Page 28 of Dangerous Pursuit

“Good thing it’s not your concern then. I don’t need a father figure, Jackson. I’ve been fine the last few years without one.”

“Dammit, Mia. Stop with the defensive crap. Can’t someone worry about you? You’re not even old enough to be there. What would’ve happened if I informed them of your age?” The alien has vacated his body. Bosshole is back.

I scoff. “Seriously? This isn’t about caring. This is yet again about you thinking I’m too young. I’m eighteen in two weeks, so don’t botherinforminganyone. It wouldn’t matter anyway—I pay to play, and I’m damn good. Don’t mess with somethingyou have no business getting involved in. I mean it.” I’m shaking mad. He cannot screw this up for me. I get queasy thinking about the consequences of not being able to play and what I’d be forced to do instead.

“Or what, Mia? You can’t stop me from digging, so why don’t you just tell me what the fuck is going on?” His voice sounds more like a low growl now.

We stare at each other for a minute, neither backing down, before I decide to respond. “I’m done with this, Jackson. I’ve gone through this weekend’s messages, and here’s a list of the ones you’ll need to handle.” I thrust a piece of paper at him. “Let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise, I’ll go through the agenda for the week and be in shortly.”

He won’t break me.

Jackson

She dismisses me by angling her head toward her computer like I’m not there. I stay for another half minute, contemplating whether to continue lecturing her or walk away. Choosing option two, I stomp off, slamming the door to my office like a child.Great.I’m now acting less mature than the adolescent herself. The infuriating female has me inside out.

I find myself replaying our conversation in my head. Seeing her smile made me want to stand there all day and pull more from her. But then I went and blew it by trying to lecture her again. Dammit.

Opening my email to sign the contract with the security firm I hired makes me feel slightly better since she won’t let me help. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I have her scheduled for protection on weeknights after work and over the weekend. She doesn’t ever leave for lunch unless I send her out on an errand,so there’s no need for anyone during the day because I’ll be keeping her in from now on.

My only problem is planting the device on her phone. The firm is sending someone to do it this morning and will text me when they’re here so I can call her into the office. I’ve already let reception know to allow them back.

While I wait, I finish reviewing the messages from the weekend. Mia does a great job filtering everything out, making sure I only deal with what needs my attention. She’s excellent at her job all around.

My phone buzzes with a text telling me they’re in position around the corner. I use the intercom to request her presence, and seconds later, Mia knocks lightly on the door. After responding, she steps inside, sitting in front of my desk. I get up and shut the door as if it’s completely normal, wishing it was for a better reason involving less clothing.

“Here’s the overview of your agenda for the week. You have a meeting with the attorney this afternoon to discuss the next steps in the Delaware transaction,” she says, back to her calm and collected self.

“Mia, I’m trying to be helpful here. I know you haven’t seen the nice side of me very much, but I’m working on it. Please, if there’s anything you need…” Here I am, trying to be empathetic, and what my mind immediately strays to is that what I’d like her to need has nothing to do with her current situation. I never said I was perfect.

“Thank you, Jackson. I appreciate the effort, but we both know we’re only tolerating each other because we have to. I’ve come to terms with that. My personal life will stay out of the office, and I’d appreciate you not interfering. We’ve never run into each other before this weekend, and it probably won’t happen again, so let it go.” She rises to leave, but they might not be done yet, and I panic.

“Mia, wait! I don’t just tolerate you. I realize I’ve made you feel that way, but you’ve repeatedly proven you’re great at this job. Let me make it up to you and help with whatever you’re involved in.” The look on her face is a bit of shock and awe combined, showing she’s caught off guard. Hopefully, I didn’t play my cards too soon.

“Thank you, Jackson, but I don’t need help.”

Goddammit. I thought I was getting somewhere.

“Mia, I’m trying to approach this nicely, but you’re making it very difficult.” The string holding my patience is ready to snap.

“I’m a whole can of difficult, Jackson, so just stop trying,” she says before walking out the door. Luckily, I received the text seconds earlier indicating they were finished.

I growl out loud as the door closes behind her. Boy, did she just challenge the bear in me. Taking the high road didn’t work, so it’s time to move forward with my plan.

Opening my email, I see that Cici came through for me. There’s a file waiting there with at least a dozen opportunities in and around Bozeman. It wasn’t necessarily at the top of my list to invest there, but she’s been on me about it for some time, so the possibility was already brewing; this circumstance simply kicked it up a notch.

When Cici left San Diego after college, I swear she had to have closed her eyes and pointed to the map, ending up in a small town in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. It couldn’t be any more different from here. However, she chose well because she’s been thriving ever since. I give her crap about going into real estate since it’s a stone’s throw from what she could have been doing, but it’s so much more suited for her. She’s social, bubbly, and loves interacting with people. I can’t say property management is a fun business, but it is lucrative.

That’s why it makes sense to branch out into another growing market, and with Cici able to keep an eye on things, it’s a goodopportunity. She’s been nagging me for months about getting up there to take a look. What she doesn’t know is that I’ve already researched the area to see if she was blowing smoke up my ass or if there truly was potential there. Turns out, there is—a lot. But I’ve been so busy with all the transactions in the works that I couldn’t make it happen.

With the current situation, I can kill two birds with one stone. Mia’s birthday is in two weeks, which happens to be perfect timing for a trip to Bozeman and allows me to research available properties before we go. Mia just lost a battle she didn’t know she was part of.

Mia

The rest of the day was spent avoiding Jackson like the plague, saving myself from any more crazy. Where did that conversation come from? He was still condescending, but the genuine concern came out of nowhere. Did he just wake up this morning and decide to give a damn, or what? No part of me would ever confide in Jackson about this, and he’s not at the top of my list to ask for help, either. In fact, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t make the list at all.

Part of me wants to tell someone what’s happening, but the more sensible half wins. It’s too dangerous to drag anyone into this, and I can’t even think about what would happen to my mom if these guys found out I’d told someone. I’ll be okay if I just follow their orders and play along.

I’m glad Walker is coming over soon to look at my dating matches again. A distraction is exactly what I need right now. If I had a dollar for every negative thought that ran through my head these days, I’d be able to pay my dad’s debt off.

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