Page 13 of Untroubled Heart

You can’t switch that shit off. This is certain to be a disaster.

“Sorry I’m late!” My heart stalls when his voice enters the room, pouring over me like honey, just like the first time. “I didn’t realise the house Carmen wanted to show me was so far away.”

“That’s okay. We were just getting to know each other,” Beth says, moving her chair back to her side of the table. “We were talking about Briony. Callie just had a baby, too.”

“Yeah, Lee mentioned.”

I take a deep breath, then stand from my chair, turning to meet him.

“Hi. I’m—”

“Mason.” I finish for him as his eyes lock on mine and his mouth drops open in surprise, his hand hovering in the air. “I’m Callie. I’m here for the assistant job.”

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Chapter seven

Holy shit, it’s her. It’s the girl for The Wayside.

She’s been creeping around the edge of my thoughts all week, but fuck, now that I’m seeing her in daylight, my memories didn’t do her justice.

Her cheeks have this perfect apple shape that I’d bet money on is naturally that pretty shade of pink. And her eyes are so blue, like the ocean in the middle of summer.

“Assistant?” I stammer, looking over at Steven and Beth. The former of which eyes me wearily, the latter, on the other hand, looks at me with an expression that reads, What the fuck did you do now?

“Yep.” Callie pops the p and, with a cautious approach, places her hand against mine in greeting.

Callie. I like the way it sounds in my head. Callie. Callie.

Her hand is so small and soft as it wraps around mine in a gentle but confident shake. My stomach starts swirling. Am I getting sick? What’s happening right now?

“We were just about to go through her qualifications,” Steven says. “Can I get you a drink first, Mase?”

“No, thank you,” I say, still wrapping my head around Callie’s unexpected appearance.

I let go of her hand, even though I kind of don’t want to, and round the table, taking a seat beside Beth.

Wait. Fuck. She’s here to be my assistant.

This is new.

I saw her. I wanted her. And now I can’t have her.

When I’m at work, the boss, I’ve never mixed business with pleasure, and I’ll be damned if I do that now, no matter how pretty the blue-eyed brunette sitting across from me is. I assured Lee I had a job for her, and another thing I’ve never done is let down a friend.

Okay, deep breath, Mason. Sure, she’s gorgeous, and casting my mind back to the confident, daring way she spoke to me Saturday night is weirdly making my heart race, but she’s nothing more than another attractive woman. You can resist her. Besides, if the look on her face is anything to go by, she’s not remotely interested. She’s not even looking in my direction.

“Thank you for sending over your resume the other day.” Steven smiles as he flips open a file in front of him. “We see you’ve had a lot of admin experience, particularly in calendar management. That’s going to be very helpful.”

Callie nods, her eyes flicking to me for a moment before they refocus on Steven. “Thank you. I know I’ve not been a personal assistant before, but I’ve always found myself to be adaptable, a good problem solver, and a quick learner.”

“And what hours are you able to accommodate?” Steven asks.

She crosses her hands on top of each other on the table. There’s a small streak of blue paint on the side of her hand, and I’m more curious about what she’s been up to than her next answer. “Ideally, I’d like to do seven ’til three. I already found a daycare close by that has availability.”

Daycare? I try to manage my outside reaction while on the inside, I’m reeling. Lee told me she was a new mum. It didn’t bother me. As long as she was able to do the job, I was perfectly capable of being flexible. Especially if it meant I could avoid more pointless interviews and help out a friend of a friend instead. That knowledge seemed to escape me when I laid eyes on Callie again. She has a kid? Is that why she brushed me off over the weekend? That makes more sense. Actually, this works out great. If she’s unavailable, she’s not tempting. Phew. Glad we got that sorted.

I settle back into my chair, feeling more optimistic.