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Hayden’s personal car is out front, taking up the valet spot. I grimace in apology at the valet, but then Hayden hands him a wad of cash, and I have to roll my eyes again.
“You can’t just throw money at every problem,” I hiss at him as he herds me into the car.
“Show me the person money can’t buy, Keller. I’m dying to meet them.”
“You’re looking at her,” I inform him. Hayden might pay my bills but if he ever tried to openly bribe me for something I think I’d have to put arsenic in his morning coffee.
Hayden’s on his phone the moment we’re in the car, his driver pulling smoothly away from the curb. “Hello, Maeve,” he says politely.
“Hi, Gerry, good to see you.” I glare at Hayden. “You know that was a pretty nice restaurant that Kyle had to work hard to get a reservation at.”
“Kyle?” Hayden is very good at packing a world of opinions into a single word.
“I know that you can just buy out entire restaurants at your whim but most of us have to go through the reservation system like all the other plebians. He was really excited to try this place.”
“He was excited to impress you.”
“And is that a bad thing?”
Hayden arches an eyebrow but keeps tapping away on his phone. I’m tempted to snatch it and throw it out the car window or at least keep it out of his reach, but I just dig my nails into my palms and maintain my composure.
“He’s a really nice guy.” I need to try a new tactic. “I was so excited for this date.”
Hayden snorts.
“What?”
“You have better taste, Keller.”
“Wh—excuse me?” I’m flabbergasted. “You just met the guy! And you don’t know anything about my personal life!”
“I know enough.”
“You know what, that’s fair, seeing as you interrupt it constantly.”
“Keller.” Hayden puts his phone down, his gaze pinning me to the seat. “I did you a favor.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
Hayden smirks at me and goes back to his phone. I groan and slump back in the seat. I’m not going to keep fighting with a brick wall.
Besides, as long as I work for him and his two partners, I know that this is how it’ll always be. At the end of the day he’s my boss. I’m going to give in.
I hold in my sigh. Not for the first time I wonder if it wasn’t a mistake to take on this job. It was kind of Ford to offer it to me, even if it was out of pity. His brother had just dumped me, after all. I couldn’t say no at the time. I was still drowning in credit card debt and had no other options.
Even now, though, I know in my heart I’m not going to quit. I’m good at my job and I enjoy being good at it. And the pay is far better than I’d get anywhere else.
We pull up in front of the office and Hayden gets out, coming around to get the door for me. He insists on it. I’ve tried telling him to knock it off but like with everything else, it’s Hayden. He gets his way.
“Goodnight, Gerry. Thank you again!” I get out with a wave and follow Hayden inside.
“Gerry doesn’t pay your bills,” Hayden points out. “But he gets all that?”
“Unlike you, Gerry is a decent and thoughtful human being.”
The offices for the three founders of the company are on the top floor. There’s a central area with luxurious couches where clients can sit and be served snacks and drinks, to create a relaxed atmosphere. From there you can enter any of the three spacious offices with the names on gleaming silver plaques on the doors.
My desk is sprawling, a big hunk of marble that intimidated the hell out of me when I first saw it. It’s right in front of the elevator so that anyone who wants to speak to Hayden, Gabriel, or Ford has to go through me.
