A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

lights flickered on and I squinted against the sudden
brightness. I blinked several times before I peered in her direction: she was about
the same age, tall, blonde and strikingly beautiful with flawless pale skin and
ocean-blue eyes that shone a tad too bright. Skinny jeans emphasized her
shapely legs and narrow waist. A thin top revealed strong arms and shoulders. Dressed
in that skimpy outfit I would’ve frozen to death in the woods.
    I turned away from her, focusing my
attention on the interior design. We were standing in a wide hall with a tiled
floor, a thick scarlet rug and sparse furniture. It looked like any doctor’s reception
area minus the desk, sitting opportunities and white-clad nurses.
    “I’m Clare. You must be Amber,” the girl
said, smiling. Her voice was as smooth as silk, young but not too high-pitched.
The tone was posh. The usual rich kid, I mused, the kind of girl everyone
admired and envied.
    “Nice to meet you, Clare,” I said, curling
my lips into a smile.
    Clare turned toward a closed mahogany door
and craned her neck. “Aidan might take a little longer. I’ll show you to your
room.”
    I frowned. “Aidan?”
    Clare cocked a brow. “As in Aidan
McAllister. He’s dying to meet you.”
    “Ah. My new boss. Of course. Is he your
father?”
    Clare shot me an incredulous look. What was
she waiting for? Was I supposed to say something? I wasn’t making a good first
impression here, was I? I should’ve researched my new boss on the internet, or
follow him on Twitter to find out how he liked his bed sheets ironed and what
he usually ate for breakfast. After all, this would be my job for the next two
months. But I had been too busy missing my ex while letting Dallas fill out my application
form.
    “Aidan’s a friend,” Clare said, eventually.
“Come on.”
    A friend could mean anything, but I didn’t
press the issue. There’d be enough time for that later. We climbed up the broad
stairs to the first floor. Clare opened a door and let me in. She switched on
the light and took a step aside. “Welcome to your new home.”
    I stopped, scanning my new bedroom. It was
spacious, the exact opposite of my former matchbox boarding school room in
London. Thick plum-colored curtains covered half of the opposite wall. To my
right was a huge, four-poster bed with numerous cushions in the same color as the
curtains. The bed was so large it’d never fit into my former bedroom. If this
was the Scottish standard I had a feeling I’d get used to it in a heartbeat.
    “I gather you like it?” Clare said, her
voice betraying amusement.
    I cleared my throat. Like it? Was she
kidding? It was breath taking. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
    Clare beamed as though I’d just complimented
her on her fashion sense. “I’ll let you unpack then and shall bring up your
dinner in half an hour. Of course you can eat in the dining room, but I assume
you’re tired and may want some privacy before your first day of work.”
    “Yes, that’d be great. Thanks.”
    “Excellent. The TV remote control is on the
night table. The bathroom’s in there.” Clare pointed at a door on the other
side of the room. “If you need anything, I’m in the library, which is on the
ground floor, the second door to the right. You can look around the house if
you like, but the second floor is off-limits.”
    Once Clare closed the door behind her, I
walked to the bed and pulled the heavy bedspread aside. The sheet beneath was
of a perfect white. I opened my suitcase and threw my clothes haphazardly into
the closet near the window, leaving my books and various memorabilia in my
suitcase. Neatness wasn’t my strongest point, but what my new boss didn’t know
couldn’t hurt him. From all the competition, funny that I should be the lucky
one to land such a well-paid job. Whatever Dallas wrote on that application
form, I could only hope he hadn’t pretended I was a domestic goddess. That
might just mean the end of my placement, and I really needed the money.
    I walked into the bathroom and reached for
the light switch. The bulb flickered to life, revealing walls covered in white
tiles with tiny, dark blue flowers. I peeked into the mirror above the washbasin
and grimaced at my mousy brown hair that lacked a good cut, my chubby cheeks
and big hazel eyes. Many called me pretty, but I knew I would never have that extra
something that would make a guy fall in love with me. Cameron hadn’t, or so he
said before making it clear