Page 149 of One Bad Idea

"We both know why you're here, and it's not to work."

I stiffened. So whywasI here?For a good time?This might've been our habit in the past. But now, it was a habit that I'd be smart to break, for my own sanity if nothing else.

I gave him an annoyed look. "Well, I'm not here for fun, if that's what you're thinking."

His mouth tightened. "What kind of 'fun' do you mean?"

I made a scoffing sound. "As if you don't know."

He looked at me for a long, tense moment before saying, "That's what you think?" He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "That I made you come in so I could fuck you?"

I almost flinched. In spite of everything, his language shocked me. Oh sure, my own language could be just as bad, and normally, I liked it when he talked dirty. But to hear him put it like that,now?Well, it just made everything worse.

I lifted my chin. "Are you saying itwasn'tthe reason?"

His gaze met mine, and his tone softened. "You know it wasn't."

Okay, maybe I was being unfair. Even through my anger, I realized that he'd forced me to work today in order to keep me from away from all the trouble surrounding Cassidy's mom.

But I hadn't asked him to rescue me. In fact, I hadn't asked for anything. And I certainly wasn't going to start today.

I muttered, "Well, whatever the reason, it's too late to change it now, so…" I gave a loose shrug and didn't bother finishing the sentence. After all, what could I say?

Our last real conversation had been on Wednesday. And eventhathad been an argument more than anything. Since then, both of us had been professional to a fault.

No looks.

No smiles.

No talk of plans for the weekend.

Now, itwasthe weekend.

And I just knew it was going to be a bad one, because if I didn't get my emotions in-check, I'd surely lose it.

The executive suite was very quiet, with just the two of us facing off in my private office.

Normally, I'd be all excited, wondering what we'd end up doing, or where we'd be doing it. Now, I just wanted to leave before I made a fool of myself.

He reached back and shut my office door. "What is it?"

I shrugged. "What's what?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I repeated. "I'm just focused on my work, that's all."

At this, his voice grew eerily quiet. "Bullshit."

For some reason, this set me off. I pushed back my chair and stood. "You know what's bullshit?" I said. "You."

Chapter 55

I hadn't meant to say it, but now that it was out there, I couldn’t exactly take it back.

He looked annoyingly calm in the face of my wrath. "Yeah? How so?"

"Well, for one thing…" I bit my lip. There were so many things I wanted to say, but all of them were way too personal, especially considering that Jaden and I were nothing more than a fling.