“Have you ever been desperate for anything in your life?”

He didn’t have anything to say. The only desperate thing he’d ever done was ask his uncle for a job at fifteen so he could get that limo to prom. Look where it landed him twenty years later. She was right. He’d never been desperate for anything.

“How do you feel about assistant work for a commercial builder?”

“You actually know of a job?”

“I actually know of a job.” He folded her resume and tucked it into his pocket. “Ed Keller is an executive at Benson, Benson, and Hart. He needs an assistant.”

Her face went pale, and her lips parted. This reaction went beyond her reaction to his spilling his drink on her. “That was the business I was going to leave my resume with.”

“You’re into architecture?”

He watched as she swallowed hard, but the color hadn’t returned to her cheeks yet. “Not exactly, but you think you can get me in there?”

“I’m sure I can.”

She nodded and picked up her coffee. “You don’t think Mr. Keller will mind my attire?”

Ed smiled. “I guarantee he will be fine. Your resume is impressive. I’m sure that he’d understand that accidents happen.”

She nodded again, nervously. “I’m still mad that you ruined my suit.”

“And I’m sorry that you bumped into me. But if you’ll come with me, I’ll get you a job. And, if you’re hungry for lunch later, there is a hot dog cart out back. I’d love to buy you some lunch.”

Darcy watched the elevator doors close. She was alone with the man who had ruined her day, but also had offered her an opportunity. She was scared to death.

She’d planned this day for so long. Now she was in the building, and she was headed to the company offices of Benson, Benson, and Hart.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She hadn’t expected this. It was in her plans, but as the doors opened to the floor and the name was before her on the wall in big, shiny letters, she thought she might just throw up.

She only knew one thing about herself—her past—and it had led her to Benson, Benson, and Hart. She’d planned to attempt to, at least, get in the door since all the other jobs she’d applied for had fallen through. The journey to find out about herself wasn’t supposed to drop her in the office where she knew her all her answers would lie. This was supposed to be months down the road when she’d had time to explore more about herself and where she’d come from. Now what?

The man exited the elevator and looked at her. “Are you coming?”

“I seem to be very nervous.”

He reached for her hand and pulled her gently from the elevator. He took off his suit coat and draped it over her shoulders. It was a courteous move to hide the huge stain on her blouse, which she knew she’d caused because she wasn’t paying attention, but she still wasn’t going to let him think he didn’t do it. Men would use you if you weren’t careful.

The man led her to an office, and the name on the door read EDUARDO KELLER. She sucked in a breath as he opened the door and walked in.

“Have a seat.” He pointed to the chairs in front of the desk.

Darcy took a seat, set her bag to the side, and then slid her arms through the sleeves of the jacket he’d draped on her. She probably looked ridiculous. He was at least six feet tall and broad shouldered. She wasn’t very tall at all, and she didn’t even come close to filling out the jacket.

The man sat behind the desk and turned on the computer monitor.

“Should you be doing that?” she asked.

“I need to find the application information to fill out for the human resource department.”

“You’re going to fill it out?”

“I usually do when I’m hiring people.”

She looked around the office. Eduardo Keller had no personal affects. The man must be all business.

“Why are you doing the hiring?”

The man stopped what he was doing. He folded his hands on the top of the desk and gazed at her with dark brown eyes.

“Because I’m Ed Keller.”

Ed had seen his share of angry women in his life. When this woman’s face turned the color of Santa’s suit, he knew he’d crossed the line.

She stood from the chair and grabbed her bag. “Do you think this is funny? You’re messing with my life.”

“Whoa.” He stood from his seat. “Calm down.”

“Calm down? I will not calm down.”

“I’ve seen your resume. You’re very qualified for the position I need to fill, and I’d like to help you.”

“Help me?” She lifted the bag onto her shoulder. “Help me? Why would you want to do that? You’re just some stuck-up executive who can play with people, like spilling coffee on a woman to get her into your office. Is this what you do here?”

Ed planted his hands firmly on his desk and looked at her. “You told me you had three days to find a job. You told me I ruined all your chances by messing up your blouse. So you can either hear me out, or you can leave here with your stained clothing, your wrinkled resume, and your bad attitude and find a job.”

The woman sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “What is the job?”

“Executive assistant.”

“To you?”

“Yes.”

Her shoulders dropped, and she bit her bottom lip. She was contemplating, but he didn’t know, in his own heart, which way he wanted her to go now. It was very likely he’d just made a big mistake offering it to her if she was so volatile.

The woman set her bag back on the ground and extended her hand to him. “Darcy McCary, your new assistant.”

Darcy studied Eduardo Keller as he shook her hand. Was he happy? Mad? Oh, he’d been messing with her, and now she really felt stupid. But she needed the job, and he was right—she was very qualified. She needed to find an apartment and establish some savings. Private investigators hadn’t been cheap, and she couldn’t tell her father that she’d hired them.

She had a debt to pay and a life to understand—her life.

Darcy McCary was in Tennessee to find her birth mother, and the investigator told her that all ties led to Nashville and to Benson, Benson, and Hart.

Chapter Two

Darcy had accepted the job and now walked out the front door of the Riverside Building into the early July heat.