Page 89 of One Bad Idea

Unfortunately, a split second later, Ididfeel like an idiot when an all-too-familiar voice said, "Looking for someone?"

I gave a little jump. It was Jaden, who'd suddenly appeared in the open doorway to his office. Funny, I hadn't even realized that he was in.

When I'd arrived, his door had been partially open, but the office itself had been quiet and dark, with the lights off and shades drawn.

Now, I tried to look nonchalant. "I was just seeing who's here." I glanced past him toward his darkened office. "Do you always work with the lights off?"

"I dunno," he said. "Doyoualways get here early?"

I glanced at the nearby clock. It was half past seven. Officially, my workday began at eight, but I'd arrived early for a reason. I'd wanted to get here before everyone else, so I could see if anything in my office had been molested by Darla.

By now, I'd already given it a thorough inspection. Surprisingly, I'd found nothing missing or out of place. The only change at all had been the appearance of that stupid coaster, sitting in the exact spot where I usually kept my cell phone.

The coasterhadn'tcome from Darla. Of this, I was nearly certain – just like I was nearly certain that Jaden was the one who'd relocked my office after retrieving my phone.

But it couldn’t have been as a favor to me. Probably, it was some sort of security thing.Right?

Regardless, the whole situation was slightly unsettling. I'd shown up expecting to be the first one here, not the clueless late arrival with no idea what was going on.

Without thinking, I gave Darla's office another sideways glance.

Jaden lowered his voice to a mock whisper. "That's Karen."

"Oh." Again, my gaze slid in her direction. She was still on the phone and still looking away. Quietly, I asked, "Is she filling in for Darla?"

"No," Jaden replied. "Darla was filling in forher."

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "What?"

"You didn't know?"

I shook my head. "Was I supposed to?"

"I figured she'd mention it."

Who did he mean? Darla?I recalled all of the things that shedidmention. Most were insulting, and none of them were particularly helpful.

I muttered, "It must've slipped her mind."

Jaden gave a low scoff. "I doubt that. And just so you know, she'll be filling in foryou, too."

"Darla?" I stared up at him. "What do you mean?"

"When we travel," he said, "she'll be manning your desk."

At the idea of Darla sitting at my desk, possibly going through my things, and generally making trouble, I tried not to frown. "Oh. Well that's good."

In reality, I should've been jumping for joy. Without Darla, the office might actually be a reasonably pleasant place. But I couldn't begin think about that now, because the other half of his statement was belatedly hitting home.

When we travel?

Meaning him and me?

Yikes.

I'd known this from the job description. And yet, the thought of going anywhere with him was deeply unsettling.

Still, I tried not to dwell on it – not that day, nor any other day that week. I never did say anything about the coaster, because I knew all too well that its only purpose was to get a rise out of me.