Page 105 of Is It Casual Now?

“Absolutely not.”

“What?”

“The one doesn’t define the other. Who you are deserves to be treated like a queen. And you are beautiful. Both exist separate from the other.”

“Hmmm.” Jamie’s tone shifted to that smirk Siena loved. “It’s almost like you are trying to wine and dine me after all.”

“Absolutely.” Siena chuckled as she unwound her arms from Jamie and moved to one of the places she had set up with a plate and glasses.

“Oh my God.” Jamie laughed as she sat in the seat Siena pulled out for her. “Are you kidding me?”

“I would never kid about…” Siena lifted the pitcher from the ice bucket so Jamie could see that as well. “Fajita’ing and magarita’ing.”

“You really are perfect.”

“Huh.” Siena scoffed, but she couldn’t hide the smile and doubted the flickering light of the flames truly covered the heat in her cheeks. “Hardly. But I’ll do everything to be perfect for you.”

“Just be you,” Jamie said. “That’s more than enough.”

“Then dig on in, before the fajita meat gets cold,” Siena said as she took her own seat and they both dove in, making fajitas their own way.

“So are you going to tell me what this big job opportunityis about?” Jamie seemed genuinely curious about it, which was a good sign.

Then again, she was unemployed right now, so she’d probably take anything she could get if there was a chance it would help pay the bills.

“I was going to wait, but all right.” Siena took a deep breath and dove in. “Come work for me at D.Y.K.E. Management.”

“What?” Jamie’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Come and join as D.Y.K.E.’s public relations consultant. Primarily, you’ll be in charge of controlling Bunny and Piper’s media presence, as well as helping me build up my new clients Jo and Bea.”

“Jo?” The shock on Jamie’s face was evident. “The same Jo who’s fake-engaged to Piper?”

“The one and the same. That’s a complicated situation, but I can fill you in on all of that when you start.” Siena smiled, unable to get rid of the ridiculous amount of joy and hope that filled her now that her idea was out in the open.

“Siena.” Jamie’s lips pursed together, and she placed her freshly wrapped fajita back down onto her plate.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Jamie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s an amazing opportunity, and past me would have jumped on it the minute you said, ‘work for me.’ But I don’t want to fall back on bad habits and jumping into things without thinking them through. It’s just one of those many habits I want to change.”

Siena sat with Jamie’s words for a moment, rolling them around in her head. This hadn’t been what she expected. Surely working for her and doing this kind of PR would be Jamie’s dream job. She’d talked about it more times than Siena could count, and having access to all the gossip firsthand would surely be the perfect job for Jamie.

“I’m sorry. But can I think about it before you jump into getting me sized up for a uniform?” Jamie was genuinely smiling this time, which was a relief to Siena’s racing heart and the disappointment filling her.

Siena laughed and the image of Jamie in any kind of uniform presented a whole new option for her to pursue at a later date.

“Of course you can.” Siena returned to making her own fajita. After a moment, she looked up to see Jamie hadn’t picked her dinner back up.

“You really aren’t mad at me?” Jamie asked when their eyes met.

“Mad at you?” Siena blinked, and she stopped wrapping up her first fajita. “I’m proud of you. You’re wanting to be a better version of you.”

“What if I can’t be? What if this is the best I get?” Jamie cringed, her hair falling over her shoulder as she seemed to try and hide behind it.

“This is what I’ve fallen in love with. And I know you. No matter what, you’ll keep trying to be better. You’re not a bad person.” Siena reached over and touched Jamie’s hand lightly with her own, giving her a tender squeeze. When they’d first met, Siena had never expected that Jamie would have this much to be self-conscious about. She hid it well during their initial trysts and conversations.

“All right, enough of all that.” Jamie waved her hand and picked up her fajita. “How was the rest of your day?”

---