks on me. This isn’t some cheesy Hallmark movie where I play Cinderella and fall for the billionaire. This is my life, and I desperately need this job, not only for myself but for my mom.

“Miss Ryder?” Nathan’s concerned voice penetrates my thoughts, dragging me back to the here and now.

I snap to and nod. I need to appear competent, even if I don’t feel it. Nathan looks slightly worried, but there’s no hint of recognition on his brother’s face. No shock, no surprise, no horror. Has he forgotten me already? Was I really that unmemorable? Was he possibly that drunk? Or maybe these things happen to him so often that it meant nothing at all. I don’t suppose the reason matters—if he’s playing things this way, then I need to go along with it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. James. I’m Amelia. Amelia Ryder.” I force out the words because it seems like the ground isn’t actually going to do me a solid and swallow me whole. Isthis really happening? Am I going to lose a job before I’ve even started it?

“You too, Miss Ryder,” Drake replies coolly.

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