Page 104 of One Bad Idea

"You said that's why you came."

Ihadsaid that, and it was mostly true. Still, the primary reason I'd come here was to forget abouthim.But I'd never admit it, so all I said was, "I dunno…"

"No." His voice grew softer. "Tell me." Again, he looked toward the dance floor. "Why aren't you out there?"

I gave it some thought. "Well, at first I didn't want to leave my drink and then, well, it was just the music, I guess."

"What, you don't like it?"

"Not really," I admitted.

"Whatdoyou like?"

I gazed up at him and tried not to notice that his eyes were so stupidly compelling.And, he looked genuinely curious.

I heard myself ask, "Why?"

He shrugged. "Because I'll make 'em play it."

Now, I had to laugh. "Oh, so you're the boss ofthem, too?"

"Sure, why not?"

I glanced around. My favorite music was country, especially classic country. Growing up, it had been the only thing we ever listened to, and I still had a strong fondness for it.

But here in the club, the techno beat was still going strong. Stalling, I took a nervous sip of my watery drink.

I could only imagine how well country music would go over in a place like this, where they'd been playing nothing but techno ever since I'd arrived.

Finally, I forced a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure they'd justlovethat."

"Who?"

I glanced around. "Everyone."

He smiled. "Fuck everyone."

I gave Jaden a good, long look. Rumor was, hedidfuck everyone. In truth, I could see why. He looked embarrassingly fuckable.

Even now, when I was so frustrated, it was beyond easy to imagine how I might look at him if he were a just another stranger –andif I were a different kind of girl.

But he wasn't a stranger, and I wasn't his type.

I was his employee, and I liked to take things slow. And besides, I absolutely loathed him, well, most of the time, anyway.

Unfortunately, thiswasn'tone of those times.

It was stupid, really. Just a few minutes ago, I'd wanted to strangle him. Now, I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew that I was still gazing up at him, and that I didn't want to look away.

The strangest thing was, he wasn't looking away either. "So tell me," he said, "what's your favorite kind?"

"Of music? Why do you want to know?"

He leaned a fraction closer. "Because I'm gonna ask you to dance. And I want you to say yes."

Chapter 39

I stared up at him. "Why would you dothat?"