Would I ever be brave enough to use it?
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.” He smiled again, that soft sweet smile I saw right before our kiss on Sunday and my body trembled from the look, from the memory of it. Before I could step away, he brushed his lips across my cheek. “Let’s get you to work. I hear your boss can be a total asshole.”
His lips weren’t as warm. But just as full and soft. I tried to hide the tremble that brief kiss solicited. Based on the mirthful look in his eyes, I failed.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes. I get that sense from Brandon. Definitely.”
“Exactly.” He shoved open the doors and I was met with a brutal, chilled wind that whipped my hair across my face and sank through my jacket.
“Damn. It’s freaking cold here. I forget how windy it always is, too.” In the summer the courtyard at the prison was filled with green trees and benches where we could loiter if we earned free time. The winters were another story. The wind whipped through the buildings and flung snow and ice at us from all directions. Not unlike Chicago winds when I was close to the lake. Still, the warm summers always made the winters seem mild until they smacked you in the face again.
“Brutal. I can go get my truck if you don’t want to walk.”
“No.” I had to get used to the cold at some point. It’d be better if I had remembered my gloves. “I want to walk.”
“Okay then.”
He matched his steps to mine as we headed down the streets, both of us keeping our heads down from the wind. All that work I’d done curling my hair and making it look cute wouldn’t make a difference by the time we reached his building. I’d look wind-worn and mussed. Probably have smeared mascara from watering eyes.
Darn it.
We barely spoke as we hustled down the street and less than ten minutes later, we burst into Valor Holdings’ lobby, shaking off the cold.
“Good grief,” I muttered, wiping my hands up and down my arms to warm my bones. My coffee had probably gone cold, too.
“Come on. I’ll get you to Brandon’s. I’m sure he or Sandra will have paperwork ready for you to fill out and Sandra will help you get your ID security card. But if you ever forget it, go check-in at the front desk.” He explained all of this while we moved to the elevators. I stepped back from the rest of the early morning crowd waiting to gather into the cars like herds of cattle. Their whispered morning conversations were an almost overwhelming hum in my ears.
All these people. Every day. Cramming themselves onto an elevator. My fingers tingled with nerves from it, but beneath it was something else… excitement.
It wasn’t so long ago I figured I would never get a chance at a life like this.
And look at me now.
I could force myself to get over my unease with crowds for this opportunity.
The elevator was packed with over a half-dozen bodies and the ride to the sixth floor felt like it took almost as long as the chilling walk to the building. That was probably in part because my toes were still frozen in my shoes and my stomach was threatening to revolt with every floor we stopped at, taking me higher to my new job.
Part-time.
It was just a very, part-time job.
Trying to diminish the opportunity did nothing to settle that swarm of bees now turning into an angry wasp nest in my stomach. It probably would have been a good idea to give myself time to eat this morning. That would have been better time spent than curling my hair which was now tangled and twisted. Fortunately, the other women in the elevator, myself included, spent the elevator ride running our fingers through our hair.
At least I wasn’t the only one.
When the elevator stopped at the sixth floor, Hudson’s hand, shockingly warm given he also hadn’t worn gloves, settled at my lower back and made me flinch in surprise.
He pushed me through the few remaining employees—coworkers, I guessed—and didn’t give me a moment to start a futile argument.
I’d only been to the top floor of Valor Holdings to see Hudson and David. As I mentally prepared to come in today, I tried to picture what my desk area would look like. The sixth floor was nothing like I’d been able to envision.
We stepped off the elevator and Hudson guided me down a short hallway of cubicle walls that went as high as my shoulders. Hudson smiled and said hello to several people, men dressed in suits and women in similar, professional clothing alike, until we reached an open corner near the back. Outside a wall of glass windows was a large, L-shaped cubicle. Next to it, a smaller one completely empty except for a single computer monitor, wireless keyboard, and mouse. A grin stretched my cheeks as I took it in. It was the only empty desk and looked like it’d been recently prepared with essentials.
My own desk. The urge to pinch myself to make sure this wasn’t all a dream came on strong and I barely resisted.
As we approached, I spied Brandon. Of course he had the massive corner office. He paced back and forth, speaking into a small microphone that was hooked over his ear. He wore a suit, similar to Hudson, but had already discarded the coat. It sat flung haphazardly across a tabletop with seating for six on one side of the office and his massive desk was perched right in the middle.
“Brandon can never stand still while on the phone,” Hudson said.
“Nor can he do it at any other time, either.” The woman who spoke rose from her seat at the larger of the two desks, this one covered in files and candles and photos of small, smiling faces. “You must be Lilly. Brandon told me you’d be in this morning. I’m Sandra, his assistant.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I stepped forward and took her hand. “Lilly Huntington.”
Her smile was instantly disarming. Wide and friendly, she had pale pink lips and expertly executed makeup. Her skin was flawless, her caramel-colored hair professionally highlighted with strips of darker and lighter colors. It landed at her shoulders in a cute but still elegant bob.
“I have to tell you. Getting some help for me is the best thing I’ve heard all year, really puts me in the early holiday spirit. Brandon and I spent some time this week figuring out where to have you start but really, I think you and I will go through everything this week and I’ll let you choose what you’re most comfortable with, does that sound okay?”
“Um. Yeah.” Anticipation fluttered in my stomach. I had a job. At an office. And this woman was already so kind. “Yes, I mean. And I know I can’t do much, what with school.”
“Totally get that. I didn’t go to college until after I was married with my first baby, and I was about your age. I know all about balancing life and work, but that’s what makes this place so great.” She flashed Hudson a smile that was so sweet, so grateful and honest, I almost cried for her. “The Valentines are the best and they make sure to treat us like we’re theirs.”
“Sandra—” Hudson said, but she stopped him.
“You know it’s true, even if you don’t like hearing it.” From the windows in Brandon’s office, we saw him yank out his earpiece and head our way.
He wore the same ridiculous smile he wore at dinner, part-amused, part-foolish.
“Good morning,” he said, reaching us, and grinning at me. “Do I know you? Because it feels like I know you.”