Page 13 of Hard to Hold
The metal building was even bigger than it looked from the outside. Probably a few thousand square feet on the main floor with three-story-tall ceilings, at least. It would probably hold two of my houses inside, just on the ground floor. Maybe three.
Laid out on the concrete slab before me were various pieces of furniture, all in different stages of assembly. Tables of all shapes and sizes, various styles of chairs, dressers, media stands, even mirrors. The far end of the warehouse held planks of wood standing on their ends against the walls and shelves full of other items—paint cans, brushes, a wide assortment of tools. It was just as I'd expect a furniture warehouse to look. Not that I'd ever given it much thought, honestly.
“Can I get you somethin’ to drink?” Wolfe offered.
I shook my head. “I’m good. Thank you.”
He watched me for a second, and I felt the urge to smooth down my dress. It was the only one I owned, but I'd figured I needed to wear something other than the jeans and T-shirts that had become my go-to wardrobe these days. This was, after all, a job interview.
At least I thought it was.
“Come on into the office.” Wolfe nodded his head toward a metal staircase that led to the second floor.
I followed, taking it all in.
The second floor extended over one end of the warehouse with a metal railing that allowed one to see everything down below. Three doors lined the narrow walkway. Nothing fancy, but I doubted they needed to be. Since their main focus was building furniture, I didn’t figure they had much need for office space.
Wolfe stopped at the door closest to us and pushed it open, then stepped back and waited for me to enter.
Keeping my eyes down, I quickly moved past him. His sheer size had me sucking in a breath, but I fought back the fear that tried to take hold. Wolfe Caine wasn’t going to hurt me. I knew that much.
Then again, I'd thought the same thing about…
“So, what do you think?”
I lifted my gaze to his face. “About?”
“The warehouse?”
“It’s … uh … big?”
Wolfe grinned and the smile changed his features from handsome to devastatingly attractive.
No wonder all the women in town talked about him.
Admittedly, I didn’t have much interaction with him, but that was by choice. Although I saw him at the bar and at the diner, I'd done my best to keep my distance. Befriending people in this town would only cause more problems. Didn’t matter that there were some days I'd give just about anything to have at least one friend.
Realizing I looked like an idiot staring back at him, I glanced around the room as he took a seat. “What does the job entail?”
Wolfe leaned back in his chair and the creak of the leather caused me to look at him again.
“A little this, a little that.” He steepled his hands and set them on his flat stomach. “But mostly, it requires you to answer the phone, take orders, call the customers when there are questions. Maybe some light accounting work to start off. Every now and again, my old man might need help over at the store.”
I nodded. That didn’t sound too difficult. Well, except for the accounting part. I didn’t have the first clue about that, but again, I was a quick learner.
“In the summer, we work from six to three with an hour lunch. Monday through Friday.”
That meant I would have to quit the job at the diner, but I could continue to work at Reagan’s.
“Do you have any experience?”
I should’ve known he’d ask that question. Although I had considered lying to him, I knew he’d figure it out soon enough if he did hire me. “No, I don’t.” I bit my tongue to keep from telling him that the two jobs I now held were the first time I'd worked in my life.
Wolfe nodded but didn’t say anything.
I had to chew on the inside of my cheek to keep from rambling. Wolfe made me nervous, but not the panicky kind. There was something in the way that he looked at me. Like a man who liked what he saw but wasn’t exactly sure what to make of me yet. It made me want to tell him things, to assure him I was responsible and could be trusted.
When he leaned forward, my gaze slammed into him. The sudden movement made me jump, and I realized there was no way to hide the reaction, so I kept watching him, praying he wouldn’t ask me why I was so twitchy. It’d been a year since the attack that had nearly taken my life, but I still remembered it like it was yesterday.
