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

by Sabrina Stark

  She crossed her arms. "Sure you were."

  There were so many things I wanted to say in return, but most of them were laden with profanity of the worst kind. And the last thing I needed now was a scene at the office.

  After all, things were shaky enough as it was.

  I turned to give Jaden a nervous look, only to freeze in mid-motion at the sight of him standing directly beside me.

  When did that happen?

  He looked to Darla and said in a low voice, "I already told you, leave her alone."

  "Why should I?" Darla said. "I see the way she looks at you."

  I sputtered, "What?"

  She looked to me, and her gaze narrowed. "What, you think I don't see you mooning over him? It's disgusting. Get a grip on yourself, will ya?"

  I felt my fingers clench. Oh, I wanted to get a grip on something alright.

  And now, Darla was saying, "And as long as I'm laying it on the line, stop cozying up to my daughter."

  I stiffened. "I'm not cozying up to her."

  "Yeah, well she's always in your office. You think I don't know what you're doing?"

  I was staring now. "What are you talking about?"

  "You're pumping her for information, aren't you?"

  "Information? About what?"

  Her gaze shifted to Jaden. "About him. And God knows what else."

  My fingers were still clenched. "Hey, it's not like I'm dragging her into my office. She walks in on her own." Uninvited, too. But that was beside the point.

  Jaden's voice cut through the noise. "Time to go."

  Darla and I turned to look. I wasn't sure who he meant. Her? Or me?

  Thankfully, his gaze was firmly trained on Darla. "You've got the rest of the day off," he said. "Use it to cool down, alright?"

  Her mouth fell open. "What? You're kicking me out? For her?" She said "her" like I was some sort of contagious disease.

  "No," Jaden said in an eerily calm voice. "I'm kicking you out because you can't control yourself."

  Darla gave another snort. "Oh, like she can. Do I need to remind you, she jumped you the first day you met."

  "Hey!" I said. "I did not. Nothing happened 'til later." As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake. Obviously, she'd been talking about the day of my job interview, when I'd taken a flying leap in Jaden's direction.

  But I'd been so distracted by my own crazy, mixed-up feelings, I hadn't thought before speaking.

  And now, there was dead silence.

  Darla's gaze shifted between me and Jaden. Her lips pursed as the pieces slid into place.

  I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. Already, I'd said far too much.

  My face was flaming, and my spine was twitchy. I looked toward my own office and mumbled, "I'll uh, just give you the messages later."

  I turned to go, only to stop in mid-motion when Darla yelled, "You fucking tramp!"

  Tramp?

  Oh, for God's sake.

  Something inside me snapped. I whirled to face her. "Yeah? Well so what?" My voice rose. "Yeah, I fucked him. And it was fabulous!"

  I jerked my finger toward his desk. "We did it there, multiple times. And just so you know, it was the best I ever had." My breath was coming in short, ragged bursts as I stepped closer and finished by saying, "There, you happy now?"

  If happiness was a murderous rage, she looked like the happiest person on Earth.

  Her fists were clenched, and her shoulders were tight. She looked dangerously close to punching me in the face.

  If so, I was ready. "You wanna hit me?" I made a forwarding motion with my free hand. "Bring it on, granny-pants!"

  She looked down. She was wearing a pantsuit today. And yes, the waist was quite high. But since when did I care about that?

  I didn't.

  It suddenly struck me that I'd not only insulted her, but semi-threatened her, too – or at least threatened to defend myself if she took a swing.

  Fine. I didn't like this job anyway. Much.

  And now, Jaden was reaching out toward Darla's elbow. His voice was very calm as he said, "C'mon, I'll walk you out."

  "Walk me out?" she sputtered. "Why don't you walk her out? Or better yet, have security do it."

  He smiled. "Hey, I am security."

  That might've been a joke, but I was too distressed to laugh. None of this was funny. Not at all.

  As I watched in stupefied silence, Jaden gently, but firmly, began leading Darla toward the suite's door.

  She protested, "But what about my purse?"

