One Bad Idea: A Billionaire Loathing-to-Love Romance

by Sabrina Stark

  "Imagine what?"

  "Well for starters, your reaction."

  "Yeah? You wanna know what I can imagine?"

  "What?"

  "You not giving a rat's ass what I thought, not if you liked the guy."

  I opened my mouth, intending to say something sharp and cutting. But words failed me as I considered the truth of what he'd just said.

  Not too long ago, Bryce had been my boss, and I hadn't hesitated to tell him where to go when a friend's safety was at stake.

  But that was different.

  Wasn't it?

  I honestly didn't know. Somehow, this felt a million times more complicated for reasons that I couldn’t quite understand.

  I clamped my mouth shut and looked away.

  Into the silence, Jaden said, "By the way, he rescinded his offer."

  I turned to look. "What?"

  "The job offer – he had a change of heart."

  Well, that was a shocker.

  I heard myself say, "Can I ask you something?"

  "No."

  "Sorry, what?"

  "No," he repeated. "I'm done." And with that, he turned away, heading deeper into his office. As I watched, he leaned over his desk, yanked open the top drawer, and grabbed his keys.

  I glanced at the clock. It was nearly six. Apparently, my time was up.

  Already, Jaden was striding past me, heading out the way he'd come. I watched in agitated silence as he pushed through the suite's door and disappeared from sight.

  I wasn't sure what just happened, but I knew that I didn't like it. And for once, it wasn't because of anything he'd done. It was because of myself.

  The conversation hadn't gone anything like I'd been hoping. Even as frustrated as I'd been, I'd meant to at least offer some sort of thanks, and maybe an apology for bringing trouble into the workplace.

  Now, I couldn’t help but sigh. This was only my second day on the job, and already, I felt like I'd failed somehow.

  Tomorrow, I vowed, I'd make things right, or at least as right as they could be, considering who I was dealing with.

  Unfortunately, I never had the chance.

  And why?

  It was because Jaden never showed.

  Chapter 27

  From behind my desk, I said, "So, do you know where he is?"

  Standing in my office doorway, the tiny sixty-something redhead gave a derisive snort. "Aren't you supposed to know?"

  I bit back a sharp reply. The visitor was Darla, who I'd had the displeasure of meeting at Jaden's house right after my initial job interview.

  That was two weeks ago, but I remembered it like yesterday. She was Morgan's mom and hadn't been happy to see her daughter fired, which meant that she'd been equally thrilled to see me take her daughter's place.

  And now, she was here in the executive suite, giving me a look of pure loathing. Even worse, it was just the two of us.

  I gave her a stiff smile. "Actually, I didn't realize he was going to be out."

  "But you're his assistant," she said. "You should know these things."

  Yes. I should.

  But Jaden hadn't mentioned it, which meant that I knew nothing, except that he wasn't here and that he wouldn't be back until Monday. Or at least, that was my best guess, based on the limited information that I had.

  This morning, I'd arrived early, only to discover that Jaden's electronic calendar had been cleared of everything for the rest of the week. Only Jaden and I had access to the thing, which meant that he'd cleared all of those appointments himself.

  It was beyond strange.

  As far as instructions, the only thing I saw was a message in the notes section, saying, "If anyone complains, reschedule."

  I'd received no complaints – mostly because I hadn't yet contacted the participants to inform them that their meetings were off.

  No, the only thing I'd received was this little visit from Darla, who'd just marched into the executive suite to inform me that Jaden wasn't here.

  As if I couldn't figure that out on my own.

  It was just past eight o'clock, my usual starting time, and already, the day wasn't looking so great.

  In front of me, Darla was saying, "You're not a very good assistant, are you?"

  Well, that was nice.

  From Cassidy, I'd learned that Darla was some sort of friend of the family, which made my position doubly precarious. Even now, it's not like I could say exactly what I was thinking.

  I almost sighed out loud. It was so much easier when I'd been trying to get fired.

