Page 49 of One Bad Idea

She shook her head. "No. Are you?"

"Not me." As I made my way to the door, I mentally ran through the list of potential visitors.Stuart? Jaden? Jax? Cassidy's godawful mom?

But it wasn't any of those people. It was someone I'd never met – an older guy in a business suit, who introduced himself as the Bishop Brothers' head of security and then promptly informed me that he needed the keys to the truck.

"For what?" I asked.

"Mister Bishop's orders."

Mister Bishop?At the whole "mister" thing, I almost wanted to snicker. Even so, it wasn't lost on me that I probablywouldneed to start addressing both of them in a more formal manner. They were soon to be my employers, after all.

Cassidy joined me at the door. "WhichMister Bishop?" she asked. "Jax or Jaden?"

Without cracking a smile, he said, "Jaden."

Reluctantly, I asked. "Is this some sort of repo thing?"

His brow wrinkled. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, is he taking back the truck?"

It wasn't that far-fetched. Technically, the truck belonged tohim, not me.Was he was taking it back until my actual start date?

The guy looked at me like I was nuts. "Back to where?"

I tried again. "I mean, are you taking it back until Monday?"

"No," he said. "I'm taking it for a security check."

"Oh." With mixed feelings, I dug out the keys and handed them over.

As the guy turned to go, he said over his shoulder, "I'll be back in an hour."

Actually, he was back in fifty-three minutes. As he handed me the keys, I asked, "So, did you find anything?"

"Sorry, can't discuss it," he said. "You'll have to ask Mister Bishop."

This time, I knew which brother he meant. Obviously, he was talking about Jaden who – as I learned one week later – didn't care for that "mister" thing at all, at least from me.

Chapter 19

Standing in the open doorway to my new office, Jaden gave me an annoyed look. "Whatdid you just call me?"

From behind my desk, I cleared my throat. "Um, Mister Bishop?"

Even to my own ears, it sounded strange and oddly obscene. Worse, I didn't even know why. After all, that's what everyone else called him, and it never sounded funny whentheydid it.

"Call me that again," he said, "and you're getting a new office." His voice hardened. "In the basement."

Well, this was just great.I'd been on the job for barely three hours, and already, he was threatening to banish me to the underworld.

It was a discouraging thought. But then, I felt my gaze narrow. "Wait a minute. Does this buildinghavea basement?"

It was eleven o'clock, and I'd just finished with my orientation and corporate tour, courtesy of Louise in Human Resources. The building was sixteen stories high and served as the headquarters ofBishop Brothers International, my new place of employment.

During the last few hours, I'd visited all sixteen floors, where I'd been introduced to the heads of marketing, accounting, quality control, and more. I'd even had a tour of the mail room, which was located on the ground level – meaning thefirstfloor of the building and definitelynotin the basement.

Afterward, I'd been delivered to my own office, which was directly across from Jaden's. As far as offices went, I counted myself lucky. It was large and luxurious, with a comfy chair and beautiful desk. It even had lamps and pictures on the wall, plus my own little conference table nestled off to the side.