Page 65 of Crazy In Love
I sniffed a few times, not expecting to get emotional about a potential new client.
But it was the fact that Beatrice believed in me.
I hadn’t even told my parents yet, because my mother would go to great lengths to convince me that he wouldn’t hire me.
I didn’t need her negativity in my head.
My mother’s voice had become the voice of shattered hopes and broken dreams for me.
She’d always appeared to find joy in my failures, something that I’d spent most of my life trying to overcome.
So, I wouldn’t be sharing anything with her until I knew I had the job.
“Okay, thank you. You sure you’re fine closing up here on your own?”
“Pfffttt… I’ve been waiting for you to pass the torch to me for years. Get out of here. I’ve got this.” She winked.
“Good luck, Em. Break a leg,” Melanie called out from next door. “Actually, let’s not put the ‘broken leg’ thing out into the universe. Let’s just close the deal.”
Beatrice and I both laughed.
“Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you,” I said as I pushed out into the blustery cold of the evening.
Once I slipped into my car, I tore open my protein bar and took a bite. I glanced in the rearview mirror and gave myself a little pep talk. “You’ve got this. You’ve been preparing for this day for years. You have a great presentation, so go in there and own it!”
I’d been pumping myself up since I was a kid, and it always helped to calm my nerves. I took another bite of my protein bar and put the car in drive before pulling away from the curb.
Downtown was lit up with twinkle lights strung in a zigzag formation across the road. People were moving along the street, doing their holiday shopping, and the town was bustling with holiday fever.
I turned up the volume when Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” came through the speakers.
I sang along with her, and my nerves relaxed a bit.
When I pulled up to his home, I turned into the driveway, immediately noticing that his place was the only house on the block that didn’t have holiday lights strung on the outside. Hedid, however, have a ton of outdoor lights that were on sensors, because the driveway illuminated when I pulled in.
I put the car in park and reached for my backpack, which held my laptop and my purse, and I made my way to the front door.
He pulled the large wood door open just before I reached for the doorbell.
“I see you’re right on time, Emilia.” He smirked, and I took in his dark wavy hair and piercing gray eyes. He wore a tan business suit, tailored to perfection, and I’d never seen Bridger in a suit before—but wow.
Just wow.
My ovaries nearly exploded at the sight of him.
How can I be so attracted to a man who irritates me so much?
“Does that earn me brownie points?” I asked as he stepped back, allowing me to step inside. My arm brushed against his chest, and I felt my body heat instantly.
“You don’t get brownie points for showing up. You get brownie points for showing me you’re the right person for the job.” His tone was flat, giving nothing away. It was impossible to tell if he was joking or hostile. The thought made me laugh, and he glanced over at me and raised a brow.
“Something funny?”
“No. No, of course not. I just can’t read you most of the time,” I admitted.
“And are you used to reading everyone you encounter?”
We stopped in the kitchen. I took my bag over to the dining table, which happened to be too small for the space, but I’d save that tidbit for later, once I officially had the job.
