A rich fantasy pours over my senses, the smell of her when my face was buried between her legs. The silky skin inside her thighs kissing my cheeks. My mouth, hungry and sloppy, feasting at her core. My face wet with her arousal. Her fingers digging in my hair. That strip of golden skin above her panties. Fuck, her beaded nipples through that T-shirt.
“Kill the deal,” I say hoarsely, heading toward Jared’s office door. I’m gonna need to rub this one out in the restroom. I won’t even make it home.
“August, you know this is a long shot, right?” he reasons one last time, though the resignation in his eyes tells me he understands it’s futile to try to dissuade me from this course.
“A long shot?” I ask, pausing at the door to give him a cocky grin. “Last I heard, I’m pretty good at those.”
38
Iris
I have first-day jitters. Or maybe these are new-life jitters. New-course jitters.
When I dug out Jared Foster’s business card, who would have thought I’d be here a month later, in the offices of his new agency, Elevation? Yes, I’m entry level, but it’s a small company looking for motivated people who want to make things happen.
That’s me, I remind myself.
“Here she is,” Jared says when he strides into the small conference room where the receptionist instructed me to wait. “Elevation’s newest employee.”
“Hi.” I stretch my hand out to him, shaking firmly, even though I have to stop myself from flinging my arms around his neck for giving me this opportunity. “So good to see you again.”
What are the odds?
Me living in San Diego.
And August moving to Texas, if the reports of his trade are correct.
I never got his number, but if I want to find him, I might be able to. Jared may even have connections with his agent.
I force myself to focus and not think about August, which has been hard ever since I landed last week. We are in the same state, in the same city, though both are bigger than any I’ve ever lived in before.
“You settled into your new place?” Jared asks, sitting on the edge of the conference room table with his arms folded.
“Yeah, I’ll have to thank your assistant for helping me find it.” I widen my eyes and grin. “I’d heard San Diego was so expensive, but I found a great place that I can actually afford and childcare for Sarai.”
“Yeah, how about that?” Jared scratches behind his ear like a dog searching for a flea before clearing his throat. “We, um, just recently started the daycare for our staff.”
“I was so surprised an organization as young as Elevation already has on-site childcare.”
“Yeah.” He lifts his brows, a sardonic turn to his mobile mouth. “No one was more surprised than me. My, uh, partner insisted on it for the, um, parents.”
“I dropped Sarai off a few minutes ago.” I press my palm to my heart through my silk dress. “It’s my first time being apart from her, so the on-site daycare is perfect. And so affordable. They said it will be deducted from my check, and I’ll never even see it.”
“Yeah,” he says with a wry grin. “It’ll be like it’s not even being taken out.”
I force myself to stop gushing about how smoothly things have gone. He doesn’t want to hear all of this. I’m sure he’s here to lay out my responsibilities. I cannot wait to dive back into this industry—to do the thing I’ve wanted to do since high school.
“We’ll talk about the job and all the details in a little bit,” Jared says, as if he’s reading my mind. “But there’s someone from, um, human resources … kind of, who needs to meet with you first.”
“Oh, sure.” That makes sense. Probably to review benefits and sign paperwork.
“I’ll check in with you later.” Jared stands, prompting me to stand, too. “They’ll be right in.”
“Okay.” I sit once he leaves and smooth my palms over the slim-fitting dress Lo made me wear.
Right on time, my phone buzzes with her face onscreen. I glance over my shoulder at the door, taking the chance that I can make this quick before human resources arrives.
“Make this quick, Lo,” I say. “HR will be here any minute with paperwork and stuff.”