The smile that spread across her face could have powered the whole city block. “I am, yes. My daughter’s seven.”
“What’s her name?”
“Aurora.”
I nodded. “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you.”
Come on, get back on track. This isn’t you two getting drinks. “What will being a mother due to the hours you can work?”
She blinked. “Well, being a single mother has its disadvantages. During the summer and school breaks, I can work whenever you need me to work. But, while my daughter is in school, my hours of availability are eight in the morning until two or so in the afternoon. My daughter gets out at three, so I need to be at her bus stop by then to pick her up.”
I nodded. “Okay, okay. What about being on-call on the weekends? Is that something you can do?”
“Yes, I can handle that no problem.”
“What about traveling? I’ll need a secretary who can make my work trips with me. Do you have someone to help you out during times like that?”
“I do, yes. Aurora’s godmother works from home, so she can easily come and go as I ask her.”
I grinned. “Wonderful. One last question.”
“Shoot.”
I leaned forward and rested my arms against my desk. “You said you had a lot of debt from school.”
She blinked. “I have a fair amount, yes.”
“How much?”
She paused. “Sorry, what?”
“How much debt do you have from your schooling?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I’m not sure how that pertains to—”
“How. Much?”
Her eyes danced between mine. “I’ve got about sixteen thousand more to pay off.”
I ran the numbers quickly in my head. “Assuming they’re federal student loans at an interest rate of around three percent, and assuming you’re paying the bare minimum every month, you’re probably paying around two, three hundred every month?”
Her voice fell flat. “More like five.”
My protective instincts quickly kicked in. “Five hundred? What are your interest rates?”
Her tone of voice grew defensive. “I’m sorry, is there a reason why this is pertinent to whether or not I’m qualified for this job?”
Slow down; you’re ruining things.“I just enjoy knowing things like this about my employees. It better enables me to tailor things like bonuses and raises to what they need.”
She relaxed a bit. “Oh.”
I leaned back in my chair and studied this breathtakingly strong woman in front of me. A single mother, juggling all sorts of jobs, dealing with men who couldn’t keep their dicks in their pants while on the clock, and she still held her head high and met me toe-to-toe with answers to my questions. This luscious woman, who had dropped right into my lap three times now, had an obvious need I could help with.
Well, she had many needs I knew I could fulfill. But that was beside the point.
“So, let’s say I offered you the job. When could you start?” I asked.
