Page 186 of One Bad Idea
"Yeah. And you love it."
"I don’t love itnow."
"Eh, you'll love it when you get here."
Here. Meaning Hawaii.That was another issue.
I bit my lip. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"About the Hawaii thing, am I coming as your assistant, or…?" I waited for him to fill in the blank. And when he didn't, I added, "Well,youknow."
"No. I don't."
I felt my fingers clench around the phone. Jaden wasnotstupid, so why wasn't he reading between the lines? Did hewantme to spell it out?
When he said nothing else, I tried again. "I just mean, is this trip something that I'd be coming on either way? Or are you just bringing me because there's something going on between us?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. It does, actually."
"Why?"
"Well, maybe I don't want you paying me for that."
He gave a hard scoff. "That?"
Again, I lowered my voice. "Youknow."
He paused for a long moment before saying, "You think I'm paying to fuck you?"
Heat flooded my face. "God, do you have to be so crude?"
"Yeah. I do. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because that's what you were getting at. And it's bullshit."
"It is not 'bullshit,'" I said. "It's a valid concern."
"Not to me."
I felt like we were going around in circles. "Of course it's not to you.You'rethe one paying."
This was true in more ways than one. Not only was he paying me on the job, he was also subsidizing my rent and paying for my vehicle. Until now, I hadn't given it much thought. But of course, I'd only learned about the rent situation yesterday.
Was that the tipping point?
Abruptly, he said, "What is it?"
"What's what?"
"What's eating you?"
I made a sound of frustration. "I've been trying to explain, but you're not listening."
