Page 8 of The CEO I Hate (The Lockhart Brothers #1)

“Tell me why you want to work on a project like End in Fire ,” Paula said. “Besides wanting a job in television. Because we all want one of those.”

At this question, Mia finally perked up.

“I think I’d be the right fit to help you tell this story.

I feel really connected to the show. See, my brother was a firefighter.

He lived and breathed that world for almost half my life, so I definitely know what I’m talking about when it comes to firehouses and the crew. ”

She smiled and I refused to be drawn in by it.

“How it should feel, how it should sound, what stays on the job, what gets carried home. Trust me, no one who’s not on a fire crew has ridden in more rigs than this girl,” she said, pointing to herself.

“My brother even rocked up to my prom with his crew just so he could run the sirens and embarrass me.”

Paula sat back in her chair, arms crossed, and I knew she was intrigued. Dammit. She’d been hooked by Mia’s personal connection. That was Pitching 101. Find some way to relate to the story you’re telling. Mia had her hooked—now she just had to reel her in.

“But more than that,” Mia continued. “I need to know how the two timelines are going to intersect. And I also keep thinking about Cade’s character.”

The staff writers shifted in their seats, finally interested.

“I felt like he’d gone totally off the rails by the end of the season,” Mia said.

“I really think that if the show gives him some drama in his home life, it could explain the shifts in his personality over season one. It would also explain some of the strange things he did. For a while, I did wonder if he’d turn out to be the arsonist, but the clues are too obvious, too in your face, so it’s got to be a smokescreen.

” She glanced back and forth across the table. “Right?”

The room was frozen into silence. Jerome looked at Kait. Kait looked at Tanya. Then they all shrugged.

“I have no idea if Lyle planned anything with that,” Paula admitted. “There’s definitely nothing in his notes.”

“You’re not gonna find anything,” Tanya muttered. “He probably chewed up and swallowed the real ones.”

“It’s not a bad idea though,” Kait said. “Bringing Cade’s character more front and center this season in a way that gives him context.”

“It’s kind of brilliant, actually,” Jerome jumped in. “If we do a slow buildup, he could be our red herring for the season.”

“Or the red herring to the red herring,” Mia piped up. “You could have more than one decoy. Maybe we show that it might not be him but someone who’s connected with him?”

“Oooh,” Jerome said. “I like it.” His pen flew across his notepad. “It sort of fits with what’s already been set up. ”

“And not much has been done with his character,” Mia said. “He’s just been there to add drama and pushback to other characters’ plot threads, which leaves him feeling unbalanced. And that’s a waste, because what little we do know about his backstory is really interesting.”

“I agree,” Tanya said. “We always did feel like he had a lot of potential; Lyle just never tapped into that.”

I did a double take as Mia’s comments sparked a full-fledged discussion. What the hell was going on? A second ago, they’d sounded ready to give her the axe, and now they were practically salivating over her ideas. Kait, Jerome, and Tanya couldn’t stop talking over each other.

“And then we could have his ex-wife return?—”

“Because she’s pregnant?” Tanya tossed out.

Kait shook her head. “No! Because she thinks he’s going to get a piece of the payout his stepfather got when the ranch burned down.”

“The one who hated him?” Jerome said.

“Exactly,” Mia said. “But maybe she’s also been sleeping with the stepfather all along!”

“Oh my freaking God!” Kait cried. “Yes!”

“But midpoint through the season she realizes there’s no money in it for her,” Mia continued. “Then we see her loading a container of gasoline into her car. Bam ! She immediately looks like the arsonist.”

“And we’ve got our motivation, baby!” Jerome cried.

This was all happening so fast, it was giving me indigestion.

Paula nudged me, her lips curled slightly. “Where’d you find this girl?” she whispered. “She’s brilliant. ”

“You don’t want to know,” I muttered.

“Obviously, she can handle broad story concepts and plot lines.” Paula kept her voice low. “Do you know if she’s any good with dialogue?”

Every fiber of my being wanted to scream, No! Do not ask me to hire Mia! But listening to the way the writers were carrying on, hearing Mia pitch her ideas and take a thread of information and weave it through an entire hypothetical season…

It was clear she had a good grasp of what made this show special. She was a fan. And the truth was, I needed a writer with talent and a writer who truly loved this show.

And Mia had talent. I couldn’t deny that.

I’d watched her webcomic develop over the past few years.

Her dialogue was sharp, real, and effortlessly witty.

She knew how to make characters feel alive—maybe too alive when it came to Miles.

If I wanted season two of End in Fire to be a success, I needed her.

I huffed out a weary sigh. “She’s actually great with dialogue.”

“Then I think we finally found our person,” Paula said, piling up all the other résumés.

“You’re sure? You don’t even want to entertain the rest of the interviews Carl has lined up?”

Paula closed the file, laying Mia’s résumé on top. “No, what I want is to get this group back into the writers’ room and get them working. Can we push through all the bureaucratic HR bullshit ASAP?”

I nodded. Guess that settled it. I glanced down the table to where Mia was now huddled with the other writers. It’s for the good of the show , I told myself. For the good of the company .

I watched as she laughed at something Jerome said, a soft, genuine smile breaking through. My chest tightened. What a goddamn nightmare.

“You know what you have to do,” Paula said.

I swallowed down my annoyance and climbed to my feet, clearing my throat. The room fell silent, the writers looking at me with startled eyes, like they’d forgotten I was there.

“Interview’s over,” I announced, voice flat.

Kait, Jerome, and Tanya exchanged more of those glances they’d likely perfected behind Lyle’s back.

Mia crossed her arms, staring me down with a hard look. Do your worst , it said.

“Mia…” I hesitated, then forced the words out. “The job is yours.”

She leaned forward a bit, taunting me as she pretended not to hear. “Sorry. What was that?”

A growl hovered in the back of my throat. “You’ve got the job.”

“All right!” Jerome cheered. “Welcome to the team.”

Mia popped to her feet as Paula and the rest of the writers started to congratulate her. I reached my hand out to shake hers. Professional. Cordial. She took it, leaning in close.

“Bet those were words you never thought you’d say,” she whispered.

I squeezed her hand, then let it go and stepped back, raising my voice so everyone would hear me. “Before we all start celebrating too hard, I just want to make it clear that I’m going to be monitoring the writing process very closely.”

I locked eyes with Mia to make sure she understood that what I meant was I’m going to be monitoring you very closely . Because after this situation with Lyle, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance .

“A writers’ room with the CEO hanging around,” she said. “That sounds super fun.” She tilted her chin up as if to say challenge accepted .

I tugged her closer, so only she’d hear my next words. “Don’t give me a reason to regret this.”