Page 74 of One Bad Idea

Beyond confused, I moved toward my office door and peered in that direction. I watched in silent confusion as she entered the office directly opposite Jax's.

Oh, crap.That was the office of his assistant. WassheJax's assistant?

No. She couldn’t be.

Could she?

Chapter 28

The morning dragged slowly on, even as I made a slew of phone calls to cancel or reschedule Jaden's appointments. As I worked, I was overly conscious of Darla, sitting – or whatever she was doing – in that neighboring office.

From my own desk, I couldn’t see her, and yet, I was obnoxiously aware of her presence, especially at mid-morning, when a gaggle of coworkers barged in with cake and coffee – not plain old coffee-pot coffee either, but rather the good kind, probably with chocolate and whipped cream.

Either way, I knew it was the good stuff, because I recognized the logo on the cups. The logo belonged to an upscale coffee shop within walking distance of the office, so even though I couldn’t actuallyseewhat was inside those cups, it was easy enough to imagine.

As for myself, I hadn't evenhadcoffee this morning. And why? It was because I'd been too anxious to get to work, in hopes of smoothing things over with Jaden.

It was stupid, really.

To think, I'd actually felt guilty for not acting more gracious about the whole Bryce thing.

Meanwhile, no one was offeringmecoffee, much less a slice of cake or a friendly hello, even as the laughing and talking continued until nearly lunchtime.

I saw no sign of Jax, but that was no surprise. From what I'd learned just yesterday, he'd be out of town all week, attending some conference in London.

Better than Miami.

With Morgan.

When I finished rescheduling Jaden's appointments, I turned my attention to some meeting notes that Jaden had asked me to type up whenever I had the chance. There was a whole stack of them, written by hand on pale pink notebook paper.

The handwriting was big and bold, with loopy letters and personal observations scribbled in the margins – mostly related to what the attendees were wearing or what kind of cell phones they were using, as if that mattered.

Obviously, the notes had been taken by Morgan, back when she'd been sitting in my seat. I paused. Or was itherseat? Probably, it depended on who was talking.

Regardless, the notes were a jumbled, crazy mess. Some had dates at the top. Some didn't. Some listed the participants. Some didn't. Some were legible, and some looked like they'd been written by a drunken mental patient.

Already, I'd shut my office door to drown out the party in the neighboring office. It did little good, and by noon, I had a raging headache.

I didn't bother with lunch. I wasn't hungry. Plus, I hated the thought of scuttling out, leaving Darla to do who-knows-what in my absence.

I was so distracted that it took me a moment to realize that my office phone was ringing. Startled by the unfamiliar tone, I stopped typing to study the digital display.

It was an outside call from an unknown number. Whoever it was, they weren't calling Jaden. They were calling me.

Or more likely, they were trying to call Morgan, in which case, they'd probably tell me to get out of her chair.

That was, after all, the thing to say, wasn't it?

Still, I forced a smile into my voice and answered with a cheerful, "Allie Brewster, how may I help you."

After a long silence, Jaden said, "What's wrong?"

At the sound of his voice, I practically jumped in my seat. I shouldn’t've been surprised. I mean, of course, it was perfectly natural for him to call and check in, even if hewason some sort of impromptu vacation.

Still, it begged the question, where was he now?On the beach? Or in a hotel room? Was Morgan lying next to him, naked and ready?

I gave a mental eye-roll.No.Even if itwasthat type of vacation, he'd surely delay the call untilafterMorgan had put on some clothes.Wouldn't he?