Page 164 of One Bad Idea

"No!" Darla said. "I need itnow. It's got my keys."

Jaden caught my eye and said in an overly calm voice, "Allie, would you mind retrieving her purse?"

Unsure what else to do, I gave a silent nod.

But already, Darla had yanked her elbow out of his grip. "Fuck that!" she yelled, turning all her fury on Jaden. "If you want me to go so bad,I'llget it." Under her breath, she added, "Like I'd want her filthy hands on my stuff."

I looked down.Filthy?

Talk about insulting.

True to her word, Darla marched back into her office – or rather, Karen's office – and emerged a moment later with her purse slung over her shoulder. She stalked back to where Jaden and I stood, and then glared up at him to say, "If you want me, I'll be at home."

And with that, she marched out of the suite without looking back, leaving behind her a silence so heavy, it made my knees go slightly weak.

Or maybe that was just nerves.

I felt terrible for all kinds of reasons. I'd revealed something that was supposed to be a secret. I'd almost gotten into a fist fight with someone older than my own mother. And – this was the worst part – I was dangerously close to crying.

This totally sucked.

Chapter 61

I didn't want to cry. I wasn't the crying type. And I certainly didn't want to cry in front of Jaden.

I mumbled something about getting back to work and turned away, only to pause when he said, "Don't."

I looked back. "Don't what?"

"Don’t run off."

"I wasn't running off," I said. "I was getting back to work." I lifted my chin. "Unless I'm fired."

His gaze darkened. "Fuck that."

I wasn't sure what he meant. "Do you mean my job, or…?"

"Forget your job." With two long strides, he closed the distance between us. "That's not what we're talking about."

I stared up at him. He was so close, I could feel the warmth of his body. I could smell the scent of his favorite soap. Most of all, I could see something in his eyes.

I didn't know what exactly it was, but I knew what itwasn't. It wasn't lust. And it wasn't indifference either.

Other than that, I could only guess.

I heard myself say, "I didn't mean to say that."

"Say what?"

I cleared my throat. "Any of it, actually."

He smiled. "So, I'm the best you ever had, huh?"

I glared up at him. "Oh, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop looking like it's funny. It isn't." My mouth twitched. "Really." This was so maddening. I wanted to laugh.AndI was still in serious danger of crying.