Trade It All(16)

An hour later his phone beeped with an incoming text message. He checked it absently, then sat straight up when he realized who it was from.

Sorry about tonight. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. Thank you for offering to help me.

Lance put the phone down beside him and pinched the bridge of his nose. He shouldn’t have gone to see her in the first place. If he were smart, he’d stay the hell away from her. He groaned. Ten years hadn’t changed much about how he felt about her. She was still a dangerous temptation. He picked up the phone and texted back, I shouldn’t have driven over without asking if you wanted company.

He guessed at her next words. She would smooth the situation over. Like him, she avoided emotional confrontations. That shared trait had probably been the biggest barrier to them working through whatever the hell had happened during that rollercoaster of a week in Nantucket.

That and the fact that we were so young.

Young and self-absorbed. Me, at least. I don’t know who the hell she was back then. She only let me in that one time.

I shouldn’t have ignored your calls. I’m interviewing for a job tomorrow, and I guess I’m nervous.

Lance swallowed hard. What kind of job?

Clay Landon offered me a job as his personal assistant. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to find a job in the art world. This might be good for me.

Don’t do it. Don’t ask. I’m starting a new project for the city. They want to revive the area around the capitol building and make it into a place where the community feels comfortable gathering for events and leisure. I could always use someone who knows what regular people like.

When Willa didn’t immediately answer, he reread his last text to her. Shit, that came out wrong. Lance had meant it as a compliment. Willa wasn’t like the women in his social circle. She wasn’t living off Daddy’s money and spending her days deciding which diamond matched best with which outfit. She was grounded. Levelheaded. The longer she went without replying, the more he felt like an ass. I have time tomorrow morning if you’d like to meet and discuss any openings at my office.

The moment it took her to respond felt like an eternity. Thanks, but I have to pass on that one. Goodnight, Lance.

Fuck.

Goodnight, Willa.





Chapter Five




Willa stepped out of the taxi and onto the street. She clutched a folder to her chest and double-checked that she had her purse. After paying the driver she took a deep, fortifying breath and headed up the cement path that led to Dax’s Boston office building. Clay had told her it was easiest for him to have their meeting there.

Her phone rang before she made it inside the building. She paused, dug through her purse for the phone, and was instantly filled with a mix of irritation and relief that it was her sister. Lexi had successfully avoided her since their argument, and it was the longest Willa had gone without speaking to her sister. Lexi had come home each night, but it had been late, and she’d left earlier than normal every morning.

“You’ve got an interview with Clay Landon, you hot shit.” Leave it to Lexi to act as if nothing had happened between them.

Not wanting to argue and make herself even more nervous, Willa played along. “I do. Here’s hoping I get it. The salary he’s offering will make paying rent a breeze.”

“You don’t have to move out, Willa. Actually, Tessa is with Dean so much right now she said her apartment is always vacant. I might crash there for a while.”

Breathe. One thing at a time. “We don’t have to make any fast decisions.”

Instead of addressing her last comment, Lexi said, “Kenzi told me about your interview about five minutes ago, or I would have called you sooner. Tell me you’re not wearing one of your frumpy business suits.”

Willa looked at her reflection in the glass door of the building and smoothed her hand down the skirt of the very outfit her sister was referring to. “I am dressed to be taken seriously.”

“If you want to be taken seriously, turn your ass around, run back to our place, grab anything out of my closet and show him what he’d be saying no to if he turns you down today.”

Willa rolled her eyes skyward. “First, that would make me late.”

“He won’t care if you pick the right dress.”

“Second, I’m interviewing for a job, not a romp on his desk.”

With an impatient sound, Lexi said, “Do you know how many jobs I’ve gotten that I wasn’t qualified for simply because I choose the right outfit for the interview?”

“And how many of those jobs lasted?”

“Who cares? They paid me, didn’t they? My bank never cared if I had one employer or ten. The landlord never did either. You’re the only one who thinks that my way isn’t good enough.”