“Miss Felicity Feldman is here, sir.”
As soon as he said that name, William remembered their date.Shit, he said angrily within himself. He had forgotten that she was coming over that night! He already knew she wanted more than a night with him. She wanted to be his go-to girl for every night of the week if she could swing it. Which wasn’t going to happen.
But then again, he thought, maybe her presence tonight would be a good thing. He was wholly inappropriate with a young lady seventeen years his junior when he was never attracted to young women even when he was young! Their maturity level was never up to his standards ever. And although Joy, at times, showed signs of great maturity, he was relatively certain she would prove to be no exception either. And she was soon to become his employee, and he never fooled around with anybody on his payroll. “Wave her through,” he said to his gate security, and released the button.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
But Joy became worried when she heard that a woman was there to see him. She should have known a man like him would have girlfriends galore and here she was raining on his parade by her presence alone. The last thing she wanted to be was a burden to him. “I can leave if you’re having company,” she said.
He considered her. He appreciated that she was a proud person, but he didn’t like the fact that she allowed her pridefulness to overshadow the reality of her situation. “You can leave?”
“Yes sir.”
“And go where, Joynetta?”
Joy swallowed hard. Because they both knew she had nowhere to go in Chicago, at that time of night, and she’d just agreed to come back from Bridell anyway.
“Go have a seat on the sofa,” he said to her.
Joy felt foolish as she got off of the bar stool and made her way to the living room area. And then she felt ashamed when her stomach growled so loudly that William had to have heard it. She looked over at him. He heard it.
And his look was concerning. “All you’ve had in five weeks was jail food, right?”
She didn’t respond.
“When was the last time you had non-jail food?” he asked her a different way.
“When Cory gave me half of his sandwich at lunchtime.”
William frowned. “Who’s Cory?”
“Your lobby receptionist. I don’t think he liked me at first. He looked at me as if I annoyed him. And then I think he kind of felt sorry for me when I was just sitting up there waiting for you to come through those doors. But as the day went on, we started talking and laughing and we grew on each other. He was very nice to me.”
“And that half a sandwich he gave to you five weeks ago was the last non-jail food you’ve had?”
Joy felt she was becoming a problem for him. Something she never wanted to happen. But she wasn’t going to lie to him either. “Yes sir.”
And as soon as she said it, his doorbell rang.
“Get that,” he said to her. “I’ll see what I can put together in the kitchen.”
“But I’m fine, sir, really I am,” Joy pleaded with him as she stood up. “You don’t have to put anything together on my account.”
“Just do as you’re told,” William said bluntly to her as he made his way to his gourmet kitchen.
Joy was upset that he had to go to all of this trouble on her behalf. Getting her a job should have been enough. But no! She had to get herself arrested and miss her bus. Now she was at his mercy when she could tell he didn’t like anybody being at his mercy. She should have caught the bus out of Bridell in the morning. But he said new hires were expected to be at HR, for orientation, by eight am. She had no choice but to come back with him. But she still could just kick herself!
But at least she had a job. Potentially her dream job. That made it all worth it to her.
She opened his huge door front door and Felicity Feldman, the woman whose name she remembered from the intercom conversation, walked in without so much as a how do,tossed her mink coat to Joy who had to struggle to catch it, and made her way inside William’s home as if she lived there.
“William, darling, where are you?”
“Coming!” William called out from the kitchen. “Make yourself at home.”
Felicity began removing her gloves as she looked over at Joy. Joy was closing the door and then sitting her coat on the table she saw in the foyer. It might not have belonged there, but that was Felicity’s problem. Joy was not the help.
Felicity realized it when she walked back into the living room and sat back down.
