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Chapter 5

Eve’s hands shook as she followed her boss down the hallway toward the conference room. This had to be a joke. There was no way Matthew Cardhart wanted to speak to her. She wracked her brain for any memory of something she might have done wrong during their time together.

I must have done something. She thought.

Jerry swung open the door to the conference room, and Eve’s breath hitched in her chest. He was really there. Matthew sat at one end of the conference room table, flanked by security guards. He looked entirely out of place in their plain office room. A singular diamond earring glinted from his ear as he turned his head. He sat calmly and casually with his angular jaw resting on one hand. When Eve entered the room, he glanced at her and met her with a tight smile. Professional. Eve tried to smile back, but she felt frozen in shock.

“Eve, take a seat,” her boss said uncomfortably.

Eve slid down to a chair next to Jerry and forced herself to sit. The table was crowded with business professionals. Men and women dressed smartly, some carrying briefcases. A few were dressed slightly more casually and looked slightly more uncomfortable than the rest. They carried pads of paper, pens, and laptops.

A woman with a high bun leaned forward, extending her hand toward Eve. “Eve Greenwood? I’m Mr. Cardhart’s head of legal. You can call me Angela.”

Eve uncertainly shook Angela’s hand. The woman gripped her fingers like a vice.

“Hello.”

“I understand that you interacted with Mr. Cardhart at the convention this past weekend.”

Eve looked at Jerry, who returned her gaze unhelpfully, then she glanced at Matthew, who was looking down at a paper in front of him. He seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

“Yes… How did you find me?”

“Mr. Cardhart’s legal team is very good at their jobs, Miss Greenwood,” Angela replied vaguely.

A small snort came from Matthew’s end of the table. “You were wearing your visitor’s badge at the convention, so my team searched for your full name on the internet,” he said.

Did he just roll his eyes at Angela?

Angela shot him a warning glance, and Matthew returned his gaze to the paper in front of him.

“Needless to say, we were…intrigued to find out you were a journalist,” Angela continued.

“Blogger,” Eve couldn’t help but correct the woman, who looked at her, unamused.

“Right, well, I wanted to ensure you signed an NDA about your experience with Mr. Cardhart immediately, but he came up with an… alternative.”

Eve again looked at Matthew, who glanced up at her. His crystal green eyes pierced right through her.

“We have an opening on our media team,” he said evenly.

“After researching your work, we wanted to extend the job position to you with the allowance for you to cover Matthew’s competitions exclusively under the Pixel Pulse domain,” Angela explained.

Eve blinked.

Work for Mr. Cards?

“You would start immediately, as Mr. Cardhart has a competition coming up at the end of the week.”

“We’ll be ocean side,” Matthew said with the faintest hint of mischievous excitement.

“Travel and board will, of course, be compensated by Mr. Cardhart’s team,” Angela said, shooting Matthew another warning glance. “You will leave with the team the day after tomorrow.”

“Wait-” Eve said, desperately trying to process the information.

“As for compensation, we are prepared to offer you a rate of 1,500 per week. That would be in addition to any regular rate you receive from Pixel Pulse for the articles that you publish during the competitions.”

Eve’s head spun. “I—I have to think about it,” she said.

Both of Jerry’s hands landed with a loud thump against the table, causing Eve to jump. “Eve! May I have a word outside?” he asked.

Eve followed Jerry out into the hall, and he gingerly closed the door behind them. He leaned in, and Eve felt his hot breath against her face. “Eve, are you crazy?” He whispered. “You can’t possibly be considering turning this down.”

Eve flushed. “It’s just all happening so fast.”

“News is fast. Do you have what it takes to keep up?” he asked.

This might be the opportunity that Eve had been looking for, and she was not about to let it slip through her fingers just because she was nervous.

She nodded.

“Good! Then get in there and say yes. Matthew Cardhart is huge right now. If we can get exclusive rights to articles about him, that is going to put us over the top,” he said excitedly.

“Okay,” she said, trying to sound more sure of herself than she felt.

The two of them reentered the room, and again, Eve locked eyes with Matthew.

Did he look hopeful?

The expression passed across the streamer’s face for half a moment before it was gone, again replaced by neutral professionalism. She had caught glimpses of the guy he had been at the convention, but for the most part, he had acted very differently inside the conference room.

I wonder if Angela has anything to do with that. She wondered.

Without sitting down, Eve stood at the head of the table and announced, “I’ve decided to accept the offer.”

Another smile flashed across Matthew’s face, and Eve felt her heart jump.

I am going to have to get used to that. She thought.

Angela clasped her hands together. “Great! We just have some paperwork we will need to get done today, and my assistants will fill you in on what you will need to do for Wednesday,” she said.

Eve took the pen in her hands and began to fill out the paperwork. She felt excitement and nerves rise in her chest. Only a few days ago, she had gotten her heart broken in a cheap hotel room, and now she felt as if she were getting a new start.

Eve took a deep breath and signed her name at the bottom of the contract.