Page 28 of Fierce-Jax

He wasnothaving this conversation with an employee.

It was no one’s business if he was single or not and didn’t want to know how she was aware of it.

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “But my personal life is just that. Personal. This isn’t an appropriate conversation for you to bring up. I trust it will not happen again or be repeated.”

The heat coming off of Nora’s face now almost made him want to remove his jacket. “No. I’m sorry again. Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth. Being intimidated and all.”

The doors opened to their floor. They were the first ones there so he unlocked the door to their silence.

There was a part of him that felt bad saying what he had to Nora, but it was necessary.

He couldn’t let any of that go on.

Once inside, she went toward the hall leading to her office and he went to his.

He barely got his laptop out of his bag when he looked up to see her standing in the doorway almost in tears.

“Yes?” he said.

“I’m really sorry. It was inappropriate of me. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I kind of had one of those crushes that people had on their bosses. The older man thing, but it’s nothing more than that. When I say I want to talk with you, I just want your advice on how to further my career. You did it so young and, well, I think time is getting away from me.”

He let out a sigh.

He wanted to growl over the whole older man comment.

He was only thirty-three.

He wasn’t that old.

It’s not like she was eighteen.

He’d put her in her mid-twenties for sure.

“Apology accepted,” he said. “If you want to advance your career, you need to watch what you say and to whom and in what situations.”

“My parents have been telling me that for years,” Nora said. “You’d think at twenty-eight I’d learn.”

He would have figured that too. “If it’s something you’re truly interested in, talk to your supervisors and then HR. There are trainings and seminars available with prior approval. There are a lot of things you could gain from them.”

“Thanks, Jax,” Nora said. “I mean it. The first one should be how to not put your foot in your mouth.”

He snorted. “There might be one or two that apply too.”

Nora left his office and he got to work, but two hours later, he was getting off a video call and opening his door when Carolyn and Diane Fierce both jumped back and shrieked as if he’d just snuck up and caught them trying to steal something.

“Oh, you scared us,” Diane said. “The staff was nice enough to let us walk around so we could see how the place looked. I haven’t been here in months.”

“Sorry,” Jax said. “How have you two been?”

He knew he was setting himself up talking to them, but he would not be rude.

“We’ve been well,” Carolyn said. “How about you? I heard you had Eli on Saturday night so your sister could have a date night.”

He didn’t even want to know how they found that out.

Way too many ways and it could have been from Roni or Trent if the women were in the other building just “looking around.”

“I did,” he said. “We went to the movies and out to dinner, then had a video game marathon.”