Page 16 of The CEO I Hate

“And then we could have his ex-wife return?—”

“Because she’s pregnant?” Tanya tossed out.

Kait shook her head. “No! Because she thinks he’s going to get a piece of the payout his stepfather got when the ranch burned down.”

“The one who hated him?” Jerome said.

“Exactly,” Mia said. “But maybe she’s also been sleeping with the stepfather all along!”

“Oh my freaking God!” Kait cried. “Yes!”

“But midpoint through the season she realizes there’s no money in it for her,” Mia continued. “Then we see her loading a container of gasoline into her car.Bam! She immediately looks like the arsonist.”

“And we’ve got our motivation, baby!” Jerome cried.

This was all happening so fast, it was giving me indigestion.

Paula nudged me, her lips curled slightly. “Where’d you find this girl?” she whispered. “She’s brilliant.”

“You don’t want to know,” I muttered.

“Obviously, she can handle broad story concepts and plot lines.” Paula kept her voice low. “Do you know if she’s any good with dialogue?”

Every fiber of my being wanted to scream,No! Do not ask me to hire Mia!But listening to the way the writers were carrying on, hearing Mia pitch her ideas and take a thread of information and weave it through an entire hypothetical season…

It was clear she had a good grasp of what made this show special. She was a fan. And the truth was, I needed a writer with talentanda writer who truly lovedthis show.

And Mia had talent. I couldn’t deny that. I’d watched her webcomic develop over the past few years. Her dialogue was sharp, real, and effortlessly witty. She knew how to make characters feel alive—maybe too alive when it came to Miles. If I wanted season two ofEnd in Fireto be a success, I needed her.

I huffed out a weary sigh. “She’s actually great with dialogue.”

“Then I think we finally found our person,” Paula said, piling up all the other résumés.

“You’re sure? You don’t even want to entertain the rest of the interviews Carl has lined up?”

Paula closed the file, laying Mia’s résumé on top. “No, what I want is to get this group back into the writers’ room and get them working. Can we push through all the bureaucratic HR bullshit ASAP?”

I nodded. Guess that settled it. I glanced down the table to where Mia was now huddled with the other writers.It’s for the good of the show, I told myself.For the good of the company.

I watched as she laughed at something Jerome said, a soft, genuinesmile breaking through. My chest tightened. What a goddamn nightmare.

“You know what you have to do,” Paula said.

I swallowed down my annoyance and climbed to my feet, clearing my throat. The room fell silent, the writers looking at me with startled eyes, like they’d forgotten I was there.

“Interview’s over,” I announced, voice flat.

Kait, Jerome, and Tanya exchanged more of those glances they’d likely perfected behind Lyle’s back.

Mia crossed her arms, staring me down with a hard look.Do your worst, it said.

“Mia…” I hesitated, then forced the words out. “The job is yours.”

She leaned forward a bit, taunting me as she pretended not to hear. “Sorry. What was that?”

A growl hovered in the back of my throat. “You’ve got the job.”

“All right!” Jerome cheered. “Welcome to the team.”