Wrong (Breaking the Rules)

by Webster, K

  “Andi here was just telling me about her wonderful day at work,” I said sarcastically as I glared at Jackson, who was avoiding everyone’s gaze.

  “Great! I’m so glad, Andi. I think you’ll really like it there. Everyone works hard to make it a successfully company,” he told us as our drinks arrived. Under his breath, he muttered to me, “I feared Jackson might have scared her off like he does everyone else. He’s an asshole.” I laughed in agreement.

  Andi and Jackson were having a silent standoff from across the table. Jordan was completely oblivious as he told some funny stories of him and his brother.

  “So, Pepper, what do you do for a living?” he asked, genuinely interested. Here’s the part where the guy’s eyes would glaze over.

  “I’m an assistant production manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mostly I handle our annual pledges from our donors, events, and overall success of the museum. The production manager, Stan, basically gives me all of his grunt work, but it is an awesome experience.” I waited for the subject change because it always came about now.

  “So do you get to help with any of the exhibits?” he questioned.

  My eyes darted to his. Why is he inquiring about my job? We were supposed to be moving on to topics like the weather or sports or some shit.

  “Um, well, yes, if they center around an event,” I told him hesitantly, still waiting for him to lose interest. I was one of the very few people I knew who was actually interested in this sort of thing.

  “So did you get to help any with the Silla? Those ancient treasures from the Korean kingdom so many years ago are absolutely fascinating. I took my mother to see it a few weeks ago.”

  My jaw dropped. He knew about the Silla?

  “Yes. I, uh, helped make sure everything went smoothly and that it is being promoted properly to draw in the crowds we were expecting. It will be one of the highlights at the upcoming gala.”

  “What gala? Do you need any sponsors?” he asked.

  “No, the sponsorships are filled and have been for some time. It’s our annual gala that brings in quite a few hefty donations that get us through the next year. I’ve been working my tail off to make sure it goes off without a hitch.”

  “Do you need a date for the gala?” he asked, eyebrow raised cockily. Subject officially changed. It had only been a matter of time.

  “No. I won’t have time for that sort of thing. I’ll be working the event, so there’ll be no time for socializing.”

  “Let me take you out another night then. Tomorrow night?”

  Man, this guy was ballsy. I couldn’t stand his brother, and he was my best friend’s boss. Not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

  My eyes flitted over to Andi, who was chugging her wine while Jackson undressed her with his eyes. He then stood quickly and excused himself for the evening. Good, I was tired of looking at him.

  “No, Jordan, I am going to have to decline your offer. I’m busy. Come on, Andi. I have an early morning tomorrow so we should go.”

  She nodded and excused herself to the bathroom. Jordan stared at me for a moment, his eyes searching my own. It appeared that he didn’t get turned down often because I could tell that his mind was working as he tried to figure out why.

  I nudged him with my knee, indicating that I wanted out of the booth. The shock wore off and he chuckled, scooting out. When I got to the edge, he offered his hand and helped me from the booth. His hand was large and hard, which made a shiver run through my body. Yep, he totally made me feel weak. Not too nicely, I yanked my hand from his and stalked over to Andi, leaving him to stare after us.

  Pepper was quite the firecracker. She was evidently the only woman alive immune to my charms. I was completely intrigued with her. Typically, I dated girls who flaunted their beauty. And Pepper, even though she didn’t flaunt it whatsoever, was indeed beautiful.

  Her brown eyes flared with fire whenever she spoke. The words coming out of her mouth might have been frosty, but the light behind her eyes made me believe there was an intensity that she tried hard to suppress.

  Her glasses just made her look adorable. And her messy bun on top of her head completed the sexy librarian look. The baggy college sweatshirt she was wearing could hardly hide her curves. My eyes appreciated the swell of her ass through her jeans as she left the bar arm in arm with Andi. She looked like the type who could be a freak beneath the sheets. And dammit, I wanted to find out if it was true.

