Page 34 of Whispers and Wildfire
“Okay, so what’s your question.”
“Do I have to be me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was just thinking, I could be someone else to make it more fun.” Her voice changed to the Southern drawl she’d used the other night. “I doubt you’d care for this one since you didn’t appear to find it amusing at the bar.” She shifted to a British accent. “But perhaps you’d be interested in hiring a fine young lady from London. She does sound sophisticated, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “How about just Melanie?”
“But Melanie is so boring, mate.” She started offAustralian, then pitched her tone higher. “Or a little forest pixie. That’s cute, right?”
She was good. Not that I was going to tell her that. But she was.
“No forest pixies.”
“You’re no fun,” she said in her natural voice. “I think your customers would get a kick out of it.”
She was right. They probably would. But she was brushing up against something inside me—something that made me want to ensure she didn’t win. “Maybe, but you’ll drive the rest of us nuts.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Don’t get mad. Don’t get mad.
“Do you want the job or not?”
“I mean, do Iwantthe job? That’s a complicated question. It’s not exactly my dream to work the front desk of my ex-boyfriend’s auto shop. But I suppose dreams don’t have much to do with anything when you move back to your hometown to start your life over.”
I leaned forward. “Now you’re trying to get a rise out of me.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
She crossed her arms. “I’m not. Sometimes I just… don’t know when to stop talking.”
“Or when the performance is over, and real life begins.”
“This is an interview. What is it if not a performance?”
I hesitated. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”
“Oh, undoubtedly.”
Her expression felt like a dare.I dare you to let me in your space and not let me affect you. Not let me get under your skin.
I could handle it. If anyone in the world could handle Melanie Andolini, it was me. I knew what I was getting into. She was a handful, but I could give it as well as she could.
This was a challenge. I wasn’t sure what beating her meant, but I was absolutely going to win.
I locked eyes with her. “Do you want the job?”
“I’ll take it.”
Released
ROSWELL MILLS
Ten years.Ten long, frustrating years were coming to an end.
