Callie Endicott - Moonlight Over Seattle

Still, Nicole wished he wasn’t involved. It was an added stress she didn’t need, especially while she was hunting for another office manager. Kevin McClaskey’s wife had previously handled the job and he hadn’t been able to face replacing Allison after her sudden death, just bringing in temps. It wasn’t the best way to run the agency, so one of Nicole’s first tasks after taking over had been to hire someone permanent.

It hadn’t gone well.

Moonlight Ventures had now run through three different office managers and was back to using temps. It turned out that each of her hires had wanted to use the job as a backdoor to becoming a modeling client. One had even shown up at a photo shoot for a commercial, claiming the agency had sent her.

Nicole gritted her teeth. It had taken hours to resolve the mess. But she hadn’t expected everything to be easy and would just have to fix each problem as it came, one way or another. With that thought, she went upstairs to shower and climb into bed. Fortunately the second floor of the house hadn’t required as much work as the first. Mostly she’d just needed to buy a new bedroom set. No paint was needed, although most of the rooms remained unfurnished.

She closed her eyes, ready to drift off, but Jordan’s annoyingly handsome face filled her mind. Nicole punched her pillow. She only had to put up with him for a while. Just because they lived in the same city again, that didn’t mean they’d cross paths constantly.

Well, apparently he used the same fitness trail, but she’d only seen him there once... Sure, he’d been in Fiji for part of the time, but she’d been using the trail for months before moving to the house and hadn’t seen him.

Hitting her pillow again, she tried to forget his lean, powerful body in running clothes. Disappointment in romance hadn’t turned off her response to the opposite sex, but that didn’t mean she had to pay attention to it.

* * *

THE FOLLOWING DAY Nicole was busy at her desk when she heard a tentative knock. A young woman stood in the doorway.

“Can I help you?” Nicole asked, thinking she’d seen her visitor before.

“I’m Chelsea Masters, one of Jordan’s sisters.”

The years peeled away and Nicole remembered the girl who’d always seemed unhappy and wistful. She didn’t look much happier now. She was also wearing a heavy foundation that didn’t entirely conceal dark bruises on her cheek and jaw.

“Chelsea, of course. How nice to see you again.”

Nicole wondered how many of the Masters family would be coming to Seattle. Chelsea had been nice enough, but her siblings and their parents? Nicole shuddered. No wonder Chelsea had seemed unhappy while growing up.

Chelsea smiled uncertainly. “I thought Jordan might be here since he’s doing those articles about you and the agency.”

Standing, Nicole walked around the desk and gestured to a chair; Chelsea sank into it, her face pale. Nicole sat next to her. “I’m afraid he isn’t here,” she explained, “and I don’t have his address.”

“I do. I checked there first, but he wasn’t around. He...he got me a ticket so I could, um, come and visit. I’m afraid I just jumped on a plane and came, so he didn’t know when to expect me.”

“Have you tried calling him?”

“I, uh, don’t have a cell phone right now. It’s lost, and I should have replaced it before leaving, but I didn’t.” Chelsea’s lip trembled and she wiped a hand across her face, only to stare at the heavy smear of makeup on her palm. The bruise was now quite visible. It looked fresh.

“How did you get hurt?” Nicole asked, deciding it was best to mention it openly.

“Oh. I... I was in a traffic accident a couple days ago. It wasn’t too bad.”

Nicole wasn’t sure she was telling the complete truth. Something difficult was going on in Chelsea’s life.

“I’m glad it wasn’t serious. Was anyone else involved?”

“There was the other driver and my boyfriend. That is, not anymore... I mean, we’d just broken up. It was his car. They say it wasn’t his fault, but...you know.”

The phone rang and Nicole sighed. “Sorry, I need to answer that. We don’t have an office manager right now and the temp agency didn’t have anyone to send today.”

It turned out to be a photographer who’d seen their website and wanted a go-see with three of the agency’s models. Nicole took down the details and swiftly texted the clients.

While she’d been on the phone, Chelsea had wandered away. When Nicole went looking, she found her visitor standing in the reception area, straightening files on the desk.

Chelsea turned and looked at Nicole. “I don’t suppose you’d consider hiring me as your office manager.”

“You’re looking for a job?”

“I worked out my notice on my last position and haven’t started looking, but I’m getting my résumé together.”

“You don’t live here.”

“On the flight up I was thinking it might be a good idea to move away from Los Angeles. I’ve really liked Seattle whenever I visited Jordan.” Her face fell. “But...but I guess you wouldn’t want to hire me. I mean because he’s writing the articles and the way our moms... I mean, I’d never say anything to Jordan about anything here at the agency, but it wasn’t fair to ask.”

Nicole couldn’t deny that privacy was a concern. On the other hand, she had nothing to hide. She wouldn’t hire Jordan’s little sister just to prove that, but it would be a side benefit should Chelsea prove to be suitable.

“What sort of work experience do you have?” she asked, playing for time to think.

“At the company where I used to work I started out as an office manager, though I’ve been in HR for the last three years.”

Chelsea had experience a talent agency could use, yet the last thing they needed was a scared rabbit in the office. Nicole hesitated, but Moonlight Ventures was supposed to be about encouraging people to become their best. Why couldn’t that apply to an office manager, as well as other clients?

She took an application from a file drawer. “Fill this out if you’re really interested.”

Chelsea’s expression brightened. “I’ll do it right now.”

“One of my business partners should do the official interview. He’s just here until the end of the week, so he’ll probably want to see you this afternoon.”

“So soon? I don’t, that is, I...” Chelsea looked alarmed and gestured nervously toward her face.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. We’ve all been there in one way or another.”

Still looking apprehensive, Chelsea sat down to work on the application. The fact that she didn’t cut and run seemed a point in her favor.

Nicole walked down the hallway and, with a brief knock, slipped into Adam’s office. He was intently watching a video. Prospective clients had begun inundating them with portfolios and DVDs of amateur performances. Reviewing them was at least half of how he’d spent his time since arriving.

He glanced at her. “This one is painfully awful. It’s from the stage mama of all stage mamas. She’s in the video more than her child.”

Nicole had already known that parents who pushed their kids unbearably would be one of the less palatable aspects of working as an agent. Over the years she’d come to the conclusion that parents were often trying to fulfill their own dreams through their children.

“I have someone interested in the office manager’s position. She’s filling out the application right now and I wondered if you had time to interview her.”

“That’s fine,” Adam said. “Beats watching this and we have to get somebody hired. You can’t do everything alone and I won’t be here full-time for another two months, give or take. Not that you haven’t been doing a terrific job. Agency revenues are already higher than when Kevin owned Moonlight Ventures.”