“Advertising is all about image.” He settled at the table across from her and placed her résumé, such as it was, in front of him.
“Your reception area certainly makes a statement.”
“You think it’s too much?” He sounded a bit worried.
Goodness, why would he care what she thought? “No, I think it’s lovely. I love the sound of moving water.”
“I guess you would, since you live on a boat.”
She wished he didn’t know quite so much about her already. But his cousin, Cooper, owned the fishing charter boat berthed next door to her, and she was close friends with Cooper’s wife, Allie. In fact, she and Max had both been in Cooper and Allie’s wedding, though they’d hardly exchanged two words. She’d been very subdued that day, wanting to feel happy for her friend but unable to shake her overall pessimism regarding marriage.
In addition to her living situation, Max also knew she was freshly divorced and a single mother-and that her millionaire ex-husband had a violent temper.
“Why don’t I show you my portfolio?” Jane said brightly, wanting to get it over with. She figured her work would speak for itself. Either he would see her talent and give her a chance, or he wouldn’t.
She unzipped the large, black leather case, a thoughtful graduation present from her parents, and opened it in front of Max. He flipped through it silently, scrutinizing each page.
“I’m not familiar with any of your clients. Can you tell me a little bit about them?”
“They’re mostly fictitious,” she blurted out.
“Excuse me?”
“Most of this work was done as class assignments. The businesses don’t exist. Remington Charters is the only real client I’ve ever had.” She had designed a logo for Allie’s fishing business before Cooper had come on the scene.
She expelled a long breath. There, she’d gotten the worst news out.
“Your résumé says you’ve been working freelance since you graduated.”
“A gross exaggeration to get me in the door,” she admitted. “If you want the absolute truth, I don’t have much experience. But I have talent, education and technical know-how.”
“Can you do video computer editing?”
She nodded firmly. “I did some video work in school. I’m sure the technology has advanced, but I can learn it. I’ll learn it on my own time.”
He looked at her, at her artwork, then back at her. He was going to reject her, that was obvious.
She leaned forward slightly. “Just give me a chance, Mr. Remington…Max. I won’t lie to you. I need this job. I’m already behind on my payments to the marina, and pretty soon they’re going to kick me out and…and I’ll just have to drift, I guess.”
Oh, God, she hadn’t meant to say all that. Please, sir, I want some more. Could she humiliate herself any further?
Max studied the woman sitting across from him. He’d been surprised as hell to find out she was Jane Selwyn. If he’d known, he never would have even scheduled an interview.
But now that she was here, he felt obligated to at least consider her for the position. After all, she’d gotten dressed up in that Queen Elizabeth suit for the occasion.
The first time he’d met her, she’d looked quite different. She’d been wearing a bikini, in fact. And what a bikini. Sure, bikinis were pretty much par for the course in Port Clara, but Jane wore hers better than any other he’d seen. In fact, he’d like to see-
He gritted his teeth. Best not to dwell on what she looked like under that suit. He tried desperately to think like a businessman.
Hiring Jane Selwyn would be illogical. He’d already interviewed a better-qualified candidate who was perfect. But though Carol was right that he’d made a decision, he hadn’t yet contacted the artist to offer the job.
He could still reconsider.
Jane’s portfolio showed talent, but it was decidedly amateurish. And despite the small-town atmosphere of Port Clara, he had no intentions of limiting his services to local used-car dealers and barbecue joints. He intended to compete with agencies from Houston-New York and San Francisco, too. Jane was so underqualified.
But the biggest reason of all not to hire her was what she did to him on a physical level. He’d never met a more beautiful woman. Not just your average beautiful, like a model or a beach bunny, but an ethereal, angelic beautiful. With her black, wavy hair, her high forehead and her lush red lips, she reminded him of one of those 1940s movie stars-Vivien Leigh, maybe.
Her husband had been right to punch Max in the face. Although he hadn’t made any outrageous come-ons when he’d first met her, his thoughts had been decidedly carnal, and good ol’ Scott had sensed it.
Max had been in the business world long enough to know that work and sex mixed together like nitro and glycerin. Workplace affairs caused no end of heartache, not to mention the loss of productivity. If he hired Jane, their relationship would have to be strictly business.
Of course, he’d decided long ago he would never act on his attraction-the minute he’d seen her darling, bright-eyed, blond-haired little girl.
Single moms were off-limits for Max. He didn’t need that lesson shoved down his throat again.
“I’ll work for free,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
“Excuse me?”
“Give me a two-week trial, and you won’t have to pay me. We can call it an internship. Let me prove what I can do. I’ll work twice as hard as anybody you could possibly find. I won’t complain. I’ll take work home with me at night. I’ll…I’ll…” She trailed off as she apparently ran out of incentives.
Thank God she hadn’t offered fringe benefits with the boss, or he might have snapped up her offer.
As it was, he couldn’t help but consider what she had proposed. The one problem with the other artist was the salary he’d demanded. Launching this business had been far more expensive than Max had planned for. His cousin Reece, who was also his CPA, was having kittens over the cost overruns for the office remodeling. Getting free graphic arts services would help with his bottom line.
But he quickly nixed the idea. It wouldn’t be fair to Jane. She obviously needed a job, which meant she needed money, too. She had mouths to feed.
And he had to hire the best-qualified candidate.
Max stood, signaling an end to the interview. “It was a pleasure seeing you again, Jane. As I said, I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I’ll let you-”
“You aren’t going to hire me, are you?”
“I’m still considering all-”
“My ex-husband and I finalized our divorce because of you,” she said abruptly. “You owe me.”
He hadn’t seen that coming. Cheeky move. “Oh, really? I thought I did you a favor.”
“No, actually, I did you a favor. If I hadn’t agreed to Scott’s rotten divorce terms, he was going to claim you and I had an affair and drag your name through the mud. He said he would ruin you and your business here in Port Clara before you even got started. And he could, believe me.”
Max sat back down with a thud. “I remember he made some threats, but I thought that was just heat-of-the-moment stuff. Did he actually think we were involved? Based on one conversation?”
Jane nodded. “He thought I was having affairs with everyone, from his brother to the pool boy. But in you, he found someone he could actually damage. And not just with his fists. He knew where you came from, all about your family. He could have caused you considerable embarrassment with his lies, if nothing else.”
“Why didn’t you let him? You barely know me. He couldn’t have proved anything.”
She blew out a breath and massaged her temples with two well-manicured fingers. “You seemed like a nice guy. You didn’t deserve to have Scott as an enemy. He wouldn’t have been able to prove anything, but by the time we went to court, the damage would have been done.”