Page 23 of Boss of Me
“Um, hello?” She gestures around, beaded bracelets jangling on her wrists. “I have time!”
“I’d really rather not?—”
“C’mon, Marlowe. Spill it.” She leans forward expectantly.
I know she’s not going to let it go, so I tell her what happened on Friday night. She listens without interrupting, hereyes growing bigger and bigger until they’re practically popping out of their sockets.
“Holy hell,” she breathes when I finish. “I can’t believe he did that to you. That was so messed up.”
“Tell me about it.” I take an angry swig of beer.
“No wonder you’re so pissed. What a dickwad.”
“Exactly!”
Quinn bites her lip, picking at the label on her bottle. “That said . . .”
My eyes narrow. “What?”
“Well . . .” She squirms under my death glare. “Just to be clear, I’m not excusing what he did. He was totally wrong for lying to you. It was dickish and frankly creepy. But . . . well, it sounds like you two really hit it off. Maybe you were destined to meet that night. Maybe it was no accident that Dawson was late and you mistook Gunner for him. Maybe it was kismet.”
“Oh, please,” I snort in disgust. “It wasn’t kismet.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.” I toy with my bottle and take another sip while Quinn contemplates me. I can tell she has more to say, and whatever it is, I’m not going to like it.
“Maybe you should reconsider his job offer.”
“Why the hell would I do that?”
“Um, because he’s a billionaire? And hot as fuck?” Quinn laughs. “Do you know how many people would sell their soul to work for Gunner Ransom?”
I think about my Uber driver, recalling the way he’d stared so longingly at Gunner that I almost felt sorry for him.
“I’ve seen pictures of his estate inArchitectural DigestandTexas Monthly. It looks amazing.”
“It is,” I grudgingly admit.
“Damn. So not only could you have worked for the dude, you could’ve lived in his fabulous mansion?” Quinn sighs and shakes her head at me. “How much was he paying anyway?”
I shift on my stool. “A hundred thousand.”
Quinn’s jaw drops. “A hundred thousand dollars?Are you fucking serious?”
“I was just as shocked as you are, believe me.”
“And you turned him down!”
“Can you blame me? He pretended to be my blind date, Quinn. He made out with me, knowing full well I thought he was someone else! There’s no way I could ever work for such a sleazebag. I’d have to be insane to even consider it, and I’m not insane.”
Quinn snorts. “You just turned down a six-figure job. Sounds pretty insane to me.”
I shoot her a glare.
“I’m just saying, Marlowe. Job offers like that don’t come around every day.” She pulls out her phone and starts tapping away. “According to this website, the average salary for a housekeeper in Austin is $34,567. You’re being offered nearly three times that amount!”
“I’m well aware.”
