Page 62 of One Bad Idea

Jaden's voice cut through the noise. "Morgan."

She turned to look. "What?"

"I wasn't talking abouther. I was talking aboutyou." He gave her a hard look. "What are you doing here?"

"I came about the job," she said. "You said you'd help me get it back."

I stiffened.What the hell?My gaze darted from her to him.Was that true?

No. It couldn't be.

Already, she'd proven herself a liar.Why should this be any different?

I waited for Jaden to correct what she'd said.

But he didn't. All he told her was, "I said we'd talk about it tonight."

Tonight?

Was there something going on between them?I recalled how angry Jaden had been when he'd learned that Morgan had been fired.Was that because they were an item?I wanted to ask, but really, it was none of my business.

After all, he was my boss, not my boyfriend.

But as far as the other thing – what she'd said about my job – now thatdidconcern me. And yet, I'd die before giving her the satisfaction of asking when she could overhear.

Like an idiot, I was still standing with my back against Jaden's office door. I gave a silent scoff.No need for that now.

With as much dignity as I could muster, I left the door and strode toward my own office. Unlike Jaden's, my office had not only a glass door, but also a big interior window. Together, they gave me a clear view of the executive lobby as well as into Jaden's office – well, when his door was actually open, that is.

Unlike mine, his office was very private.

He and Morgan were still talking in the lobby area. Or, rather,shewas talking, but more quietly now, in a low, breathy voice that made it nearly impossible for me to catch what she was saying. But I did hear words like, "sorude" and "totally awful."

Was she talking about me?

Probably.

I shut my office door behind me and reclaimed the seat behind my desk. And then, I turned my attention to the meeting notes that I'd been transcribing untilshe'dtottered in.

My computer faced the executive lobby, where they were still talking. As I worked, I kept glancing up in their direction. I didn't want to, but I couldn't seem to make myself stop.

From my current vantage point, I saw much more of his face than of hers. His eyes were hard, and his mouth was tight as he listened stiffly to whatever she was telling him.

She was talking louder now, probably because I'd shut my door. I still couldn't decipher what was being said, but her tone and body language – with lots of arm waving and foot-stomping – suggested a whole lot of frustration.

Good.

After all, I knew the feeling.

Deliberately, I returned my attention to my computer and tried like crazy to focus on my actual job. I'd been at it for just a few minutes when she suddenly yelled, "But you're not even listening!"

I looked up just in time to see Jaden stride past her, heading toward his private office. She followed on his heels for like three steps until he turned around and said something too low for me to make out.

Her face fell, and she stopped moving. And then, after exchanging a few more words back and forth, she turned and stomped toward the lobby door. She yanked it open, stepped through the doorway, and then gave the door a good, hard yank.

The way it looked, she'd been trying to slam it. Unfortunately for her, the door had one of those slow-shutting mechanisms, which meant that in spite of a pretty good swing on her part, the door still came to a slow and easy stop.

I almost smiled.How unsatisfying.