Page 14 of Is It Casual Now?

Once fresh drinks were ordered and had arrived, Siena dove into the events of the evening when her strength and resolve had disappeared beneath blue eyes and soft lips.

“Holy shit.” Ingrid hadn’t touched her drink as she listened to Siena’s story and now sat with a strange look on her face—a look Siena was certain she didn’t like.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“Don’t play with me, Ingrid.” Siena lifted her eyebrows and gave her best stare-down. Even with a few drinks in her, Siena was still in complete control over her faculties and knew how to use the power of her stare to her advantage. “What is that look about?”

“This look is still processing.”

“Bullshit.” Siena chuckled, shaking her head. “You’venever taken time to process anything. You’re a friggin’ speed processor.”

Ingrid laughed and finally took a sip of her fresh drink.

“Fine. I’m wondering if JK—pfft, why would anyone want to use that as their persona nowadays—” Ingrid rolled her eyes and shook her head. “—but anyway, I’m wondering if she knew it was you.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she does.”

“I mean the article is about managers in general. I mean, she’s done a number on all of us.”

“Yep. That’s true.” Siena nodded. “But you can’t tell me the little details and examples she’s talking about didn’t have you thinking exactly of me.”

“Hmmm.” Ingrid’s lack of response told Siena exactly what she thought. “You really just walked out while she was in the shower?”

“What the hell else was I supposed to do?”

“Be a grown up and confront her!” Ingrid smiled as though that could minimize the sting of her words.

“It was a nightmare, all rolled up in unreleased arousal, and I panicked. Okay?”

“Yeah, you did.” Ingrid agreed with a nod. “And now you’re going to have to deal with it and not keep running away.”

Siena rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Easy for you to say. And I don’t plan to do anything but my job in relation to that woman. Ever again.”

“Sure.” Ingrid laughed. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“All right Miss Know-it-all.” Siena laughed. “My time’s up. What’s going on in your world?”

“Well, funny you should ask.” Ingrid smiled and began to regale Siena with the things that had happened since the last time they had caught up.

By the time they left, Siena felt a little lighter. She was nocloser to working through her guilt about missing Harley’s open house, or understanding how Jamie fucking Kettlehouse had so easily gotten under her skin, but she was determined on one thing.

She would do her job and avoid the tabloid hack just like she always had.

There would be no more contact with JK.

None whatsoever.

six

“Kettlehouse!” Her boss’s voice boomed through the open plan office the moment she stepped out of the elevator at work. “My office. Now!”

“Oooh, someone’s in trouble.” Scott, the typical misogynistic journalist who hadn’t quite made it to the new century, smirked as Jamie stepped past. She wished those cigarettes he acted like no one knew about would get to killing him already.

What the hell had she done now?

She didn’t let the thought smear her features. She had been at this too long now to make such a rookie mistake. Instead, she pushed her shoulders back as she walked through the sea of desks and cubicles. It might as well have been a gauntlet.

---