  Heading out to my car that was parked in front of the bar, I pulled out my cell to call Jackson.

  “What the hell, man?” I asked once he answered.

  He just grunted into the phone. The whole thing with Nadia really made him a bear to be around. She was a cheater in more ways than one. I wouldn’t be the only one sighing in relief when their divorce was finalized. It didn’t stop me from harassing him though.

  “You seriously just got up and left in the middle of our conversation. What kind of douche leaves two hot ladies so he can go home and sleep? Come on, man. That was just lame. I can see you and Andi have the hots for each other. I’d hit that if I were you,” I teased, laughing, trying to get a rise out of him.

  “You aren’t me,” he growled into the phone. Testy. I guessed that he must like her because if that wasn’t his way of staking his claim, I didn’t know what else it could be.

  “Whatever, dude. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget. The new guy, Brayden Greene, starts tomorrow. It would be nice if you could get to work on time. And try to be nicer to Andi tomorrow. I hate it when you make my assistants cry.”

  When Andi walked in, I smiled at her. My eyes darted to her legs because her skirt was so damn short. I grinned at her, knowing that my brother was going to have a fit. She was trying to drive him crazy with that outfit and it was definitely going to work.

  Jackson looked like he wanted to pounce on her, but when the new guy jumped up to hug her and held on a little too long, I thought Jackson was going to kill him.

  The poor girl looked like she was going to die under Jackson’s intense gaze, so I patted her knee for comfort when she sat beside me. The rest of the meeting went on without any more issues.

  After everyone went their separate ways, I sat in my office thinking about Pepper again. She was so damn enigmatic and it drove me nuts. I thought she’d acted like she might have a mutual attraction for me, but she’d quickly hid it away. If only I could figure out a way to get the main sponsor dumped. Then she’d have to see me.

  Late that afternoon, I thought I would see if Andi could use her pull as Pepper’s best friend to help me out. Trying to seem nonchalant, I stepped out of my office and strode over to her desk.

  “Andi, I need a favor. The firm is really needing some good publicity. The museum where your friend Pepper works is having a gala event soon. They’ve already pinned down their sponsors, but I want Compton Enterprises to be the main sponsor. I don’t care how much it costs and how much persuading it takes, but please make it happen,” I authoritatively instructed. She nodded in agreement so I turned on my heels and made my way back to my desk.

  After a brief search on the computer, I brought up the website to see just who my competition was going to be for the gala sponsorship. I laughed out loud when I realized that the main sponsor was a good buddy of mine. Picking up the phone, I gave him a call.

  “Trent, how are things in the financial world?” I asked when he answered.

  “Jordan! Things are great. What about you and Jackson? How is everything going lately? Have you determined any more about those shady business deals?” he asked.

  Trent had been a good friend to us during those hard days after my dad passed away. He’d looked over all of the financials with us and made some suggestions so that we could remain on the right track. I trusted him with my life.

  Now that the shit had hit the fan with this one particular business deal Dad had made, Trent was helping us determine our options. We’d just had a meeting last Saturday to iron out some
plans.

  “Things are great, man. Listen, I need a really huge favor. It’s going to sound crazy, but I’ve done crazier shit in my life.” He laughed because, being a frat brother, he knew most of that crazy shit I’d done.

  “Go on, man. What is it?”

  “I just discovered that Sutton Investments is the main sponsor for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual gala.”

  “And?” he questioned, unsure where I was going with this.

  “I need you to pull out. There’s this girl,” I began, and he burst out laughing on the other line.

  “You do realize the sponsorship is for half a million dollars?”

  “Yes, and I even plan to make a donation to sweeten the deal. I want this girl—bad. She won’t give me the time of day. If I step in as main sponsor, she’ll have no excuse not to see me.”

  Trent was laughing hysterically on the other line again, but he finally grew quiet.

  “Listen, Jordan. I know your financial situation. Do you really think it’s a good idea to pour your excess cash flow into something like this for a woman?”

