Page 32 of Failure to Match

Yeah. Fuck no.

I wasn’t another member of his staff. He couldn’t just order me around.

“I’m booking you for a psych eval,” I said. “Next week. Have your team send me your schedule and I’ll work around it. You’ll need a two-hour block.”

His mouth did that tilting thing again. It wasn’t a smile. Jackson wasn’t capable of those.

“Sit,” he repeated, gesturing to the chair across from him.

I rolled my eyes. “Some early coaching advice since, again, you very clearly need it—outside of the workplace, ordering people around is generally not considered an attractive quality. Neither is trying to bribe them or thinking that you can solve everything with money.”

It happened again. The mouth thing.

“Okay. Since you insist, we can stand.”

He rose to his feet and stalked over to me, stopping mere inches away so he could look down at me all smug. “Better?”

I crossed my arms and held my ground. Sure, I had to tilt my head all the way back to maintain eye contact, but I still had my dignity. “It’s great.”

“That hasn’t been my experience, by the way.”

“What?”

“I have yet to come across a problem that can’t be solved with money,” he insisted, just as the soft, clean scent of his cologne hit me. It was highly pleasant, actually. Didn’t suit him at all. “Bribes have worked rather well for me in the past, and as for ordering people around… you’d be surprised.”

Something about the way he said the last part made color threaten to sprout over my cheeks. I brushed it off. “Yeah, well, you can’t bribe your way out of this one, I’m afraid. My soul’s not up for sale.”

His head slanted to one side, his cool gaze sliding over my face. “Everybody has a price, Miss Paquin. We just have to find yours.”

“Okay, telling someone they have a price? Also incredibly unattractive.”

“You’re really not taking the money?” he asked, blatantly ignoring my sage advice.

“I’m really not taking the money.”

“Why? You agreed that was why you were doing this in the first place.”

“I also said I wasn’t willing to put my career at risk.”

He shrugged. “With twenty mill you could set up your own agency. Make your own rules. I was there, I saw the dynamic between you and Valerie.”

“Vivian.”

“Vivian. Sure.”

“Not remembering people’s names is also highly unattractive,” I said. “Clear indication that you’re self-absorbed.”

“I remember the ones that matter. Point is, if you’re the one running things, you don’t have to put up with management and their bullshit. In fact, you’d be paying other people to put up with yours.”

“Nah, I’m good.” I turned on my heel, ready to leave, but stopped when his fingers unexpectedly grazed my sleeve. “What?”

His eyes were narrowed again, but not with scorn. He looked more curious than anything else. “How much to make you go away? Seriously.”

Wow. Hereallydidn’t get it, did he? “Unfortunately, I’m not a problem you can just throw money at.”

“What do you want, then?”

“To do my job,” I said. “The one you insulted this morning which, by the way, is also a highly unattractive thing to do.”

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