Page 97 of Is It Casual Now?

“Do you know how much my life has been a living hell lately?” Siena’s tone was filled with unrestrained anger. “How much damage I’ve had to repair and fix and deal with?”

Jamie shook her head, locking her eyes on Siena’s. “No. But I can imagine.”

Siena blew out a breath, ruffling the hair that fell around her face. She straightened her shoulders and suddenly strode toward the door, locking it. Siena spun back around, pressing her shoulders to the door and staring Jamie down.

“It hasn’t just been because of the leak.”

“I-it hasn’t?” Jamie stammered.

“No.” Siena pursed her lips, staying right where she was. Was she scared to get any closer? “You.”

“Me?” Jamie raised her eyebrows in surprise. She pressed her fist to the center of her chest.

“Yes. You.” Siena strode toward her, her long legs carrying her across the room in a matter of seconds. “You’re what I’ve been dealing with.”

“I don’t understand.” Jamie stared up into Siena’s dark eyes, her gaze flicking down to Siena’s full lips. She wasn’t here for that, but she couldn’t deny that the sexual attraction between them had never been the actual problem. It was always something else that came between them.

“Fix it.”

“Fix what?” Jamie shook her head, not understanding or tracking where Siena was going with the conversation.

“Fix the leak.”

“I…” Jamie paused, her heart in her throat. She’d thought about several ways to do that, but she’d never thought that Siena would go for any of them. “I can’t fix the leak. I can’t take it back.”

“Help me with damage control. I can’t do this without a contact in the media.” Siena shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked back on her heels.

Jamie’s breath caught. “I’m not… in the media anymore, Siena.”

“What?”

“I was fired.” Jamie frowned. “I never got that interview with Bunny and Piper, so my boss fired me.”

“Yet stole the leaked information?”

“There’s not a whole lot of ethics in the media—well, not that side of things, anyway.” Jamie rolled her eyes. “He probably would have fired me anyway because it wasn’t the interview that I’d promised him. Or maybe he would have kept me on so that I could continue to be at his beck and call. I don’t know. But yeah, I was fired this week.”

“Jamie…” Siena’s voice dropped. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “I’m so sorry.”

Jamie shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve been fired in my life. I doubt it’ll be the last with my track record.”

They stood awkwardly together. Jamie wasn’t sure what to do or say next, because she’d come there to say what she hadto, and yet, there was something else on the tip of her tongue that was itching to get out. But she definitely didn’t have the courage to say that.

“Help me,” Siena whispered.

“I can’t help you.” Jamie shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“You can.” Siena stepped closer, right into the space in front of Jamie. “I know you can.”

“How?”

“Just because you don’t have a job and access to a professional media outlet doesn’t mean that you can’t start a media storm. I’ve seen you do it before. Do it again.” Siena curled her hand around Jamie’s cheek. “Do it for me.”

Closing her eyes, Jamie tilted her face into the touch. Why did this feel so amazing? She wanted to say yes. She wanted to do anything for Siena, but she feared she wouldn’t be able to pull through on this one. Creating a media storm with that first article she’d written after their one-night stand had been pure coincidence. Jamie hadn’t done anything special with it, had she?

“Jamie,” Siena murmured. “Help me.”

“Okay.” Jamie closed her eyes and pressed her forehead into Siena’s shoulder. “Okay, I’ll try. But don’t get mad if I don’t manage to do it.”

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