“I’m Mercedes Rhodes. I knew you wouldn’t set up the interview if you knew it was me, so I changed my name.”
“You want to work here?” I ask her, surprised.
“I do. You’ve read my resume and know I’m qualified. I’m not expecting special treatment, but I do expect you to interview me and hear me out before you make your decision.” She stands up straight, holding her head up high, daring me to say no. I roll my lip between my teeth, trying to decide if I should let her have her fun. An interview isn’t necessary, but I’ll play along…for now.
“Follow me then,Ms. Rhodes.I’ll show you around first, and then we can head to my office for the interview and any questions you may have.” Knowing she’s won, her face lights up with a beautiful smile. The corner of my lip turns up slightly as I hide my amusement.
I watch her take in Ryder’s Restores as I walk her around. I can’t help the pride that washes over me. I’ve thrown everything I had in me to get this place to where I wanted. It saved me from drowning. I did what I told her I was going to do all those nights ago when we talked about our dreams.
“You did it, Ryder.” She looks at me with pride shining in her eyes. “It’s even more amazing than the pictures on the website,” she says in awe as she takes in everything.
“Website?” I raise my eyebrow in confusion.
Her cheeks get red as she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. “Well, you don’t have a private social media account, so I had to stalk you through your website and business pages. I wanted to make sure you were okay and still following your dreams. It helped me get through the day and made the pain more bearable, somehow, to know you were still doing what you love.” I look away, not wanting to see the painful memories resurface in her eyes. It still hurts too much to see it.
I finish showing Eve the garage where we work on the cars and introduce her to a few of the guys. Thankfully, Nick is busy on the phone with a customer.
We walk back through the lobby, and I tell her all about my plans to expand and have a showcase room.
“I love that idea,” she says, smiling. “You get to showcase your work plus make some commission on any cars that are sold through here. It’s a smart business move.”
“I thought so.” I give her a small smile as I lead her back to the office. I cringe when I see all the invoices piled on the desk and post-it notes with phone messages on them. I didn’t get through as many as I wanted to before the interview.
“Sorry about the mess. You may rethink this position after you find out what you’re about to walk into. Our office manager, who kept things running, retired, and everyone I’ve hired hasn’t worked out, so I’ve been balancing the two jobs until we find someone.”
Eve walks around the desk and looks at all the invoices. “You don’t have an electronic system for all of these?” She picks them up and scans through them.
“No. Mary worked with Jimmy and was old school and set in her ways. She was good at what she did, so I let her do her own thing. The other two girls I hired started to input things but didn’t last long enough to finish the job.”
“What about inventory and parts? How do you keep track of what you are buying and what you are running low on?”
“That would be all the sticky notes covering my desks right now,” I wave my hand at the papers. “The guys just write down what they need, and I reach out to my contacts to try to find them.”
“This is giving me anxiety,” she laughs and takes in the scattered mess. “It’s taking you so much longer to get things done this way.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been doing more in the office these past few weeks than I have since starting this business.”
“Besides getting a system into place electronically, what else would this job entail?”
“Basic office stuff,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “Payroll, ordering any supplies for our lobby when we run out…answering the phone when the guys can’t.”
“I can do this job, Ryder. I’ve got a business degree, and this is what I did for my last job. I know some things about cars from being here all the time when you worked with Jimmy, so I’m familiar with how things run. I was going to start to look for work this week anyway and check out the local daycares for Ryland. I’ll eventually have to find my own place, so this would really help me out if you don’t mind us working together.”
She looks nervous as I walk over to her behind the desk. I know I haven’t done a good job telling her how I feel. Hell, I’ve been a goddamn yo-yo lately with my feelings teetering on the edge of insanity with what she can make me feel, but if she thinks she needs to save money for a place of her own, she’s way off from what I want for my future…for our future. I’m not living apart from Ryland, and once I have Eve back in my bed where she belongs, there’s no chance in hell I’m going to let her leave it.
She steps back and hits the desk when I invade her space. I’m so close I can see the different shades of blue swirling in her eyes…eyes that have always had the capability of pulling me in so deep that all I want to do is lose myself in her and never come up for air. The problem with that is I need to be able to trust that this time, she won’t let me drown.
Fear weaves its way in as I find myself protecting my heart and biting back what I really want to say. “I’ll hire you on a trial basis starting today. You have until this weekend to prove to me that you can do this job.”
“O…okay.” She searches my eyes, and I know she’s trying to see past the wall I just put up. “I won’t let you down,” she says softly.
“Let’s hope you don’t this time.” I step back and avoid her gaze, knowing it will be brimming with hurt and guilt that I can’t stand to see on her beautiful face. I know I’m being an ass with that little jab, but I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
I wave my hand at the desk. “I’ll send Bobby in to show you the system and answer any questions you have.” Normally, I train the staff myself, but there is no way I can hold it together if I continue to be this close to her. “Feel free to take anything home with you. I don’t care if the work gets done here or at home. We can work out a schedule with Ryland, and between the two of us and my brothers, we won’t have to put her in daycare.”
“Ok, sounds good.”
I walk to the door and stop when she speaks. “Thank you for giving me this chance. I know how much this business means to you.”
