“She didn’t stutter,” Ally quipped. She was getting irritated with the provoker and protective of me. Her normal.
But, even I had begun to think his rapid fire questions were getting annoying, but if he needed this to make him feel better, so be it. It wasn’t hurting me any. He had said he was the head of new hires. He had a right to feel distrustful. I just wasn’t a fan of how he carried his emotions out.
His focus caught on Ally. “If she’s an analyst, then I’m the tooth fairy.” He paused and scratched his chin. I think he almost smiled. “And what are you supposed to be within the company? This should be interesting.”
Oh, boy howdy, did Ally’s hackles ever rise. Dumb, dumb man.
Her grin was malicious to say the least. “I’m in marketing. And Ember really is an analyst and brilliant at it when she needs to be.” She paused, tapping her foot. Her gaze caught mine.
I sighed.
Well, there went my fun and relaxing day. Oh, well. He kind of deserved it now.
I nodded, eyes crossed.
“Do you enjoy workin’ for Lion Security, Peter?” Ally asked sweetly, her accent dripping like venom. He didn’t notice.
“Absolutely. It’s the best company I’ve worked for.” He nodded stoutly. Oh, this might actually be fun.
“Okay. And you don’t really believe Ember here is an analyst of people?” She kept her tone sugary sweet, with a hell of a bite as a chaser. He still didn’t notice.
“Hell, no.” Blunt and to the point.
“I’d like to make a wager with you,” she stated and at his eyebrow raise, she explained, “You see, I believe Ember here can persuade you to quit your job by the end of the day.”
I gulped. That was actually a pretty tall feat. Normally, I had a week to work on someone. I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling, reviewing everything I had noticed about him so far.
He was chuckling as Ally confirmed, “Can you do that, Ember?”
I held a hand up and kept thinking. Something. Darn it, there had to be something.
“I’m sorry Miss, but there’s no way she can do that. I’m not going to take that bet. It just wouldn’t be right,” he offered honestly.
Bingo!
“Yep, I can do it.” I leaned my head back down and stared at him. He looked incredulous. I almost laughed. Wait until the end of the night. “But, if I do, you’re going to spend the remainder of your stay here helping Ally with dinner. Even if she doesn’t want you there, you stay, or you quit for real.”
“Hey! I didn’t…” Ally complained loudly and I cut her off.
“You wanted this, now you’ve got it. Deal,” I told her. Her mouth snapped shut and she scowled. Oh, yeah. Peter-boy was going to have a blast in the kitchen with her.
“And if I don’t quit by the end of the night?” he asked like he was placating me.
I shrugged. “I’ll leave. No hard feelings, just done and gone.” I tried to ignore Ally’s brief look of worry at what I had wagered. Like I said, she started this. She should have better confidence in me.
“Deal,” he stated immediately, sounding eager for me to be gone. He sure didn’t like me much.
I nodded. “Deal.” Wager struck.
“No one says anything to anyone else. This wager stays between the four of us. If anyone of us mentions it to anyone outside the occupants inside this room right now, the wagers null and void,” I said officially. Then added, “And when I win you can’t be too mad at me.”
***
The gameofficially began when the crew walked in an hour later, but I had started with my weak act right after our agreement. I had watched Peter closely to make sure I was accurate with my assessment.
I was.
He had held out chairs for Ally and Chloe to sit in. Gotten drinks for them first. He even let Ally have the last of the cobbler remains for last night’s desserts when I had clearly heard his tummy rumble. His exterior may be rough--and yes, he was a suspicious man--but that was all driven from circumstances I was pretty sure I had pegged down.
