Читать книгу A Baby For Emily - Ginna Gray - Страница 11

“What?” Emily gaped at Dillon, shocked and just a tad angry. She wouldn’t allow him to pay her bills, so now he thought he could just create a job for her out of thin air? Oh, no. Not on your life.

“Thank you, but no. I couldn’t possibly work for you.”

“Why not? I’m not suggesting that you operate a crane or rivet steel beams twenty stories above the ground. I’m offering you an office job. That way you at least won’t be on your feet all day.”

“I appreciate the offer, Dillon, but I won’t take charity—not from you or anyone.”

“What are you talking about? I’m offering you employment.”

“Oh, please. Giving me a fabricated job doesn’t make it any easier to take. It’s still charity.” And, she added silently, I don’t want to be indebted to you for my livelihood.

“That’s it? You think I’m featherbedding, just to provide you with a living?”

“In a word, yes. For some reason you seem to feel that you’re responsible for me. Frankly, I don’t understand why you would feel that way now, when for the past seven years you’ve barely acknowledged my existence.

“Maybe you’re feeling guilty for what Keith did, or maybe it’s some misplaced sense of family responsibility. Whatever the reason, I will not be a leech or a burden.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” Dillon said in a voice like ice. “My on-site office assistant is snowed under with work. She’s been nagging me for months to hire someone to help in the construction office.”

“Then why haven’t you?” she challenged.

“Because I haven’t had time.”

“Oh, please. Surely you have a personnel department for that sort of thing.”

“That’s right. But Gert’s been with me from the day I started my business, so she rates special treatment. She asked me to hire her next assistant and I told her I would. She trusts my judgement a lot more than Personnel’s. The site office is small and the staff there needs to be especially compatible. The last three people Personnel hired to assist Gert nearly drove her crazy. I thought she might strangle the last one.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “It sounds like this Gert person is the problem.”

“Oh, she’s plainspoken and brusque and she doesn’t suffer fools for a second, but she’s got a heart of gold. If Gert takes a liking to you, you’ve got a friend for life.”

“What makes you think she’ll like me?”

His vivid eyes flickered over her. “Trust me, she’s going to love you. And make no mistake about it, if you come to work for me, you’ll earn every penny of your salary. If you don’t, Gert will boot you out of there in a New York second, just like she’s done all the others.”