His eyes sparkled again. “And why do you want to work here?”
“Because this is as big as it gets.” It was impossible to keep the hunger from my voice. “I want this, I’m qualified, and I know I can handle it.”
There was a brief pause at the end of this statement. He regarded me quietly for a moment before logging into his computer. I leaned forward slightly in my chair even though the screen was pointed away from me. Was he alerting security? Throwing me from the building?
“Katie McGill no longer exists in our records. As far as myself, and the rest of the company is concerned, you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
My jaw literally dropped open as I watched him typing at the speed of light. Sharks doing sharks favors? This had to be some kind of anomaly.
“You allergic to anything?”
I blinked. “What?”
He shrugged and continued typing. “They don’t really care.”
The next second, the printer was whirling away and my brand new employment forms came shooting out at me. He handed them over the desk, pointing at various sections as he spoke.
“Badge, benefits, base salary, stock options. If you’re stupid enough to own a car in this city, I’m sure we have a parking program, but I wouldn’t know how to help you.”
I looked at the papers in shock. It was all here. The makings of my new life. I’d only gotten them two years early. “Jamie...” How did I even begin? “I don’t know what to—”
“Don’t mention it. But if I find the real Katie McGill tied up in a closet somewhere, you get a four-second head start, then I call the cops. Understood?”
“Understood.” I couldn’t keep a breathless sort of laughter from my voice as I stood up to go. “And thank you, really. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me just yet.” He leaned back in his chair with a wink. “Wait until you see what you’ve gotten yourself in for.”
As it turned out, Jamie was absolutely right. It took me thirty minutes just to read through a one-page document enough times that I was sure I completely understood it. And that was only the first in a three-inch stack. By the time the lunch hour rolled around, I pushed back my chair with an exhausted sigh. My eyes were throbbing, and I felt like I’d absorbed enough information to start my own company from the ground up if I so desired. Mentally fatigued and emotionally raw, I joined the swarm of people heading for the elevators down to the lobby. The only comfort I had was that I wasn’t the only who had that vague, zombie look about them. Broken blood vessels and deep purple bruises beneath the eyes littered the elevator, always accompanied by that hyped up, jittery, caffeine-talk that was always a little too fast and too high. I wondered if I was doing it as well.
I was considering this with a frown as I poured into the lobby with the rest of them. In fact, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize someone was talking to me until I felt a tap on the shoulder. Surprised, I looked up again into the grinning face of Michael Larchwood.
“It’s Jenna, right?”
I lost myself a moment in those chocolate eyes before nodding quickly. “Jenna Harks.”
He extended a hand for an unnecessary introduction. “Michael Larchwood.”
“I know who you are.” I politely returned his smile but kept the handshake brief. The last thing I needed on my first day was to be labeled as the new office flirt.
Michael, however, had other plans. His thumb stroked innocently across my knuckles before he finally released me. “So how’s your first day treating you?”
I tried to keep up my guard, but it was incredibly difficult to do considering both my level of mental strain and the undeniable charm oozing from the guy standing across from me.
“It’s...challenging. I’ve come at a busy time,” I replied, before quickly adding, “but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
His laugh echoed off the glass walls, earning us a dozen half-hidden stares from across the lobby. “I bet. Well, why don’t you let me take you out to lunch, and you can tell me all about it.” He smiled winningly. “First day treat.”