“Desperation will drive anyone to get what they want,” I mumbled.
“Forget Savannah,” Mallory said. “Are you ready?”
I inhaled a long, deep breath and rolled back my shoulders. “A little nervous, but ready. He knows I don’t have any paralegal experience?”
“He knows you have the basic receptionist skills. And remember, if you get the job, the firm will train you.”
The job was too good to be true. If I did get the job, I would be making two times more than I did at my last receptionist job, and eventually more when I became a paralegal. Butterflies took flight as the elevator doors opened.
The scent of cologne or perfume immediately wafted over me as Mallory and I stepped out onto the eighteenth floor.
A blond receptionist sat behind a rich wooden desk up ahead. She smiled at both of us. “Hey, Mal, the conference room is ready.”
“Thanks, Dina,” Mallory said before escorting me down a long, carpeted hall.
We passed a large cubicle area with offices lined along the back wall. Phones rang, whispers floated in the air, and my pulse pounded in my ears. When we reached the end of the hall, Mallory stopped outside a large corner room that overlooked Boston’s skyline.
“As I told you last night, sit up straight, don’t let his looks rattle you, and sell yourself. Don’t forget to ask for the job before you leave.”
I wasn’t a salesperson. That feat went to my BFF. “I’m not going to drool over his looks.”
Her pink-painted lips curled. “You will. Mark my words.”
I lifted a nail to my mouth. “I’ll be fine.” I wasn’t there to drool over my potential boss. The last boy I’d pined for had broken my heart. I would like to believe I’d learned from my mistakes. Besides, my number one goal was getting the job. “Aside from Kelton Maxwell’s great personality and good looks, what else should I know?”
She gently pulled on my wrist, her blue eyes appraising. “Be yourself and don’t chew on your nails. I’ll let him know you’re here.” She nudged me to go inside before she left.
I took in a few deep breaths, clearing my mind as I went into the imposing room bathed in rich cherrywood. It was furnished with tall leather chairs, a table bigger than my apartment, and a spectacular view of Boston.
Within a minute, a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed man came strutting in, dressed in what I would guess was an expensive tailored suit with a light-blue shirt and patterned blue-and-yellow tie. He headed toward me with one hand outstretched while holding a folder in the other. “I’m Kelton Maxwell.”
And you’re intimidating, confident, and stoic.Oh, and handsome for sure.
Mallory had shown me pictures of Kelton from a recent office party. However, the pictures didn’t do him justice, or maybe it was his cologne that was making me swoon.
I swallowed an elephant as he shook my hand, hard and firm. “I’m Jade Kelly. It’s nice to meet you.” I stared at him, unable to look away.
His ocean-blue eyes reminded me of someone I’d once known, someone I’d been trying to forget forever.
He waved his hand at the table, breaking my memory of the boy who had broken my heart. “Please, have a seat.”
Once we were settled across from each other, he leaned back in his chair, studying me as though I were a witness for the prosecution.
My stomach churned, and the need to chew on a nail was stronger than ever. If he were grilling me on the stand, I would cave in a millisecond.
“Mallory has told me a lot about you. I only have one question for you, Jade.”
I reared back as my eyebrows drew down.Surely getting the job wasn’t that easy.
You don’t even know the question.
I sat up straight.
“Would you represent a client guilty of a crime?” he asked.
I swallowed, feeling my eyebrows coming together. That wasn’t the question I was expecting at all. It wasn’t like I was applying for a lawyer’s position. I scrambled to find an answer in the fogginess of my brain. Maybe his cologne was still interfering with my ability to think.
“You look puzzled,” Kelton said.
