Page 18 of One Life to Loathe

“You don’t even know if I’m talented,” I argued. “Given that you think this is the worst thing that has ever happened to you, and I believe it was the best thing that’s ever happened to me…” I trailed off.

Leo opened his mouth, then shut it. Then he opened it again. “I’ll try to adjust my attitude,” was all he said when he finally spoke again.

“It would actually be good for you if you did.” I was on a roll now, and he wasn’t arguing with me. That meant I couldn’t stop. “You have a terrible reputation. Upon meeting you yesterday, I thought it was warranted. Today, though, you were actually tolerable.”

His lips quirked. “Tolerable, huh?”

“I’m not your type of person. I’m a glass-half-full girl. You’re not my type either. That’s okay. We don’t have to like each other to work together. We just have to respect one another.”

His expression was impossible to read. For the briefest of moments, I thought he was about to say something really mean. It was anger reflected back at me. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, though, and he just nodded.

“Yeah, we don’t need to like one another,” he said.

“Just try your best, huh?” I sounded like I was begging now but I couldn’t help myself. “This is one of those jobs where you’ll get the return you put into it. Just … try. Not for me, but yourself.”

“I’ll do my job,” he said. “I promise.”

“Then everybody should be happy.”

6

SIX

Itried not to let Sam’s words bug me.

We don’t need to like one another.

I was agitated, though. I knew why she didn’t like me. I was a jerk. I was always a jerk. That didn’t stop me from being bothered by what she said. No, it was more the way she’d said it. She wasn’t tortured at the idea. Little Miss Sunshine was perfectly fine not liking me.

Why does that bother you so much?I kept asking myself that for the walk back to the hotel. I didn’t have an answer, of course, but I was bothered all the same.

Jax was in the lobby when we walked in. He looked up, smiled, then did a double take. “Where’s Daisy?” he demanded. It was almost as if he thought we’d done something to her.

“She’s at Cauldron Bubble Bistro,” Sam volunteered. “Her friend Lux was … um … having a moment.”

Jax visibly relaxed.

Seriously, did he think we killed her and dumped her in a garbage can somewhere? What the hell?

“Lux is having a rough time of it right now,” Jax said. “I should’ve guessed that’s where she was.”

“Lux has been taken over by the devil,” I agreed. “I think she’s going to give birth to it.”

“She’s usually not that bad,” Jax argued. “Although … I guess she kind of is. Notthatbad, though.”

“She was fine,” Sam lied.

I gave her a sidelong look. “You have a long measuring stick for ‘fine.’”

She admonished me with a dirty look. “Lux is about to create human life from nothing. She’s allowed to be grumpy.”

“I don’t really think that’s how it works,” I argued. Why I felt the need to poke her when things had gone relatively well for the bulk of the day was beyond me. I just liked it when she got fired up. It was perverse how much it … well, not turned me on, but rather made me smile.

“I’ll send you a link to a reproduction website, and you can research that for yourself.” Sam’s tone had bite, which had me grinning. I didn’t even know I could smile this wide.

“I’m looking forward to that,” I said.

Her eye roll was pronounced. “I don’t think I got a chance to tell Daisy how grateful we are for the tour,” she said to Jax. “She was great. Can you thank her for me if I don’t see her?”

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