Page 7 of Sunset Serenade
Rose shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I really need to be going.”
“You don’t have to answer yet. Let me walk with you. I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
He smiled, the edges reaching his eyes and wrinkling at the corners.
Did he know how bad she was at saying no? Because it seemed like he knew exactly how hard this was for her.
Rose shook her head and opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
He spoke again. “What do you have to lose?”
Craig and Lydia stared at her, the heat of their attention burning her skin. She knew what they wanted her to say. She knew what the easy answer was, what would get them to stop looking at her, and she knew what she was supposed to say: a clear, resoundingno.
She took a sip of her latte. The whipped cream had melted away. “Okay,” she finally said.
He clapped his hands together. “Okay!”
The tension in her chest dissipated, and she chanced another sip of her drink. She quite liked the melted whipped cream, and at least they weren’t looking at her anymore. She would get out of this debacle sooner or later.
Yeah. Soon enough, she’d get away from this disaster of a day, and it’d all be a funny story to tell back on the island.
Chapter Four
There was no point in trying to lowball her. The company needed her, and no one else would do. Craig was sure of it. He could feel it in his chest.
“Let me start with what we can offer,” Craig said as they walked through the lobby. “Your salary would start at two hundred thousand a year, in addition to stock and profit-sharing distributions.”
“Two hundred thousand?” Rose repeated, her eyes fixed on the coffee in her hands.
“I know. With rent prices in Seattle, it’s not the most competitive. But that doesn’t include bonuses, which are given out quarterly.”
She nodded, walking through the lobby doors and onto the sidewalk. Her pace was slow and methodical, like she was considering what he had to say.
Or so he hoped. “We have a gym on site, a meditation studio, daily catered lunches, and a fully-funded pension. The health insurance is top-of-the-line and provided at no cost to you.”
Craig glanced at her, searching her face for any signs of interest.
There didn’t seem to be any. The muscles in her face were tense and her eyes kept darting between the people they passed, the buildings, and the pavement beneath them. She looked pained, like she wanted to get away from him.
As much as he wanted to keep piling on the perks, it clearly wasn’t working. He wasn’t good at this. His business partner, Barney, would know what to do; he’d know how to woo her, he’d find the right things to say.
He wasn’t around, though.
Craig could hear Barney’s voice whispering in his mind: figure out whatshewants and give that to her.
He stopped walking. “I’m sorry, I haven’t given you a chance to talk.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m happy to listen.” She looked at him for the first time since he’d started blathering, then quickly turned her eyes up, quiet and pensive. “I guess there’s one question I have.”
“Anything.”
“What exactly does your company do?”
A laugh bellowed out of him and he put a hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I thought my assistant already filled you in. I’m the COO for a company called SerenadeMe.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know much about SerenadeMe.”
“Right. I sometimes forget everyone doesn’t live and breathe this stuff.” He cleared his throat. This might be a harder sell than he’d anticipated, especially since he was so bad at selling. His mind buzzed, frantic, trying to come up with the right words. “SerenadeMe is a revolution for dating.”
