I nod like she just gave me the wisest answer.
Getting the envelope from the glove compartment, I climb from the car and go around to the passenger door, unbuckling Lily from the seat and lifting her to support her in the crook of my arm. I tug a blanket around her to save her from the chill and walk the short distance up the path before I lift a hand and knock on the door.
A few seconds tick by before I hear movement, and then locks begin to disengage, several of them, before the door cracks open, attached to a chain.
“Dean!?” She gasps my name in surprise.
I dip my chin in a greeting.
“Shit,” She hisses before she shuts the door and unlinks the chain so she can open it further. “What are you doing here!?” Her eyes dart from me to my daughter, softening a touch when she looks at her.
If I weren’t sure she was a good fit for the role, then that would have done it. Anyone who can look at my daughter the way she just did can have the job. You can’t fake that, especially not a woman who wears her every feeling on her face.
I offer her the envelope. “I only came to bring this.”
“The contract?” She takes it hesitantly.
“If you still want the job,” I nod.
“Even after…” She doesn’t finish the sentence, but I know what she’s referring to.
“We all have a story, Sloane.” I sigh, tightening my hold on Lily. A twist on my story I didn’t see coming.
“Right,” She nods. “Well, I’ll have a read through and let you know, yeah?”
Her eyes bounce around my face, the color of them reminding me of the ocean, not the one that’s only a few miles from here, but the Caribbean Sea at midday, when the sun is at its highest point and the ocean looks like some kind of crystal, so clear and blue you can see all the way to the bottom. There’s a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, and dark lashes frame those gemstone eyes. She pulls her plump bottom lip into her mouth, a nervous gesture as she waits for me to respond.
“Right,” I snap out of it, “Take my number so you can contact me when you decide.”
She hesitates before she tucks the envelope beneath her arm and pulls her cell from her back pocket, unlocking the screen. I call out my number, and she types it in, the tips of her nails clicking rhythmically on the screen.
“Well thanks,” She steps back into the house and closes the door. For a minute, I stand there, listening to each lock engage — and there are many — and though I shouldn’t, I really do wonder what her story could be.
The cold, indifferent woman I met in the club so many weeks back seems like a front, an armor she wears. I read people; I see them when they don’t want me to. A talent I picked up when Iwas younger, and I needed to read a room and a mood so I could predict how the night would end.
It’s almost midnight when my phone buzzes on the table. Placing the beer I’ve been nursing all night down, I pick it up and find a text from an unknown number.
Unknown: Why do I need to sign an NDA?
I can only assume it’s Sloane.
I debate how to respond. I can’t very well tell her I work for an organization that hires out mercenaries and deals withverysensitive information.
Me: I work in security. There may be times where you see or hear me talking about a job.
The lie isn’t a new one. Security is the easiest and safest explanation.
Unknown: Right. The contract also states I’m expected to stay late when required. How often would that happen? Ideally, I’d like to have set hours.
Me: I will try to keep it minimal, though I cannot say it won’t happen. If necessary, we will set up the spare bedroom next to Lily’s for you.
Unknown: No overnights.
Me: And if my job requires me to stay away?
Unknown: You will need to find alternative childcare for Lily. It’s non-negotiable.
I pause before replying, wondering why this is off the table. Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t know me, which I can understand, but my intuition tells me it’s more than that. Maybe she has a man who wants her home every night. The thoughtstirs something hot to churn in my stomach. The fact that someone like Sloane, with her beautiful ocean eyes and ash-blonde hair, is already taken shouldn’t surprise me, even though I don’t like it all that much.
