Page 1 of His Temptation
1
KYLIE
If one more person tells me they are in a hurry today, I’m going to take this can of whipped cream and give them a facial. This is New York City; everyone’s in a hurry. That’s implied. There’s no need to state it and telling me isn’t going to get their coffee made any faster.
I make this girl’s latte with all the ingredients that she asked for in an attempt to make it healthy in her mind.
News flash, lady: It’s filled with sugar and chemicals that make up its fake flavor. Delicious it may be; healthy it is not.
While I’m pouring in the syrup, I shift my weight to one foot to try and relieve the pain from the other foot. The soles on these shoes are almost nonexistent, but I don’t have the money to replace them. Bennett, my little brother, needed a new pair of sneakers for cross-country, which drained my account. When did tennis shoes become so expensive?
“Here you go,” I say with a smile as I slide the drink across the counter. “Have a great day.”
The woman grabs it without a word and spins around.
“Why, yes, I will have a great day too. Thank you,” I mutter to myself.
I wipe my hands on my apron and walk back to the counter. A woman approaches who looks like she’s in her fifties. She has frizzy red hair that’s pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Her pantsuit is pressed neatly and clearly very expensive. I’m sure she works here in the building, but I don’t remember seeing her before.
“Ugh, he fired another assistant this morning,” she whines to the other woman next to her. “Can you believe it? That’s three in one month.”
“Good morning,” I interject. “What can I get for you?”
She looks down at the paper in her hand and gives it to me. “It’s probably just easier if I hand this to you. The espresso machine in our office broke this morning.”
I look down at her list of ten drink orders. Yikes. The line behind her is going to get pissed. That’ll take away from any tips I may get this morning. Perfect!
I get to work on the most-time-intensive drinks first.
“Anyway,” I hear the woman start back up with her friend, “I just don’t know what to do. These women all fawn over the guy. They are too busy trying to get his attention and score a date rather than actually do work for him.”
Figures. These are probably socialites who just want to find a billionaire to marry and don’t really need the money. While there are people like me, who would give up everything to have an opportunity for a foot in the door at a corporation.
“You need to hire someone different this time. The problem is that all these candidates don’t even need the money. They have no reason to work hard,” her friend next to her says.
Bingo! Who would’ve thought the answer was to hire somebody who actually wanted a job?
“And where am I going to find this person?” she asks. “I don’t have time to shuffle through their résumés to see what their financial background is, and I can’t exactly ask that in an interview.”
“You could hire me.”
My finger almost slips from the top of the can of whipped cream. Did I just say that out loud?
The lady looks from her friend over to me. “Excuse me?”
Well, the words are already out. I might as well go for it. “You can hire me. I’m a really hard worker, and I would make a great assistant.”
“You?” she says with a sound of distaste. “How are you qualified to be an assistant?”
“Well,” I start as I place the lid on the latte before moving to pour the remaining five drinks, which are just regular coffee, “I’m smart and motivated, I can handle anything life throws at me, and I have no interest in marrying some rich asshole who would likely cheat on me every chance he got.”
Yikes. That wasn’t very professional. I probably could have been more eloquent with my response.
The hint of a smirk plays across her lips. I’m prepared for her to put me in my place as a barista when she shocks me.
“I see you are a smart woman who knows not to trust these powerful men. I like that.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a card. “Here’s my number. Give me a call this morning, and we’ll set up an interview.”
“Really? Um, sure. I can do that.” I stumble over my words. “Thank you.”
