I headed inside my house and tossed my keys on the counter. After pulling out the chicken bake that my housekeeper had made, I followed her instructions and finished off the meal. Gloria was a sweet sixty-year-old grandma who didn’t believe I could cook for myself.
Since the day I’d hired her, she had taken it upon herself to prepare frozen meals for me weekly, even though I told her many times that it wasn’t necessary. She told me that she doesn’t do anything that she doesn’t want to do. After finding out that she was a widow and had no living family around her anymore, I let her dote on me since it made her happy.
Plus, who was I kidding? I had food this delicious since I joined the army. I made sure to compensate her well for the cooking, though she had argued with me at the beginning. Gloria had finally given up when she figured out I was just as stubborn as she was.
Every Friday evening, she left behind the meals for the following week. She thought I was going to starve if she didn’t cook for me. My mind drifted back to a certain curly-haired woman who I now knew was living next door. I wondered what she was having for dinner tonight. Maybe I should have taken a plate over to her. Wouldn’t that be the neighborly thing to have done?
What in the world is going on with me? Rebekah wasn’t my responsibility, so I wasn’t sure why my brain kept telling me that I should be taking care of her. It’s like my gut knew somethingthat I didn’t, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out exactly what that might be.
My heart beat a little faster when I thought about seeing her tomorrow. This was absurd. I hadn’t felt like a schoolboy with a crush since being in high school, and I didn’t plan on feeling like one now.
After my food was ready, I headed to the home office to ponder over the paperwork I had brought home with me. The tension in my shoulders eased as I thought of having help organizing and dealing with all of this soon.
Rebekah wasn’t a good fit for me personally—at least that was what I was trying to force myself to believe—but I had a feeling that her working in the office was going to be just what we all needed.
Leaning back in my chair,I stretched my arms above my head, trying to work out the ache there. It was eight forty-five in the morning, meaning I didn’t have long before the person who had taken up residence in my thoughts all weekend would be sitting in front of me for her interview.
As if I had conjured her with my mind, I heard a timid knock at my office door. “Come in,” I gruffed out before clearing my throat. I didn’t want to scare the girl more than I already had.
If I wanted any chance of her agreeing to work here, I needed to at least pretend I wasn’t a grumpy asshole, which wasn’t going to be easy. I pulled my eyes away from my computer as a small figure stepped into my office.
Once again taken aback by the beautiful woman before me, I took a few moments to admire her as she hovered just inside my office. “Come in, please. Take a seat, I’m excited to have theopportunity to talk to you,” I said in the friendliest voice I could muster up.
Rebekah eased her way toward my desk and perched on the edge of the chair. “The pleasure is mine.” I heard her whisper in a voice as sweet as candy. Then and there, I knew she was going to be trouble for me, but it was trouble I would willingly get into.
“Let me get straight to the point because small talk and interviews aren’t my favorite things to do. I need someone who can help with the administrative side of things. I’ve been handling the paperwork on my own for a while now, but as we’ve grown bigger, it’s become harder for me to do on my own.”
“Okay, that’s reasonable and seems easy enough.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say easy. There’s a lot that needs to be done, and right now, I have no system. You’ll have your hands full trying to figure it all out, but of course, you will be compensated for it tremendously.”
I watched her face for any hint of what might be running through her mind. I knew I was asking a lot, but something told me she was up for the task. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to have a pretty girl in the office to bring in a little bit of color.
“Yes, Sir. I understand what you’re saying. I love organizing things and find comfort in repetitive tasks, so this honestly sounds like a dream come true.”
I nodded and started thinking about all the tasks I’d need to complete to get her onto the payroll system. Luckily, I was smart and had hired out my payroll tasks to an outside company, so all I needed to do was send an email with her information to my accountant.
“If you are okay with it, I would love to welcome you to the SFT team. If you need a few days to think about it and consider your options, I understand.” I said after a few moments.
“No, Sir. I don’t need time to think about it. I would love to come and work for you.”
”Great! Well, Rebekah, let me be the first to say welcome to SFT. We are thrilled to have you here.”
Rebekah gave me the sweetest smile, and my heart stopped. I was in deep trouble, and I couldn’t find it in me to care.
“When would you like me to start?” she asked, rising to place her hand in my outstretched one, giving it a shake.
“How about tomorrow? I’ll reach out to my accountant and send over your information. I have some paperwork here for you to fill out, tax stuff, and such.”
“Yes, Sir.”
After finding the paperwork on the corner of my desk, I slid it her way before standing and made my way around my desk. There was a knock at my door just as I was handing over her employee packet.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have a lead on a case. I thought you may want to come and see it,” Matt announced from the door.
I let out a sigh before nodding. Sadly, this was part of the job and not one I could ignore. “I‘ll be there in a moment. Round up the rest of the team; you can fill us all in at once.”
I felt a small presence at my side. Turning, I looked down to where Rebekah had stood. “My apologies, Matt, this is Rebekah. She’s going to be joining SFT to work in the office. Rebekah, this is Matt. He’s one of the seven guys on my team.”
