No such luck.
The door opened, and Hollis immediately frowned.
I attempted to start off on the right foot. “I should have apologized the other day. I came to rectify that. The accident was all my fault.”
Silence fell between us. Hollis’s face was unreadable as he stared at me. I knew having to get your car repaired was annoying, but it wasn’t like I’d killed a kitten or anything. Unfortunately, the silence only gave me another opportunity to soak up the good looks of the man standing before me. And it pissed me off that he wore casual clothing even better than the expensive suit he’d had on the other day.
“Can you really even hold the fact that I’m not a great parker against me? Aren’t certain classes of people protected by federal employment law or something?”
Hollis perked one brow. “Not sure bad drivers fit into the constitutionally protected classes like race, sex, and religious preference.”
I waved my hand. “Whatever. And for the record, I’m not a bad driver. I’m just a bad parker.”
Hollis squinted. I got the feeling he was gauging my sincerity, trying to decide what to make of my showing up. He wasn’t the typical guy I ran across; batting my eyelashes didn’t gain me entrance to wherever I desired to go. But I stood my ground while he assessed away, and I maintained eye contact. I’d screwed up, and I would own up to it.
Eventually he stepped aside. “Come on in.”
A few steps over the threshold, a loud voice called out from somewhere within the apartment. The sound made me jump.
“Anna’s home!” Squawk! “Anna’s home!” Squawk! “Anna’s home!”
Hollis dropped his head and looked down. “Ignore that. It’s my bird.”
“That was a bird?”
As if he understood what I’d asked and wanted to provide confirmation, the voice called out again. “Anna’s home!” Squawk! “Anna’s home!” Squawk! “Anna’s home!” Only this time the bird punctuated his statement with the sound of rapidly flapping wings, which validated that he was, indeed, a bird.
Hollis nodded his head toward the inner sanctum of his apartment. “Come inside. If he doesn’t get to see you, he’ll never shut the hell up.”
I followed Hollis through the marble foyer and into the sleek stainless steel kitchen. His apartment was incredible, with a sunken living room open to the kitchen and floor-to-ceiling, sweeping views of Central Park—though the view was partially obstructed by a large, white cage that stood next to those windows, housing the biggest, most exotic-looking bird I’d ever seen.
The thing was gorgeous. Slate-black body, dark gray beak, long black tail, a full mane of proud feathers forming a Mohawk on the top of his head, and crimson coloring on both his cheeks, which were devoid of any feathers. The thing had to be two feet tall.
I walked through the apartment and over to the cage. “Wow. I’ve never seen a bird like this. What kind is he?”
“The pain-in-the-ass kind.”
“What’s his name?”
“Huey.”
“Is he named after Huey Lewis, the singer?”
“No. But that’s not a bad guess. He’s named after Hugh Jackman.”
I chuckled. “Fan of Wolverine?”
Hollis walked over and stood beside me. “Not a chance. He belonged to my ex. He’s an Australian black palm cockatoo. She rescued injured and endangered birds and thought he should be named after someone from Australia.”
The bird squawked again, making me smile. “He’s beautiful. I’m sorry I’m not Anna.”
“I’m not,” Hollis grumbled before turning around and walking back to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and called to me, “Can I get you something to drink?”
Hmm. His manners were a hell of a lot nicer at home. “No. I’m good. Thank you.” I walked back to the kitchen to join him.
He took a water bottle from the fridge, unscrewed the cap, and leaned against the kitchen counter. Tilting it in my direction before he brought it to his lips, he said, “The accident wasn’t all your fault.”
“What do you mean?”
Hollis drank from his water bottle, watching me over it. “The office building has a ton of cameras inside and out. This morning I went down to security and asked them to replay the footage from the time of our accident. You did what you said. You waited a minute and then honked your horn to see if I had been waiting to take the spot.”
“I told you that.”
“Yes, but I didn’t believe you. I was on the phone and didn’t hear you.”
My eyes widened. “So you were on the phone and not paying attention, yet you made me feel like it was my fault. I knew it!”
He squinted. “Why did you come here today saying it was your fault, if you knew it wasn’t?”
“Truth?”
“No, lie to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Because I want the job.”
“Why?”
“Because I like to eat.”
“You aren’t going hungry. You have a job. If I remember correctly, one where you do a lot of this and that.”