Page 21 of Falling for Raine

“To be determined. If you prove yourself to be indispensable, I’ll find an appropriate position for you within the company at a renegotiated wage. I won’t alter your income for now, but you won’t be taking over this office or my salary.”

“Got it,” I stammered. “Thank you so much. I won’t let you down. I’ll be the best diary keeper ever and I swear, I won’t add one single Zac Efron reference.”

“See that you don’t,” she huffed, her lips curling in a reluctant smile as she extended her hand.

Wow. I couldn’t believe my luck.

I didn’t get fired. Low bar, but hey…it was a major win formoi. I vowed to make myself the most valuable placeholder assistant the Horsham Group had ever hired.

I shook her hand enthusiastically. “You won’t regret this, Ms. Wells.”

6

RAINE

Aweek later, I had regrets. Lots of them.

On a personal front…

It rained nonstop, my room always smelled like curry, and Ronan played the banjo. Brutal, right? The rain didn’t bother me, but it was steady enough that I needed an umbrella and I hadn’t quite worked out the art of collapsing the damn thing without taking someone’s eye out in a Tube station. As for the curry, I probably wouldn’t notice it in another week, which was alarming too. And the banjo…I had no words.

“Banjos are…nice,” Winnie hedged.

“Are they, though?”

He snickered. “They can be. I think. Maybe it’s an Irish thing.”

“No, it’s an annoying flatmate thing. He’s a nice guy, but I—” I frowned at the sound of something crinkling in the background. “What’s that noise?”

“Oh, I just opened a bag of ice. My freezer conked out on me at the worst possible time. I invited Max over for margaritas. We’re going to sit on the deck, sip tequila, and soak up the sun. Don’t be sad, but it’s seventy-five degrees and glorious outside.”

“I hate you.”

Winnie sighed. “I know, honey. But you love me too.”

I did. And I missed him and California and poolside margaritas and…my old life. Minus the drama.

I leaned on the pillow propped against the plain white wall and stared out my rain-streaked bedroom window, unseeing. “Did I make a mistake, Win?”

“No,” he replied automatically. “You’re having an adventure, expanding your horizons, and conquering the world. Honey, you’re in the U-fucking-K…home of the Spice Girls, Paddington Bear, and tea and crumpets. Go see the country, make some moolah, and have some damn fun. No moping.”

I twisted to look out the window and smooshed my nose on the glass, closing my eyes briefly. “I’m not moping. I’m just overwhelmed. Be honest, Win—did I make the right move, or did I overreact?”

“Both. That’s the same answer I’ve given you every time you’ve asked that question, by the way,” he snorted. “It was a wild and crazy, impulsive idea, but I’m proud of you for making it happen. Don’t let it be about your asshole, two-timing ex-lover, though. All that nonsense will be a distant memory next year. You’ll see.”

“Maybe…”

“Definitely. Now you have ten minutes till Max shows up, so tell me about the new job.”

I shrugged to the empty room and released a monster sigh. “It’s weird. I’m either bored out of my mind or barely treading water.”

I filled him in on my roller coaster of a week. I’d spent the first few days hanging out in Julia’s office, listening in on phone calls and trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible without yawning. I knew nothing about finance and I’d had noidea what the fuck they were talking about, so it wasn’t as if I could add any words of wisdom.

I was leery of reminding Julia of my presence in case she changed her mind and decided to get rid of me. She’d been distracted with big boss meetings, and she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to introduce me to Horsham…or anyone.

But I could do this for two months. I could be the fly on the wall who got paid too much money to sit in a glass castle overlooking the Thames like a miscast fairy-tale hero. Even though it was boring as hell, a whole year of this meant money and more time away from LA and the scene of my crime. I needed space, and my bank account needed an infusion.

Three days into my lonely new venture, Julia had been called away to join the big boss in Paris. She’d hooked me up with dapper Darwin, a fabulous middle-aged man who wore bright ties, wing-tipped shoes, and called everyone “babes.” Poor Darwin was charged with training me for basic assistant duty, and after that, things had begun to look up.