More Bang for His Buck(3)

After a minute, he abruptly dropped the pen, and pulled off his glasses. He rubbed his eyes briefly, and then sat back with a sigh. His eyes met mine as he ran a hand through his hair, and his face was transformed with a warm smile. I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat under the force of that smile. His eyes were a light blue and his strong jaw was covered in light stubble, and he was… well, he was completely hot.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I hate this crap.”

I blinked.

He and reached over to grab my resume, and I slid it gently toward him over the polished wood. Then he looked stared at me, taking in my face and then briefly, my upper body. I fought the instinct to shield my expansive bust.

He went back to reading. “So…” He began. “As you know, I’m in need of a new assistant. James mentioned you’re a bartender?”

I flushed. “Yes, that’s what I’m doing at the moment. But I have had plenty of experience as a receptionist. I know all the new software, and I have an excellent phone manner.”

He smiled again, not looking up, eyes scanning the pages. “You have plenty of experience in a lot of things.”

I rolled my eyes while he wasn’t watching. “Yeah - Yes. Let’s just say I haven’t yet found my calling.”

He turned the final page, glanced at it, and put the resume down. “You believe you have a calling?”

I licked my lips nervously. “I don’t know.” I decided to be honest. “I haven’t been happy in a job for a while. I don’t think I’ve found the right one for me, yet.”

Rick just looked at me for a long moment, folding his hands and leaning back in his big leather chair. He didn’t look like a typical big business type, but he pretty much had the mannerisms down. “Well,” he said, “That’s okay. Five years ago I didn’t know what I wanted to do, either. And to be honest, I’m not just looking for someone who can use a phone and open my mail. In fact, that’s probably going to be the smallest part of it.”

I nodded, my brow furrowing ever so slightly, and listened politely.

“It’s… hard to broach this matter with someone I’m just meeting.” He ran his hand through his hair again restlessly. “Firstly, what I need, is someone who can assist me in personal matters, not just at work. I need someone who can travel with me, come to events, do my shopping and hell, sometimes maybe cook a meal for all I know.”

I nodded again, more slowly. “I can do all that.” - I wasn’t sure about the cooking part. But for now I decided to run with it.

“Most of all I need someone who I can trust with intimate matters.” He said, looking right into my eyes. “And I don’t expect this to happen overnight. I haven’t gone into this expecting to hire the right applicant the first time. There’ll be a probationary period. To see if we get along.”

“Alright,” I agreed. That wasn’t so out of the ordinary. And he seemed alright - certainly easy on the eyes. I thought I could get along with him.

He smiled warmly again, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He had blue eyes, I noticed. Hesitantly, I smiled back.

“Obviously,” he continued, sitting forward again and picking up the corner of one of the pages, "if you have commitments here - a partner, children… this position might not be suitable. We could be traveling for long periods of time.” One of his eyebrows was raised slightly, questioningly.

“No,” I said quickly. “To either.” And I felt the flush returning, my cheeks growing hot.

He rubbed his stubbly chin with one hand thoughtfully. “Well,” he said, “I just have one other thing to ask you.”

“Sure.”

“Will you come to dinner with me tonight?”

Rick must have seen the confused look on my face, as he hurriedly continued, giving a little laugh. “I know it sounds strange, but think of it as an extended job interview. I hope you can forgive me - I think you would suit the job well, but I do want us to get to know each other. This isn’t a decision I can make based on fifteen minutes in an office. And I need you to be sure, too. You might not want the job, once you get to know me.” He grinned.

“I don’t think that’s likely.” I replied, belatedly hoping I didn’t sound flirtatious. But his grin was infectious, and I smiled back. “Sure, why not.” I agreed.

“Thank you.” He sounded grateful, somehow. “I’ve been interviewing people all day. It’s been boring as hell,” he confided.

“Are you going to dinner with all of them?” I asked, his casual manner putting me at ease.