  He replied, "I'll have someone deliver it."

  "No!" Darla said. "I need it now. It's got my keys."

  Jaden caught my eye and said in an overly calm voice, "Allie, would you mind retrieving her purse?"

  Unsure what else to do, I gave a silent nod.

  But already, Darla had yanked her elbow out of his grip. "Fuck that!" she yelled, turning all her fury on Jaden. "If you want me to go so bad, I'll get it." Under her breath, she added, "Like I'd want her filthy hands on my stuff."

  I looked down. Filthy?

  Talk about insulting.

  True to her word, Darla marched back into her office – or rather, Karen's office – and emerged a moment later with her purse slung over her shoulder. She stalked back to where Jaden and I stood, and then glared up at him to say, "If you want me, I'll be at home."

  And with that, she marched out of the suite without looking back, leaving behind her a silence so heavy, it made my knees go slightly weak.

  Or maybe that was just nerves.

  I felt terrible for all kinds of reasons. I'd revealed something that was supposed to be a secret. I'd almost gotten into a fist fight with someone older than my own mother. And – this was the worst part – I was dangerously close to crying.

  This totally sucked.

  Chapter 61

  I didn't want to cry. I wasn't the crying type. And I certainly didn't want to cry in front of Jaden.

  I mumbled something about getting back to work and turned away, only to pause when he said, "Don't."

  I looked back. "Don't what?"

  "Don’t run off."

  "I wasn't running off," I said. "I was getting back to work." I lifted my chin. "Unless I'm fired."

  His gaze darkened. "Fuck that."

  I wasn't sure what he meant. "Do you mean my job, or…?"

  "Forget your job." With two long strides, he closed the distance between us. "That's not what we're talking about."

  I stared up at him. He was so close, I could feel the warmth of his body. I could smell the scent of his favorite soap. Most of all, I could see something in his eyes.

  I didn't know what exactly it was, but I knew what it wasn't. It wasn't lust. And it wasn't indifference either.

  Other than that, I could only guess.

  I heard myself say, "I didn't mean to say that."

  "Say what?"

  I cleared my throat. "Any of it, actually."

  He smiled. "So, I'm the best you ever had, huh?"

  I glared up at him. "Oh, stop it."

  "Stop what?"

  "Stop looking like it's funny. It isn't." My mouth twitched. "Really." This was so maddening. I wanted to laugh. And I was still in serious danger of crying.

  It was official. He was driving me crazy. Again.

  In front of me, he said, "You wanna know what's funny?"

  "What?"

  "You."

  I bristled. "Me?"

  "Yeah. You, thinking you could end it."

  My breath caught. "What does that mean?"

  "It means," he said, "we're not over."

  His words sparked an embarrassing surge of hope, followed quickly by a new dose of despair. It would be so easy to fall into his arms, to pick up where we left off, to pretend that I could be happy with a casual thing.

  But I had to be honest. I wouldn't be happy.

  I blinked back tears. Then again, I wasn't happy now.

  Into my silenc
e, he said, "It was a mistake. You know that, right?"

  Yes. I did.

  All of this was a mistake, a big, giant mistake that would keep growing if I was stupid enough to give in to the temptation that was Jaden Bishop. And now, my eyes were burning with unshed tears. I took a useless swipe at them and murmured, "I know."

  "No." His voice was very quiet. "I mean, it was a mistake to listen to you."

  I gave a confused shake of my head. "What?"

  His gaze met mine. "You said we wouldn't get attached."

  I tried to smile. "And we didn't." Of course, this was only half true. I'd gotten far too attached for my own good. I just prayed that he couldn’t see it, because how humiliating would that be?

  "Wrong," he said. "Maybe you didn't. But I did."

  I swallowed. "You did?"

  "What, you didn't know?"

  "How would I know?" I said. "You never said anything."

  "Yeah? And you wanna know why?"

  "Why?"

  "Because I was a dumb-ass."

  In spite of everything, I laughed. "You were not."

  His eyebrows lifted. "Oh, so now you're being nice?"