  “Trent, we’ll just take the money from my trust, not the company. I won’t jeopardize Compton Enterprises like that. But I really want this. I’ll owe you big time. Name your price, man.”

  He silently contemplated his decision.

  “Okay, I’ll call Stan right now and pull out, but under one condition,” he said, going in for the kill.

  “I said name your price, dude. Anything. No joke.”

  “I get your Super Bowl tickets this year.”

  Shit. “Done. This is why you’re one of my best friends.”

  Hanging up the phone, I smiled. Pepper was by far the most work I’d ever put forth to pursue a woman. For some reason, I knew she’d be worth it.

  When Andi burst into my office a couple of hours later, I knew that Trent had pulled through and he was going to have fun at the Super Bowl this year.

  “Pepper just texted me saying that their main sponsor pulled out for the gala. Here’s her business card. Call her and set it up. I bet she’ll be happy to find a quick replacement,” she gushed, excitedly thrusting Pepper’s card at me. Andi was on Team Jordan.

  I picked up the phone, dialing Pepper’s number as Andi left.

  “Pepper Jones speaking,” she huffed into the phone. Oh, she was pissed all right.

  “Pepper, hi…it’s me, Jordan Compton. I hear your main sponsor pulled out. Compton Enterprises would love to take their place as main sponsor.”

  She was quiet for a moment before she popped her gum loudly into the phone.

  “There’s a list of people who are before you who have first right of refusal to the sponsorship. I’ll let you know.”

  She hung up on me and I laughed. That girl was going to make me fucking chase her and I was going to enjoy every minute of it.

  I still couldn’t believe that Sutton Investments had pulled out less than two weeks away from the gala. Stan was all over my ass to find a new sponsor because obviously he would be the one feeling the heat if we couldn’t find a replacement. I’d only been there for five months and I really didn’t want this one thing to define the rest of my career.

  After Andi had come in this evening, explaining to me her hand in telling Jordan about the sponsorship opening, I had been furious. I’d spent the rest of the night calling and emailing other possible companies. Unfortunately, this late in the year, they’d already all made other commitments. As much as I hated the idea, I was going to have to give in to Jordan’s offer.

  The next morning, I called Jordan at eight on the dot.

  “This is Jordan,” he spoke smoothly, sounding annoyingly sure of himself.

  “Hi, it’s me, Pepper Jones. Uh, I was going to let you know that you can have the main sponsorship if you still want it. What we’ll need now is—” I said but was cut off when he interrupted.

  “Of course we want the sponsorship. We’ll discuss it over dinner tonight. I’ll pick you up from the museum just after five.”

  “Wait, what? No.”

  “Pepper, I have a few requests and I think we should discuss them further.”

  “No, absolutely not. I know what you’re doing here, Jordan,” I snapped.

  “What? We both have to eat and we have business to discuss.”

  He was trying to play innocent, but I knew exactly what he was doing.

  “Jordan, this isn’t a good—”

  “I have a sizeable donation I’d like to make to the museum but if you’re not interested, I understand.”

  I knew he was baiting me. But, considering my career was riding on this deal, I needed to change my tone—and quick.

  “No, no! I’m sorry, er, yes, we would love to have your donation,” I finally conceded through clenched teeth.

  “Good, it’s been decided. See you soon.”

  Click.

  I was going to tell him I would just meet up with him at the restaurant but he had already hung up on me. The fucker hung up on me!

  My blood boiled as I thought about how this pompous ass had injected himself into my life. Every time I thought about his handsome face grinning at me, I wanted to throw my laptop against the wall.

  When a knock sounded on the door, I took a deep breath, pushing out my anger as I exhaled. I looked up to see Stan watching me.

  “Did you find a replacement yet, Pepper?” he asked with his arms crossed. Stan was a pretty good-looking guy. He might have even been my type had I actually had one. His dark curly hair was cropped short on his head, but it would start to curl around his ears if he went too long without a haircut. I glanced down at his dress shirt that stretched over his muscled chest and biceps. He really should have bought bigger shirts. It was distracting.

