Even the Score(18)

“Next time you conduct an interview, Mr. Shaw, perhaps calling the person you’re interviewing a liar isn’t the best route to take if you actually want them to consider working for you.”

With that she turned and marched out the door.





CHAPTER 6

Danicka

“Son of a bitch!” I dropped my purse on my kitchen counter and sighed. I’d had four interviews in the last two weeks, and none of them had gone like I was anticipating. At least this last guy didn’t hit on me like all the others, but how damn rude to assume that I was lying just to cover for being late. Thinking about it was making me mad all over again, and I needed to relax. I opened my fridge and bypassed the wine for a beer. I kicked my heels off, narrowly missing my poor dog’s face as she lay sleeping on top of the vent, where it was cool.

“Oops! Sorry, Roxy,” I said out loud. She hadn’t even noticed the shoe, but she did crack one eye at the sound of her name.

I twisted the cap off my beer with my hand as my phone buzzed from inside my purse.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sorry I missed your call, babycakes. What’s up?”

If there was anything in the world that would cheer me up, it was a call from my best friend, Sadie. Sadie James was the peanut butter to my jelly. We’d only met a couple of years earlier, at a wedding where we were bridesmaids together, but our friendship was intense, and we’d been inseparable since that night. We knew everything there was to know about each other within two weeks, and by three weeks we were discussing sex and female issues. She was a newlywed herself back then, and now she was a mom to her three-month-old daughter, Skyler.

“Nothing. I just had the worst freaking day, and I wanted to chat.” I set my beer on a coaster and plopped down on my couch with a sigh. Seconds after I sat, Roxy hopped on the couch and curled up in my lap. I petted her soft fur as she slowly closed her eyes again.

“I love when you call me with your bad days. It helps remind me that there’s real life happening out there somewhere.”

I giggled at her dramatic response.

“I’m not kidding!” she said with a laugh. “My days are full of nothing but baby puke and me googling to see what poop colors are considered normal.” She sighed. “Spill it.”

“So you know I had that interview today over at Shaw Management—”

“Oh, God. Did you get hit on again? Didn’t I tell you to start wearing a poncho to these interviews?”

“Would you shut up?” I giggled again. “No, I didn’t get hit on, but as I got to the office, Bobby Martin called. The idiot got a DWI early this morning. I sat in the car and talked to him for a minute but was running late, so I had to go in. Well, when I got in there, he called again because he’s a needy baby, and Andy Shaw, the guy doing the interview, overheard part of my conversation.”

“Is Andy hot?”

“Sadie. Focus. Yes, but focus. So the interview was going great, I thought, and then the jerk had the nerve to hint that I’d lied and pretended to be on the phone to cover up for being late.”

“What?” she shrieked into the phone. “Who even does that?”

“I know, right? What an asshole.”

“He is an ass, but at least he didn’t try to get in your pants like the other scumbags.” I knew Sadie was trying to cheer me up, but I was still bummed. I needed to get out from under the Leighton brothers, and the thought of branching out and starting my own company had crossed my mind more than once, but I just wasn’t sure I had the clientele to support that yet.

“I know, Sadie, but I really wanted this one.” I pinned the phone in between my ear and shoulder and readjusted Roxy, pulling her up closer to me as she let out a soft sigh. “Walking out of those other offices was a relief, but this one felt different. His company is growing, too, and it just seemed like the perfect fit.”

“I’m sorry, babe.”

“Thanks. I’ll be better tomorrow. Tonight I think I’ll just drink too many beers and hit the hay. I need to go into work early tomorrow to make some calls and send out more résumés.”

“I fully support the idea of getting drunk. Have one—or six—for me while you’re at it. Breastfeeding is great and all, but this mama is ready for a night out.” Skyler fussed in the background.

I laughed. “You are ready for a night out. Have you been out at all since you had her?” Thinking back hard over the last three months, I couldn’t remember a time that we had been out without Skyler.

“Unless the grocery store counts, then nope.”

“Okay, this weekend, you and me. Got it?” If it weren’t Monday and I didn’t have to get up early in the morning, I would’ve driven to her house and picked her up that very minute.