  "Hey, I'm always nice." I hesitated. "Okay, maybe not always-always. But most of the time."

  "No, you're not." He edged a fraction closer. "You're a pint-sized ball of trouble."

  "Me?" I sputtered. "What about you?"

  "I'm not pint-sized," he said.

  On this, he was correct in more ways than one. But that was beside the point. Speaking very softly, I said, "Well, you're still trouble."

  "Yeah, and you love it."

  I looked away and mumbled, "Yeah, well. Maybe sometimes."

  "I've been thinking," he said.

  I returned my gaze to his. "About what?"

  "Us."

  There was that word again. My breath caught. "Us?"

  "Yeah. You know what we're gonna do?"

  "What?"

  "Start over."

  It was such a pretty thought. And yet, I made no reply.

  Desperately, I wanted to throw myself into his arms and pretend that everything was fine. But it wasn't. It couldn’t be, not unless his ideas about relationships had miraculously changed.

  Or maybe that's what he was telling me in that crazy way of his.

  Was it?

  When I said nothing, he asked, "What is it?"

  I hesitated. "Well, I just think that maybe you and I want different things, that's all."

  "Yeah? Like what?"

  "Well, I mean, you told from the start that you weren't a relationship type of guy."

  "Yeah. I wasn't."

  Wasn't? As in the past tense? "What does that mean? That you are one now?"

  "That depends," he said.

  "On what?"

  His gaze softened. "You."

  Chapter 62

  It would be wrong to say that we picked up right where we left off, because this time, it was different, with one exception.

  We were still sneaking around.

  It was my call, not his. After that whole scene with Darla, I saw all too well that I didn’t want to be that person – the girl sleeping with the boss.

  I'd even half-heartedly suggested a transfer, but Jaden wouldn’t hear of it, telling me, "Forget it. I want to keep an eye on you."

  Whether he'd been joking or not, I had no idea. But I did know that I didn't truly want a transfer anyway. I liked seeing him during the day, and I loved spending time with him at night.

  We'd been back together for just a week, and already, I was getting spoiled on what had blossomed into an actual relationship.

  Somehow, Jaden had convinced Darla to keep quiet about what she knew. As for myself, I'd been dying to tell Cassidy the whole crazy story. She was my best friend and the closest thing I had to a sister.

  But she was also Jax's girlfriend. Oh sure, Jax might suspect that something was going on between me and Jaden, but he never said so.

  For that, I was grateful. I had more than enough trouble at the office already, which also meant that unburdening myself to Cassidy was out of the question.

  Sure, I realized that she could keep a secret, but I hated the thought of asking her to. More than anyone I knew, she deserved a little peace and happiness – happiness that I'd never risk by asking her to lie to the guy she loved.

  Unless I was mistaken, they were hurtling pretty quickly toward something serious – at which point, I'd simply have to tell her, whether I was ready or not.

  In the meantime, I was seeing Jaden on the sly – for now, anyway. Still, the clock was ticking.

  Jaden had told me in no uncertain terms that he wasn't willing to hide it much longer. Even though I didn’t quite agree, I loved the sentiment, just like I loved the way he made me laugh, even as he drove me insane in more ways than one.

  Did I love him?

  Maybe.

  Okay, make that probably.

  No. Definitely.

  Still, the bigger question was, did he love me?

  I wasn't sure. When we were together, he looked like a guy in love, but even I realized that looks could be deceiving.

  We'd been back together for exactly one week when that girl – the one named Luna – called yet again.

  I did the usual thing and told her that he wasn't available. But then, breaking with tradition, I didn't write the message down. Rather, I crossed the hallway, entered Jaden's office, and shut the door behind me.

  He looked up and gave me a wicked grin. "Yes."

  I frowned in confusion. "Wait, was that a question? As in 'yes, what do you want?'"

  "No," he said. "It was the answer."

  "To what question?"

  He made a show of eying me up and down. "Whether I want a quickie." He smiled. "And the answer's yes."

  I rolled my eyes. "I didn't come in here for a quickie."

