Page 142 of One Bad Idea
"What are you saying? That you'd fire me?"
He didn't even hesitate. "If that's what it takes."
My mouth tightened. "And then what?"
"What do you mean?"
"On Monday, will you hire me back?" After all, that had been the pattern, even if ithadbeen only in jest.
Jaden replied, "I wouldn't count on it."
A low scoff escaped my lips. "Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome."
My thanks had been purely sarcastic, as he surely realized. And now, I didn't know what to do – about CassidyorJaden.
Oh sure, I respected that he was my boss here at the office, butthissituation felt totally wrong, like he was dictating what I did in my free time.
The jerk.
We argued back and forth until it became painfully apparent that neither one of us were going to change our minds. The argument ended only with me storming off to the ladies room before I lost my temper entirely.
I returned to my office a few minutes later to find a familiar male figure waiting just outside my office door.
But it wasn't Jaden. It was Jax.
Without preamble, he said, "The Saturday thing, it's covered, so forget it, alright?"
My gaze drifted to Jaden's office. His door was open, but I saw no sign of him. Still, it was pretty obvious that the brothers had been talking.
I looked back to Jax and asked, "Do you mean you found someone else to work for me?"
"No. What I mean is,I'llbe the one helping Cassidy."
I bit my lip. "Didsheask for your help?"
"No. But I heard she needed it."
Again, my gaze strayed to Jaden's office. "Did you volunteer? Or did someone else ask you to do it?"
Jax said, "Does it matter?"
By now, I was beyond tired of that question. "Actually, yeah, it does."
"Why?"
"Because Cassidy asked formyhelp, not yours." I sighed. "Look, I don't want to be rude or anything, but don't you think she'd feel a little funny?"
He frowned. "Why's that?"
"Well, you know how parents are. They can be…" I hesitated. "…embarrassing sometimes."
When it came to Cassidy's mom, this was huge understatement.
Jax said, "You're forgetting, I already met her."
"Yeah, but—"