  Dragging my eyes back to his, I said, “Yeah, Compton Enterprises. They want to add a ‘sizeable’ donation as well. Mr. Compton and I are going to dinner tonight to discuss it all in further detail.”

  His eyes darkened as he looked me over.

  “That’s nonsense. I’ll be going to dinner with him. I need to make sure the sponsorship is finalized and that I can get as much as I can from the donation. Where are you supposed to be meeting him?”

  My mouth dropped open. He seriously thought I was incapable of handling things with Jordan. Standing up, I stalked over to him with my finger in his face.

  “He’s picking me up at five. Stan, I can handle it. You can’t just take over like this! Trust me.”

  Swatting my hand out of his face, he stormed out of the office, but not before saying, “I can and will do this. Watch me. And if you know what’s good for you, you won’t yell at your boss.”

  For the rest of the day, I stewed with anger. At first, I had been miffed at having to go to dinner with Jordan. But now that I had been told that I couldn’t, it was all I wanted to do. Damn, I was a stubborn woman.

  I finally looked up from my laptop hours later when someone knocked on my door. Jordan’s handsome face was grinning at me. My heart fluttered on its own accord. The smile that popped up automatically across my face pissed me off. My body had its own ideas that my mind didn’t necessarily agree with whenever Jordan was around.

  “Jordan, nice to see you,” I greeted formally, standing to go over and shake his hand.

  He willingly took my hand in his and held on to it.

  “Um, it looks like there is a slight change of plans,” I huffed out, frowning. It was embarrassing that I’d been trumped by my boss.

  His smile fell but he didn’t release my hand and it sent chills up my arm.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, my boss, Stan, wants to go to dinner with you to talk about the sponsorship. So it looks like I’m out.” I couldn’t help it when my chin quivered for just a moment. Biting my lip, I stopped it from continuing. His scowl let me know that he saw that I was upset by this new revelation.

  “No.” One simple word, but my heart pounded when he spoke it.

  “Jor
dan, there’s nothing I can do about it. He’s my boss. I have to do what he says.” His eyes flashed with anger. Jordan was Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky every time I saw him, so his mood surprised me.

  “You must be Mr. Compton. I look forward to discussing the sponsorship with your esteemed company over the dinner that Pepper set up for us. I’m Stan White, the production manager here at the museum.” He extended his hand but dropped it when he realized Jordan still had mine in his grasp and wasn’t making any moves to let it go.

  “Mr. White, I’m sorry to ruin your plans, but I made this meeting with Pepper. She’s been my contact and I’d like to keep it that way.” His words were cool and professional but his stare was hard.

  “Mr. Compton, I assure you that my knowledge far exceeds that of Pepper’s, so you’ll be doing yourself a disservice by having her go over the specifics rather than myself. She’s still green, fresh out of college.” I gasped as Stan threw me under the proverbial bus. Asshole.

  “Mr. White, I am feeling agitated and am now reconsidering my decision to proceed with this. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.” He squeezed my hand one last time and winked at me. My heart swelled at his defiance against Stan. Jordan began stalking off, but Stan called after him to stop.

  “Wait! Sir, I do apologize. Please, take Pepper along with you. She could use the experience.” Jordan nodded and waited for me.

  I hurried to my desk and snapped my laptop shut, tossing it into my bag. Grabbing it and my purse, I headed for the door.

  Before I made it all the way out of my office, Stan reached out and squeezed my upper arm, stopping me. “Don’t mess this up Pepper.”

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Jordan glaring at him and taking a step forward. Stan dropped my arm and stalked back to his office. Jordan took hold of my hand again and I let him lead me to his car.

  I nearly punched that guy in the teeth. He was being an arrogant prick, assuming I’d rather have dinner with him than the beautiful woman in the room. Someone needed to knock him down a few pegs. When he snatched hold of her arm, I nearly lost it. Thankfully he let her go when he did because I had been two seconds away from decking him.