  "Good," he said, "because you weren't gonna get it anyway."

  I scoffed, "Oh, really?"

  "Yeah," he said. "I was gonna take my sweet time."

  A stupid giggle escaped my lips. "Oh, so the quickie was a bait and switch?"

  "Pretty much."

  "You're impossible. You know that, right?"

  "Hell yeah," he said. "And you love it."

  No. I loved him. But I'd die before I'd say it first. So all I said was, "I have a different question, and no, it's not related to a quickie."

  "You mean a longie," he corrected.

  "Whatever," I laughed. But then, my laughter faded when I recalled why I was here.

  Jaden said, "Alright, what is it?"

  "I'm just wondering..." I hesitated. "Who's Luna? Is she like an ex-girlfriend or something?"

  And just like that, he wasn't smiling anymore. "No."

  "So…" Again, I paused. "Can I ask who she is?"

  His expression softened. "You can ask me anything."

  I gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, but will you actually answer?"

  "Alright," he said. "She's my brother's wife."

  I froze. "Oh, my God, you don't mean—"

  "No," he said with something like a smile. "I'm not talking about Jax."

  Relief – along with a good bit of embarrassment – coursed through me. I gave a nervous laugh. "I keep forgetting, you've got more than one brother."

  Funny though, he never talked about them.

  And why was that?

  Later that night, I found my answer, but it wasn't from him.

  It was from Cassidy.

  Chapter 63

  Cassidy had just walked in through the apartment door when I said, "Hey, I know who Luna is."

  Shutting the door behind her, she said, "Luna? Who do you mean?"

  "C'mon, you remember," I said. "A while back, I asked if that name meant anything to you?"

  "Oh, right." She laughed. "Sorry, it's been a crazy few weeks." From the look on her face, that so-called craziness was a very good thing. She came in and joined me on the sofa and then turned sideways to face me
. "So? Who is she?"

  "Get this. She's their brother's wife."

  "Oh." Cassidy hesitated. "I guess I should've known that, huh?"

  "I don’t know," I said. "Does Jax talk a lot about his family?"

  She shook her head. "Not if he can help it."

  "What do you mean?"

  She frowned. "It really is awful."

  I wasn't liking the sounds of that. "How awful?"

  "That depends," she said. "Do you know which brother Luna's married to?"

  I recalled the little that Jaden had told me. "Yeah. Someone named Jake."

  Cassidy made a face. "Then the answer to your question is 'Really awful.'"

  "So, they don't get along?"

  "Not hardly," she said. "Remember when I told you about Jaden torching that car?"

  How could I forget? Still, I sifted through the details, trying to recall exactly what she'd said.

  Apparently, one of their brothers had shown up here in Florida looking to reclaim an old car of his. One thing had led to another, and Jaden had torched the car right there in the warehouse, in front of the visiting brother.

  I said, "So that was Jake?"

  Cassidy nodded. "Yeah. There's a lot of bad blood between them."

  "Do you know why?"

  "Well, for starters, there's the car thing."

  I tried to laugh. "Well yeah, I can see where torching a car might cause a little brotherly friction."

  "But that's only half of the story," she said. "There's a lot more that I left out."

  "But why?" I asked.

  "Because it's so depressing. And honestly, I wasn't sure you'd want to know. I mean, you're not a huge fan of Jaden."

  Oh, God. How awkward was this?

  I forced another laugh. "Okay, now you've got to tell me or I'll go crazy wondering."

  And so she did.

  When she finished, I almost didn't know what to say. She was right. The story really was awful.

  Apparently, when Jax and Jaden were barely teenagers, their mom had abandoned their family without so much as a goodbye. They'd been living in Michigan at the time, and had no idea where she'd gone until Jax and Jaden discovered on their own that she was in Florida with who-knows-who.

  Even though they'd been far too young to drive, they'd stolen their older brother's car and then drove over twenty hours south all by themselves. But then, when they'd arrived at their destination, all they'd found was their mom living with a rich new family.