Page 64 of One Bad Idea
At first, I'd been nearly certain that the receptionist had meant to call someone else. But then, when she gave me Bryce's name, I practically flew from my desk in order to head off whatever trouble he was bringing with him.
After all, we hadn't parted on the best of terms.
And yet, he was still smiling. "The truth is," he drawled, "I'm here to make you an offer."
I eyed him with suspicion. "What kind of offer?"
His grin widened. "Your old job back."
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. "Oh, please. You're kidding, right?"
His smile faded. "What makes you say that?"
"Because you fired me."
"Eh, moment of weakness." He shrugged. "Yousaid some things,Isaid some things…"
This was true. We'd both said things that I'd be embarrassed to repeat. And yet, I couldn’t regret what I'd told him in the end. Maybe I'd done most of the cussing, buthe'dsaid some things that were truly scary, including his final parting shot."Leave now, and I'll make sure you never work in this town again."
At the memory, I lifted in my chin.Hah!I wasn'tinthat town. I was inthistown – in a different state, a different market,andin a totally different kind of business.
By some miracle, I'd actually landed on my feet – no thanks to him. I gave a bitter scoff. "Speaking of 'saying things', thanksso muchfor the reference."
His brow furrowed. "What reference?"
As if he didn't know."When Jax Bishop called you last Sunday, you told him all kinds of awful things – things that weren't even true."
"Aw come on," he said. "They weren'tthatawful."
I was glaring now. "You called me temperamental."
"Yeah, well…"
"And a pain in the ass."
He reached up to tug at his tie. "I'm not sure I put itthatway."
"And," I said, "scary."
At this, he gave a weak chuckle. "You want the truth? You're lookin' a little scary now."
The five weeks I'd worked for him had been five of the most miserable weeks of my life. I didn't mind the hard work or long hours. And I didn't even mind all of the menial tasks. But Ididmind that I almost never got a day off, not even when I was sick or had an emergency.
To think, I'd even worked the day I'd gotten food poisoning from that godawful salmon thathe'dinsisted I try. The salmon had come from the fridge in his office. Looking back, I was probably just his personal guinea pig to see if the salmon had gone bad.
And just for the record, it had,bigtime.
My stomach roiled at the memory.
In front of me, Bryce edged closer and said, "You feelin' okay? You're looking a little green around the gills."
Gills?Didsalmonhave gills? I didn't even want to speculate. With a little shudder, I said, "I'm fine. But I think you should leave."
He frowned. "But you haven't heard my offer."
"Yes. I have." I straightened. "My old job? I don't want it."
"Then how about a promotion?"
