Page 6 of Dark Endures

Did Canyon do all that just to relax me?

He steps into the open door. “Your interview is here. I think you should hire her.”

“Oh, you do?” a deep, rough voice answers.

“Yup. She likes snakes and isn’t afraid of me.”

The smile in Canyon’s voice erases the last of my nerves.

“I’m not hiring some woman for you to flirt with.”

The strange man’s voice is downright sexy when he’s irritated. Rather than let Canyon get in trouble, I step forward. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Hey now. Don’t break my heart.” Canyon winks at me.

Break his heart, my foot. “Something tells me it would take a lot more than my apathy to do that.”

“See. I told you she’s perfect for the job.” Canyon struts away.

“Ignore him. He’s an idiot sometimes.” The man steps forward from where he’s standing in the shadows of the corner of this massive room and my heart stops for a second.

Maddox Locke is the polar opposite of Adonis. Where Adonis is tall and lean with sculpted muscles, this man is broad, heavily muscled, and rugged. Adonis has a friendly, open smile, and this aloof man studies you with dark intense eyes. Has he ever smiled?

Then there’s how they dress. Adonis mastered that comfortable preppy look in a polo and khaki slacks. MaddoxLocke is right out of a romance novel in his dark custom-made suit—No suit off the rack is going to fit a man like that—perfectly knotted tie, and shiny shoes. He’d make men tremble with fear in both the boardroom and on the street.

Women probably fall at his feet panting.

I’d believe him if he told me he was a mafia boss or a billionaire whose only goal was to ravage women until he was caught by his one true love.

Stop it.

You sound like a silly schoolgirl who’s never seen a man before. Pull yourself together! This man is about to become your boss. “That’s okay. He seems harmless.” Show him what he needs to see to get that done. “I’m Mindy Peters. Fiona said you were looking to hire someone to care for your snakes. I have dozens of references and have cared for many snakes over the years. In high school, I did an internship at the local zoo working with reptiles. Snakes are my favorite.”

The lighting changes, pulling my attention away from the man in front of me. Where there once were blank walls are now snakes. Dozens of them. They draw me in. “Wow!! There are so many: albinos, super whites, a piebald, a cow python…They’re beautiful.” One after another I pass the extraordinary animals. Snakes most people wouldn’t even imagine being real.

“Thank you.”

Wanting to see all of them at once, I move from enclosure to enclosure until my heart stops. “These are… That’s a gaboon viper.”

“Yes, it is.”

“And that’s a black mamba.” The entire wall on this side is covered in venomous snakes. My whole body aches with disappointment as I turn around. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take this job. The non-venomous ones I’m fine with, but these… I’m nottrained to handle these. If I even tried, I could endanger my own life and the lives of others.”

“Are you sure about that? I pay very well.”

“Even for a million dollars, there’s no way I could even think about handling the spicy noodles in that room.”

Maddox laughs. “Spicy noodles?”

I shrug. That isn’t the funniest thing I’ve called them.

“Do you really know how to care for snakes?”

“Not those.” I point to the nope ropes. “I don’t play with anything that can kill me.”

“The non-venomous ones?”

“Yeah. Those aren’t a problem. I know how to change the substrate, clean the cages, soak them, feed them live and frozen food, and even clean off their shed if need be.”

---