Page 21 of Saved By the CEO

But I want more.

I want to earn enough to pay off my mom’s mortgage.

I’ve wanted that since long before the diner closed. She should get to retire and spend her gray-haired days on the porch with a cheesy romance novel and a cup of tea. Not still busting her ass every day, living paycheck to paycheck.

And now she doesn’t even have a paycheck.

So, yeah. I’m going to fucking nail the interview tomorrow.

I have to.

The journalist isa nice man in his early fifties named Brian, and we meet at the Green House around nine in the morning. It’s crisp out, and I’ve come prepared with a thick scarf and two steaming mugs of coffee. Brian thanks me, takes his cup, and we head inside.

The building is still very bare-bones, and our footsteps echo off the naked concrete as we cross the lobby.

He starts asking questions right away, and I do my best to answer them as we tour the building. After I’ve shown himaround and let him take some pictures, we sit down to drink our coffee. We spend almost half an hour talking about the project. Brian asks about delays, rising material costs, downgrades, and environmental concerns. Every time he throws a new question my way, I brace myself for the awkward moment when I have to admit I don’t know the answer.

It never comes.

After a while, Brian lowers his coffee cup and studies me.

“What?”

He laughs. “Most people in your position would’ve given me three rehearsed talking points and then redirected every difficult question to someone higher up the food chain.”

I smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was one,” he says, leaning back in his chair. “You’re good at this.”

I shrug, suddenly self-conscious. “I just really believe in this project.”

His eyes drift to the unfinished walls, the plastic covering the windows, and the dust on the floor.

“You do?”

Nope.

“Of course. This building will become a landmark in a few years, mark my words.”

Please don’t.

He lets out a low chuckle and shakes his head. “You know, I heard that Atlas Development is looking for a new PR Manager. I’d give them a call if I were you.”

“Really?”

He gives me a long look. “You’re wasted as an assistant. It’s probably why Andrew sent you to do this—he knows you should be doing more than just keeping track of someone’s calendar.”

The words staywith me for the rest of the day. And the next.

I pull up Atlas Development’s website. They’re one of BenCo’s competitors, and just visiting their page feels vaguely treasonous, but I can’t help myself. I click on Careers. A list of openings appears: architects, analysts, marketing specialists.

Then I spot it.

PR Manager.

My pulse picks up as I open the listing. The job sounds fun, engaging, and challenging. It also sounds like the kind of job where I wouldn’t be micromanaged by a nitpicky boss, which is very intriguing.

Mr. Bennett’s door opens, and I quickly close the tab.