  Then again, I hadn't succeeded at that either.

  I forced another smile. "Should I let him know you stopped by?"

  "Why?" she scoffed. "I'll probably see him before you."

  I gritted my teeth. "Alrighty then."

  She frowned. "What?"

  "Nothing." Deliberately I pushed back my chair and stood. "Well, thanks for stopping by." I gave the door a pointed look. Off you go.

  Her eyebrows furrowed, and she made no move. "I'm not 'stopping by.' I'm here to stay."

  Now that we were both standing, it suddenly struck me that we were almost exactly the same height. It was funny to think that she had such a tall daughter. Then again, my own parents were on the tall side, too, which only proved that trends didn't always run in the family.

  Unfortunately, when it came to personality, Darla and Morgan were cut from the same cloth – the bitchy one, with lots of barbs and digs and what-not.

  I was so lost in my thoughts that it took me a moment to realize what she'd just said. She was here to stay?

  I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "Excuse me?"

  "I'm not 'stopping by,'" she repeated. "What do you think this is? A social call?"

  Obviously, it wasn't – not that I needed her to tell me.

  Darla was wearing a no-nonsense black dress with a polka dot scarf. Clipped to the scarf was an official company badge, which meant that she actually worked here.

  Heaven help me.

  Which department, I had no idea, but I did know that the sooner she returned there, the better.

  Very carefully, I said, "But don't you need to get back to your desk?"

  Her mouth tightened. "Oh, so you're my boss now?"

  "No," I said. "But I do need to get back to work…" Again, I gave the door a pointed look.

  She crossed her arms. "Are you expecting someone?"

  "No. Why?"

  "Because you keep looking at the door." Her eyes narrowed. "Or is that some sort of hint?"

  Yes. It was.

  But she obviously wasn't taking it.

  Bummer for me.

  I made a sound of frustration. "Look, I'll just be honest. I don't know what you want, or why you're here. I already told you that Jaden isn't in today, so—"

  "You told me?" She was glaring now. "Don't you mean, I told you?"

  "Fine. But just so you know, I'd already figured that out on my own."

  She gave another snort of derision. "If so, it's the only thing you've figured out."

  I stiffened. "And what does that mean?"

  "It means, you're in my daughter's seat."

  Oh for God's sake. This again?

  I'd heard a similar statement from Morgan. By now, I felt like tossing that stupid chair out the window – except that I didn't have a window, unless I counted the interior one that faced Jaden's office.

  I gave her my snottiest smile. "I can't, because I’m standing."

  She looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you talking about?"

  I pointed to the chair behind my desk. "You see that thing? My butt isn't in it."

  She didn't even look at the chair. "You know what I meant."

  I widened my eyes in mock confusion. "Do I?"

  "If you don't, lemme spell it out. Sitting or not, you're in Morgan's spot. And by the time she and Jaden get back from Miami, it would be nice if you were gone."

  I froze. So that's where Jaden was? Miami? With Morgan?
/>   The news hit like me a slap to the face. I wasn’t even sure why. Yesterday, he'd mentioned plans at six o'clock. In my mind, I'd imagined dinner plans or some sort of business meeting.

  I hadn't imagined him hopping a plane to Miami with Morgan. A quiet scoff escaped my lips. No. He wouldn’t even need to hop a plane. Miami was just a few hours away by car. And even if he did want to fly, he had his own plane, ready to take him wherever at his convenience.

  Well, goodie for him.

  In front of me, Darla smiled. "I see I've got your attention."

  I gave her a look. "Is there anything else? Because I really do need to get back to work."

  She didn't move. And neither did I. The visual standoff lasted way too long for my comfort.

  I said a silent prayer. Just go already.

  But she didn't.

  Instead, she turned in the wrong direction, heading not toward the exit, but rather toward the half of the suite that belonged to Jax.

  Beyond confused, I moved toward my office door and peered in that direction. I watched in silent confusion as she entered the office directly opposite Jax's.

