The brunette relaxes a little, finally returning my smile. “Thanks for not being offended.” She holds one hand out between us. “I’m Maren.”
I shake her hand, glad we’re finally getting to a point where she seems comfortable. “Nice to meet you, Maren. What do you do here?”
Maren’s smile dims. “Right now, I’m just a temp. I get the exceptionally important task of stocking and dispersing office supplies.”
“Actually, that probably is really important.” I lean, checking out the rolling cart behind her. “Mind if I walk with you as you work?”
I don’t want to keep her from doing what she’s supposed to be doing—especially if there’s a chance Trevor could give her shit for it—but it would be really nice to get a guided tour.
“Yeah. That would be awesome.” Maren turns, gripping the handles of her cart as she pushes it down the large hall. “I was on my way over to the wing where they modify all the cars. Have you been there yet?”
“So far, I’ve only seen Trevor’s office and fish tank, Titus’s team’s space, and the break room with the fancy coffee maker.” Our first couple trips here, I hated leaving Titus for too long, just in case he got overwhelmed and needed an out. But he’s doing so freaking good now, I’d probably only make things worse by hovering. “And this place is huge, so I’ve only seen like, a tenth of it.”
“Probably less than that.” Maren strides down the hall, looking confident and capable. “Tucker’s wing is basically a gigantic warehouse, and Tobias’s is a whole-ass garage.” Her steps falter a little as one hand lifts to press against her mouth. “Shit.” She says the word under her breath. Closing her eyes, she pauses for a second before gripping the handle again and offering an explanation. “I’ve been trying really hard to do well here. Outside of dealing with Trevor’s crappy personality and the occasional asshole, I think I could love working here.” She wrinkles her nose. “So I’ve been trying to keep my potty mouth in check.”
“Do you think cussing is a big issue?” I did my best never to curse when I worked at the inn, but that was because I was usually standing directly in front of visitors. Here, it’s just other coworkers. I can’t imagine a little slip here and there would be a huge problem.
“I mean, I’m sure it won’t help.” Maren’s eyes come my way. “And my three-month contract is almost up, so I’m doing everything I can to make it more likely Trevor will hire me on full time.”
There’s a hint of panic in her voice that I recognize. I felt it myself when I came here. The desperation to hang onto an opportunity. The fear it might slip through your fingers and leave you screwed.
“What do you want him to hire you to do?” I reach out to tap on the cart. “Would you like to be the permanent and official supply delivery person?”
Maren snorts. “I would freaking scrub toilets if that’s what he wanted. Whatever it takes to get my foot in the door and my hands on that fantastic benefit package this place provides.”
“I can’t blame you there. Their insurance is pretty fantastic.” It was one of the things that made me desperate to hang on to my job. “I’ll talk to Titus. See what he can do.”
“Really?” Maren seems genuinely surprised by my offer. “I hope you don’t think that’s why I started talking to you. I wasn’t trying to —”
“Technically, I’m the one who started talking to you.” I give her a conspiratorial wink. “And it would be my pleasure to take this directly above Trevor’s head.”
I like Trevor as a brotherly sort of person, but I have… opinions about him as a boss. I know he doesn’t expect anything from someone else he doesn’t expect from himself, but what he expects from himself is ridiculous. Putting that on other people is simply asinine.
Maren seems so sweet, and considering how quickly we’re walking, it appears she takes this job pretty seriously. There’s not adoubt in my mind they can find some sort of position here for her to fill.
Especially once I see how much bigger this place is than I initially thought. I hadn't realized how far back it went, and by the time we start to slow, I’m feeling really freaking tired.
“You walk all over this place all day?” I swipe at the mist of sweat clinging to my forehead. “No wonder you look like you’re in such good shape.”
Maren isn’t just sweet, she is cute as a bug and sturdy as an ox. She’s short and tiny, but when we pause at the office indicating it belongs to Tobias’s administrative assistant, Maren hefts a box of printer paper like it weighs nothing.
After adding a few more items to the closet situated in one corner, we’re moving again.
And as much as I’m enjoying spending time with Maren, I’m starting to regret my decision to tag along. I don’t feel nauseous as much anymore, but there are times where I just feel gross. Hot and sticky and like all I want to do is sit down and close my eyes.
This is one of those times.
But since I know everyone is watching me like a hawk so they can whisper about what Titus and I have going on, I put on a brave face and suck it up. No way do I want suspicion about the state of my uterus to become the next hot topic. I’ve already pretended to nearly pass out once. Too much more, and someone is bound to start adding things up.
We pause outside a heavy door with a permanent sign affixed to it warning about proper ear protection. Maren collects two sets of earmuff sort of things, handing one-off to me. “It can get really loud in here, and they’re funny about people coming in without these.”
I nod as I put them on, swallowing down what seems to be an abnormal amount of saliva as we step into Tobias’s domain. As Maren claimed, it is a gigantic garage, with soaring ceilings and racks upon racks lined with boxes of all sizes. There are a number of car lifts centered down the middle, each one holding up varioustypes of vehicles. There are shiny new trucks, SUVs, luxury sedans, and even a few older model units being worked on by teams.
“Holy shit.” I technically understood Tobias retrofitted vehicles with top-of-the-line security features, but I guess it never occurred to me the sheer volume he might be handling. “This is insane.”
Maren must not be able to hear me well, because she just gives me a thumbs up and leads me deeper into the space. We get a few double takes—most of them aimed at me—but for the most part, everyone is too busy to notice us. Thank goodness, because I feel like I’m getting sweatier and stickier with each step I take. This part of the building is way hotter than the area we just left, and I’m starting to bake.
Using one hand to wave around in front of my face so the air feels a little cooler, I trail behind Maren as she leads me to the back corner where an office has been framed in. We go inside, and a familiar face grins from behind the desk.
