Page 18 of Bling

Chapter Six

Isabelle squeezed her uncle’s hand as they approached the doors of the warehouse on Monday morning. He had been reluctant to come and talk to Garrett Oliver, but Henry would always put his family first, so he’d swallowed his pride and rode with Isabelle.

Inside the fulfillment center warehouse, she looked around. It looked different than it had when she left on Friday, like someone had cleaned it. It had been long overdue. Jason Briggs, someone she wasn’t too fond of, came rushing down the stairs that led to the offices and conference rooms.

“Mr. Alvarado, Isabelle, thank you for coming in. Mr. Oliver is waiting upstairs.”

Her uncle just grunted, and Isabelle gave him a nod as they followed him up the stairway.

Garrett opened the door to Darren’s office and Isabelle froze. He was wearing a suit that hugged him exactly right. The deep blue color suited him, and she thought she might prefer him this way. At the club, he wore jeans and a button-up shirt. She thought he was hot at the club, but here, dressed this way, he was downright sinful, and she nearly choked on her own tongue as she let her gaze travel down his body.

She coughed, raising her elbow to cover her mouth, and turned away so she couldn’t see him anymore.

“Mr. Briggs, please get Miss Alvarado some water. I would like to talk to Mr. Alvarado if that’s OK.”

Isabelle faced him again and nodded, still trying to catch her breath from her coughing spell. Jason appeared at her side with a bottle of water as Henry followed Garrett into the inner office. She tensed as the door closed, and half expected Jason to make a pass at her again, but he seemed rather subdued this morning.

Twenty minutes later, Henry emerged from the office and gave Garrett a stiff handshake.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Henry. Thank you for taking me up on my offer.”

Again, her uncle just offered a grunt and Isabelle wanted to laugh.

“I’ll be in the car, Izzy,” he said as he pulled the door open.

“OK, Uncle Henry,” she said, tossing him her keys.

Come in, Isabelle,” Garrett said, his voice kind and velvety.

She stood on shaky legs and walked the scant distance to his office. Again, she marveled at how clean and organized it was. Darren was a slob, and the office had always been a disaster area the few times Isabelle had been in it.

Garrett motioned for her to sit in one of the two visitor chairs. She expected him to sit across the desk from her, but he dropped into the other chair and pulled himself close to her.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she inhaled his masculine scent. The cologne he wore wasn’t harsh. It had subtle notes of spices and vanilla. It was a smell that always made her want to cuddle.

Her face warmed as she tried to pull away from him.

“I know this is hard for you, but I have a job offer. It would mean working with me for a few weeks though.”

She had already decided she would hear him out, but on Saturday, she’d accepted a job at the Glenview working nights until she learned enough to take on other roles. Hunter promised her a chance to move up in the company and even move into executive management if that’s what she wanted. It was a dream come true, really.

When she nodded for him to continue, he leaned over his desk and picked up a sheet of paper and passed it to her.

“You want me to be your executive regional assistant? What does that even mean?”

He laughed. “It means I’m a remarkably busy man who can’t be everywhere at once. I want you to be my go between here in Colorado. Especially when I need to be back in Philadelphia or D.C.”

Isabelle nodded. “What kind of hours are we talking about?” Her eyes shifted to the salary he was offering, and she knew there was no way she was turning this down. Even if she only did it for a few months, she would be able to get her family out of debt.

“As my regional assistant, I would need you on call a lot, but you would only have to be here during normal business hours through the week. I know you’re responsible for your nieces, so if you need to adjust things, we can work something out.”

Her mind raced through the things she had to do for her nieces and the hours she’d agreed to at the hotel. She would be tired, but they wouldn’t have to worry about money.

“I would also want your help cleaning this place up and improving it a bit. I could bring in an outside team to assess and evaluate, and I likely will, but you’re someone with years of experience here. I’ll value your input. We’re bleeding money from this facility and I haven’t been able to figure out why. I’m not expecting you to figure it out, but while we investigate and get things back on the right track, I’ll be looking to you for input on how we can improve things.”

Isabelle looked around the room. “Looks like you’ve done a good job cleaning up already.”

Garrett chuckled. “After I fired Darren, I made the rest of the management team spend the weekend cleaning. I’m embarrassed that one of my facilities was so rundown.”

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