“I don’t think so,” Evan supplies, but I ignore him, my mind now working overtime.
“It’s just as well,” I say more to myself for reassurance as I look down at the glossy cherry table. “I wasn’t cut out for this and wasn’t happy here anyway.”
“She’s not going to fire you,” Evan says, but I ignore this too.
Instead, I raise my gaze back up to his and say, “Unless there’s anything else you want to talk about, I should get back to my desk. Well, assuming I have a desk when I walk out of here.”
“Emma,” Evan says sharply to get my attention. “She’s not going to fire you, and in fact, has approved you to work just on my stuff.”
I blink at Evan and shake my head again, because surely he can’t still be harping on wanting to hire me.
“I’m not qualified,” I snap back at him, still feeling completely out of sorts by all of this. “So in case I’m not making myself clear, I’m not interested.”
“And if Midge insists?” he asks me slyly.
A wave of furious heat washes through me, and I grit my teeth. “You’re seriously going to pull the aunt card on me… just to get what you want?”
His answering smile is mischievous and knowing. “I might have something else to offer you.”
“Like what?” I ask suspiciously, and then want to kick myself in the butt for even asking.
“A job at one of the firm’s you’ve applied to,” he says straightforwardly.
I jerk in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he says slowly and as if he’s talking to a third grader, “you work for me on these issues and help me get past them. Then Midge pulls strings and gets you your dream job.”
My mind whirls with the possibilities.
I could get out of here?
I could work somewhere that gives me fulfillment and makes me feel like a productive member of the legal community. I could achieve my dreams.
I’m on the verge of jumping on his offer when something inside of me causes me to ask, “Wait a minute… why do you want me to work for you so badly? I passed the bar exam less than a year ago. I’ve told you I’m not qualified.”
“Midge seems to think you are,” Evan says dismissively. “Not to mention you have all the available resources here at Knight & Payne, as well as Midge’s assurances she can help you if you run into a jam on any of the issues you’re unsure about.”
“But—”
“Think about it, Emma,” Evan says softly… almost suggestively. “A few months of work on all my legal issues, some of which involves nice, long, boring contracts with I’m sure a shit pot full of fine-print details, and then a lifetime of working in your dream job.”
Oh, God.
This could be it. What I’ve desired ever since I first started law school.
My eyes bore deep into his and I ask just to make sure, “You promise… I help you out and then I get a new job.”
“Promise,” he says clearly and confidently, and I trust that he means it. I also trust Midge has the power to put me where I want to go if I do this for her nephew.
“Okay,” I say quickly before I can change my own mind. “I’ll do it.”
Evan gives me a slow smile, and there’s something wolfish about it. But I don’t let that plague my thoughts too much.
And it’s long after he’s gone, promising we would meet soon to go over the legal issues, that I realize he never did tell me why he wanted me for this job.
In fact, the more I think about it, I think he purposely steered me away from that.
CHAPTER 5
Evan
I pull up to the curb that sits adjacent to Emma’s house. I told her we’d get together soon to go over all the things she’ll be doing for me, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t take that to mean the very next day.
On a Saturday.
At her house.
I get out of my car, which is a nondescript Nissan Maxima. I can afford much better but honestly, I haven’t figured out what type of sweet ride I should get, so I’m still driving the same vehicle I had when fame hit me suddenly just over a year ago.
After clicking the button to lock the doors, which causes the horn to give a short chirp of acknowledgment, I pocket my keys and cut across her lawn to the front porch.
Her house is cute. Very small, very tidy, but also very cute, just like Emma. It looks to be well cared for on the outside with fresh paint and a doormat that says “Beware of Dog” on it with the right lower corner missing a big chunk to simulate a dog bite.
I don’t see a doorbell, so I give a sharp knock on the door, and immediately hear the booming bark of a dog that is sporting a sizable pair of lungs by the sound of it. The noise gets louder as the dog approaches from the other side, and then I hear Emma clearly say, “Get back, Sirius.”