  Oh, crap. That was the office of his assistant. Was she Jax's assistant?

  No. She couldn’t be.

  Could she?

  Chapter 28

  The morning dragged slowly on, even as I made a slew of phone calls to cancel or reschedule Jaden's appointments. As I worked, I was overly conscious of Darla, sitting – or whatever she was doing – in that neighboring office.

  From my own desk, I couldn’t see her, and yet, I was obnoxiously aware of her presence, especially at mid-morning, when a gaggle of coworkers barged in with cake and coffee – not plain old coffee-pot coffee either, but rather the good kind, probably with chocolate and whipped cream.

  Either way, I knew it was the good stuff, because I recognized the logo on the cups. The logo belonged to an upscale coffee shop within walking distance of the office, so even though I couldn’t actually see what was inside those cups, it was easy enough to imagine.

  As for myself, I hadn't even had coffee this morning. And why? It was because I'd been too anxious to get to work, in hopes of smoothing things over with Jaden.

  It was stupid, really.

  To think, I'd actually felt guilty for not acting more gracious about the whole Bryce thing.

  Meanwhile, no one was offering me coffee, much less a slice of cake or a friendly hello, even as the laughing and talking continued until nearly lunchtime.

  I saw no sign of Jax, but that was no surprise. From what I'd learned just yesterday, he'd be out of town all week, attending some conference in London.

  Better than Miami.

  With Morgan.

  When I finished rescheduling Jaden's appointments, I turned my attention to some meeting notes that Jaden had asked me to type up whenever I had the chance. There was a whole stack of them, written by hand on pale pink notebook paper.

  The handwriting was big and bold, with loopy letters and personal observations scribbled in the margins – mostly related to what the attendees were wearing or what kind of cell phones they were using, as if that mattered.

  Obviously, the notes had been taken by Morgan, back when she'd been sitting in my seat. I paused. Or was it her seat? Probably, it depended on who was talking.

  Regardless, the notes were a jumbled, crazy mess. Some had dates at the top. Some didn't. Some listed the participants. Some didn't. Some were legible, and some looked like they'd been written by a drunken mental patient.

  Already, I'd shut my office door to drown out the party in the neighboring office. It did little good, and by noon, I had a raging headache.

  I didn't bother with lunch. I wasn't hungry. Plus, I hated the thought of scuttling out, leaving Darla to do who-knows-what in my absence.

  I was so distracted that it took me a moment to realize that my office phone was ringing. Startled by the unfamiliar tone, I stopped typing to study the digital display.

  It was an outside call from an unknown number. Whoever it was, they weren't calling Jaden. They were calling me.

  Or more likely, they were trying to call Morgan, in which case, they'd probably tell me to get out of her chair.

  That was, after all, the thing to say, wasn't it?

  Still, I forced a smile into my voice and answered with a cheerful, "Allie Brewster, how may I help you."

  After a long silence, Jaden said, "What's wrong?"

  At the sound of his voice, I practically jumped in my seat. I shouldn’t've been surprised. I mean, of course, it was perfectly natural for him to call and check in, even if he was on some sort of impromptu vacation.

  Still, it begged the question, where was he now? On the beach? Or in a hotel room? Was Morgan lying next to him, naked and ready?

  I gave a mental eye-roll. No. Even if it was that type of vacation, he'd surely delay the call until after Morgan had put on some clothes. Wouldn't he?

  And yet, the image lingered. She was naked. He was naked. Cripes, even the imaginary bellhop was naked, because hey, as long as my imagination was running wild, I might as well go full-weirdo, right?

  Stupidly, I still hadn't answered his question. What was wrong? I rubbed at my eyes. "Nothing."

  "You're lying."

  My grip tightened on the phone. This was just like him – Mister Blunt, even when calling from the beach – or wherever he was.

  But it wasn't him I was frustrated with. Mostly, I was frustrated with myself. Somehow, I'd let him get under my skin. And if that weren't bad enough, I was doing a sorry job of hiding it.

