Hopefully, she’d come around. Earning trust goes both ways.

“Okay, well, thank you.” She paused for a moment and nibbled her bottom lip.

I arched an eyebrow. “Is there something else?”

“Well, it’s just that one of the magazines offered you a lot of money. And I mean a lot. Like, over one hundred thousand dollars a lot.”

I could see the dollar signs in her eyes as she spoke about the amount. Not to sound like a jerk, but I could have easily made that amount of money in my sleep. And, even if I hadn’t been able to, I still wouldn’t have wanted to do some magazine article.

I’d seen what being in the spotlight can do to a person’s mental health and their actual businesses. Nothing good comes from giving the world a viewpoint into your life. They’d love you at first, maybe, yeah, but the moment they needed a reason to turn on you, they’d twist your words and call you the devil.

Life was easier with me being a bit of a mystery. All they could do was assume, and anyone who had time to assume about someone else’s life was clearly not living their own to the fullest. I wasn’t into that world—the gossiping scene. Since I’d moved to New York, I’d learned that the gossiping habit didn’t stay in high school. I’d crossed paths with individuals in their sixties still shit-talking about people. Whenever it happened, I’d exit stage left.

The less drama, the happier life was to me.

Rose’s mouth twitched once, and I smirked.

“What else did they offer me, Rose?”

“The cover of People magazine for sexiest man alive! And oh my gosh, Mr. Roe, they only do that for celebrities! Like real celebrities! Like Ryan Reynolds and Idris Elba! It’s so cool. Like that’s the dream.”

I laughed. “Is that it?”

“Absolutely.”

“So what do these guys get from holding the title of sexiest man alive?”

She looked at me as if I were idiotic for not understanding what an honor said opportunity was. “Uh, the sexiest man alive title! You literally hold that title for life.”

“Wow. Well, as wonderful as that sounds, I think I’ll pass this one up. But thank you, and please let each outlet know I am honored but kindly turn down the offers.”

“Well, okay, Mr. Roe.” She paused and arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick up the suits tonight?”

“Positive. Thank you, Rose.”

She left my office, and just as she exited, Damian walked in with a grimace on his face.

“Good afternoon, Damian,” Rose stated.

He moved past her as if he hadn’t even noticed her existence. Not a hello, not a hey, nothing. A completely and utterly silent response.

Rose was a very attractive girl, and Damian was her same age, just a year younger. I would’ve thought he’d develop an attraction to her just as the rest of the guys in the office were, but he seemed far from interested.

Then again, that was Damian’s norm for the most part. He was extremely good at not caring about pretty much any other human being. He and I were the complete opposite. He was cold as ice, and I was known for my warmth.

Still, to me, he was family. I’d met Damian two years earlier when I was looking for a kid to help mentor through a program, and I was paired with Damian—the grumpiest sixteen-year-old I’d ever seen in my life. For a long time, I took his bad attitude personally, but then I realized it was a defense mechanism. He’d grown up in the foster system being tossed around from home to home, never really finding a stable life, so he closed himself off to everyone around him. He had trust issues that ran deep. He tried his hardest to push me away, because so many people had pushed him away in his lifetime.

Too bad for him that I was an annoying motherfucker who didn’t give up when something was challenging.

I’d stayed in his life for the past two years, and I had no plans of exiting anytime soon. When he told me he didn’t see himself going to college, I made sure to get him a position working for me. I didn’t believe everyone was meant for the college life track, but I knew Damian was smart as hell and could do amazing things if given the opportunity.

It turned out, he was one of my best employees—grumpy self and all.

“You didn’t say good afternoon to Rose,” I mentioned as he moved to sit in the chair across from my desk. Unlike Rose, there was nothing nervous about his entrance into my office. He moved with confidence.

“Why would I say hi to her?”

“Because she greeted you first.”

“She’s a fake, shitty employee. I don’t like her.”

“To be fair, you don’t like anyone.”

He parted his lips to respond but then shit it when he realized there was nothing but the truth in my words.