Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
“Oh, you don’t want your phone back?” I ask, cocking my head to one side.
Mya squirms another second or two then stops and looks at me. She frowns and purses her lips like an angry little girl. “I knew you had it.”
“Well, I couldn’t just let you keep it, could I?” I chuckle. “Would have foiled my entire plan.”
“Plan!?” she gasps. “See I knew you were just a creepy old man who just—”
“No,” I say, cutting her off. “That’s not it. That’s not it at all.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffs.
“It’s not.” I shake my head. “I could tell when you came here that you wanted the job but something…was holding you back. Am I right?”
Mya frowns, bites her lower lip, and nods.
“Well, I wanted to offer you more than just the pay raise. I wanted to offer you a place to stay, better than that crappy room you stayed in last night,” I chuckle. “But I knew you’d say no.”
“So your plan was to kidnap me?”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
I get to my feet and help Mya get to hers. Her beauty is seriously astounding. She doesn’t run, which means I’ve got her one step of the way there. I know she felt what I felt yesterday, but there’s something inside her that’s resisting. Why? I don’t know yet, but I’m damn sure gonna find out eventually.
“Look, I know you want to stay here,” I tell her. “And I want you here. So why don’t I just take you over to the house, show you the room—which is much nicer than the room you stayed in last night, by the way—and you can make up your mind from there? What do you say?”
I can practically see her mind working as she looks at me, and it’s absolutely adorable. Her gorgeous eyes look me up and down as though she’s trying to decide if I’m a good boss and a good guy or a creepy kidnapping serial killer. She places one hand on her hip in a sassy sort of way and twists her lips to the side. Her brow furrows, and she cocks one foot to the side as she contemplates her options.
Finally, she takes a deep breath and sighs.
“Fine, Mr. West,” she replies. “I’ll take a look.”
“Mr. West?” I smile, breathing a deep sigh of my own. I walk past her toward the door to the outside. “What happened to Daddy from last night?”
As I pass her, she replies with a little smack on the shoulder.
“Well, you’re my boss, aren’t you?” she asks as we step out into the warm sunny day. “That’s probably not appropriate for work.”
I smile and nod and lead her across the parking lot and onto the grass toward the house. “Yes, that’s probably true. Although I do like it when you call me that.”
“I’m sure you say that to all the girls,” Mya replies.
“Hey,” I say, stopping and turning to point a finger at her. “No other girls call me that. And that’s the truth.”
I let my words hang in the air and don’t move on until I see they’ve fully sunk in. Mya is not an easy nut to crack, but I’m okay with that. In fact, I like it.
She follows me across the lawn and past the row of spruces to my house. I can see she likes it but refuses to say anything. Yup, really tough nut. I lead her up the front steps, down the hall, and into the guest bedroom I spent last night preparing for her. This time, she’s unable to hide her delight when she sees it.
“Not bad, right?” I ask as I watch her take a few steps into the room, trying her best not to smile too broadly. This girl is very guarded. I wonder where it comes from.
She turns to me and shrugs. “Not bad.”
I reach into my pocket and produce the money for her first day of work and hand it to her. “For yesterday. Normally you’ll be paid at the end of each day. You finish today and I’ll give you your money and your phone back. Sound good?”
I can practically see her pondering my offer. I know deep down she wants to take it. The only question is whether or not she will.
She turns around and looks back at the room, furnished nicely with a bed, brand new dresser and bedside table, as well as its own walk-in closet and attached bathroom with everything she could need in it.
“Well…” she muses, kicking her left foot back and forth like a metronome. It’s adorable. After a few seconds, she turns back to me. “I’ll work today, but I’m not promising I’ll stay here. Okay?”
A compromise. She’s offering it to me, but I know that she’s really just easing herself into the idea of staying here. So I just go ahead and nod.