  But then again, I'd never been great at hiding my feelings, even now, when I didn't know what exactly those feelings were.

  But there was no way I'd admit any of this because, for one thing, he wouldn’t want to hear it. "Everything's fine," I lied. "Were you calling about the appointments?"

  "What appointments?"

  "The ones you canceled, on your calendar, I mean."

  "Fuck the appointments."

  No. Fuck Morgan. And fuck you.

  Damn it. Why was I so bothered? It made no sense. I didn't even like him.

  Really, I didn't.

  When I made no reply, he said, "Tell me."

  "Tell you what?"

  "What's wrong."

  I forced another smile. "Nothing."

  "Alright," he said in a carefully controlled voice. "How about this? What's going on?"

  "You mean here at the office?" I glanced around. "Nothing much. I rescheduled the appointments, and…" I hesitated. "Well, it's just me and Darla, so it's pretty…"

  I bit my lip. Pretty what?

  Weird?

  Stressful?

  Quiet?

  Not hardly. Right on cue, a burst of laughter rang through the walls.

  On the phone, Jaden asked, "Did you say Darla?"

  "Yup. I sure did."

  "And she's there now?"

  "Actually, she's been here all morning." I forced a smile so big, my face almost hurt. "Bright and early."

  In a barely audible voice, he muttered, "Fuck."

  I paused. "Excuse me?"

  "Five minutes," he said.

  "Sorry, what?"

  "Five minutes," he repeated. "I'll call you back. You gonna be there?"

  "Of course." I glanced at the clock. Forget five minutes. I'd be here for at least five more hours – five long hours if the afternoon was anything like this morning.

  After we hung up, I heard a phone ring from somewhere outside my office. The ring was followed by a sudden silence that seemed to fill the whole suite.

  I heard nothing at all for several long moments. And then, the parade of visitors began streaming past my office, heading toward the suite's main door. One by one, they filed out, taking the remainder of the cake with them.

  I saw no sign of Darla, and for some reason, that made me just a little nervous.

  What on Earth was going on?

  I had no idea, but it was pathetically
easy to guess that the mystery caller had been Jaden.

  Just what had he told her?

  Chapter 29

  When my phone rang again, I jumped in my seat. A quick glance at the display confirmed that it was Jaden, calling me from the same number as earlier.

  Still, I went through the basic greeting, only to hear him say without so much as a hello, "If she gives you any grief, let me know."

  "Who? You mean Darla?" I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but she had been the last person we'd discussed.

  On the phone, he replied, "Her or anyone else."

  It was a noble sentiment, which only put me further on edge. Jaden, noble? Oh, please. I gave a nervous laugh. "How about you?"

  "What about me?"

  "What if you give me a hard time, should I let you know, too?" Good grief. What the heck was I saying?

  "Why?" he said. "You planning on it?"

  "No." Already, I was kicking myself for saying something so completely nonsensical. "It was just a joke."

  "Good." And with that, he hung up.

  I sat there for a long moment wondering what had just happened. Obviously, it had been a mistake to try to make light of whatever was going on, but the truth was, I was having a hard time thinking of him as my boss.

  Maybe it stemmed from the way we'd met, with him standing shirtless at the door. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't wanted to hire me. Or maybe it was just lingering tension related to yesterday's incident with Bryce.

  Regardless of the reason, everything was just so strange. Of course, that dream I'd had last night wasn't helping.

  What dream?

  Well, let's just say he was missing more than his shirt.

  Deliberately, I pushed away the distraction and returned my attention to the notes.

  They really were a mess, even if it was vaguely entertaining to read that Felicia's blouse was "super-ugly" or that Frank's pants were "too tight for his gut." I had to wonder, was I supposed to transcribe these little observations, too? Or should I just stick with what had actually happened in the meeting?

  In the end, I split the difference – transcribing the meeting notes without the commentary, but adding them back in as footnotes at the end of each document.