This meant that "tomorrow" was technically here. I didn't owe Mason an answertomorrow.I owed him an answertoday.
Goodness gravy.
By the time I climbed into the driver's seat of my car, Arden still hadn't replied. I tried to think.Should I call her?
But what if she was sleeping? How rude wouldthatbe?
Fortunately, I didn't need to wonder, because just as I was about to fire up my car's engine, my cell phone rang.
It was Arden. Thank God.
I answered with an anxious, "Hello?"
Right away, she asked, "What's wrong?"
She sounded so worried that I felt almost guilty. "Nothing."
"Are you sure?" she said. "Because you soundreallytense."
Iwasreally tense. And it wasn't all related to the job offer. It was related to Mason himself. By now, I didn't know what to think of him.
And even stranger, I was no longer sure what he thought ofme. While we'd been dancing, there'd been moments where I could've sworn he'd looked at me withrealinterest – and not the employer kind either.
To Arden I said, "Well, thereissomething I need to get your opinion on. And I'm really sorry, but it can't wait."
"Oh, stop it," she laughed. "Don't be sorry. What is it?"
Although I was safely inside my own car, I still lowered my voice. "First, are you alone?"
"Yeah." She paused. "I mean, I'm alone with Brody."
I winced. Brody wasn't only her fiancé. He was Mason's youngest brother. "Oh."
"Is that a problem?"
"No." I hesitated. "It's just that, well, it's kind of a girl-talk thing."
"Gotcha. Hang on a sec, okay?" I heard fumbling on the other end, followed by muffled voices and the sounds of a door opening and then shutting. A moment later, Arden said, "Alright. I'm alone on the balcony. What's up?"
Now, this is where it got awkward. "Well, first I should probably apologize, huh?"
"For what?"
"Okay, the thing is, I received Mason's job offer yesterday. And I meant to call you and say thanks, but—"
"Wait. Mason offered you a job? Seriously?"
Nowthatsurprised me. "What, you didn't know?"
"No." She sounded genuinely surprised. "I had no idea."
"So you didn't put him up to it?"
"No. Why would you think I did?"
"Because the other day, you said you'd help me find a job."
I hadn't asked for the help. In fact, I'd tried to decline, telling Arden that I didn't wantmyproblems to becomeherproblems. But she'd been insistent, which had led to my natural assumption that she'd orchestrated the job offer.
