Working It (18 page)

“Are we involved?”

She glared at him. “What do you think?”

His eyes glowed. “I'd like to think we are,” he said, disarming her immediately. “But it didn't occur to me until I was at dinner that I didn't know what you thought.”

She paused. This changed things.

“I've already said I cared about you,” she said, backpedaling a little bit. “And I got together with you for reasons that were anything but business-related.”

“I'll admit,” he said slowly, walking up to her and taking her hands in his, “I was…well, I was ticked off when we spoke with Betsy earlier. I didn't know how much you had riding on all of this. And yeah, I'll admit that I thought maybe you were sleeping with me as a guarantee, to try to get me to succeed so you could succeed.”

“You know,” she said as realization dawned on her, “I've spent the past four hours worried that you might be thinking that. Now that I hear you say it, I realize that I shouldn't have been worried. I should be ticked off.” She frowned at him. “Okay, now I am. You believed that I just slept with you to get what I wanted? What's wrong with you?”

He chuckled. “Now, now, don't get upset. I thought about it and I realized that I was wrong. No…that I had to be insane to believe that you'd think sleeping
with me would actually increase my chances of success.”

She blinked. “You're confusing me,” she complained.

“I know. I'm confused myself. But I will say one thing.”

“What?” she finally prompted when he just stared at her.

He rested his forehead against hers. “I think I'm falling in love with you. How's that for complicated?”

She held her breath.

Love.

She leaned up, kissing him gently, tenderly, with all the emotion she was scared of saying out loud.

After a long moment he held her in his arms, in a warm, crushing embrace. “That's why I asked if we were involved,” he said, and she felt the words through her more than just heard him. “I wanted to know if you might be feeling the same way.”

She froze. “I…well.”

“I know it's sudden,” he said when she'd fallen quiet for a moment. “I'm not asking you to change your whole life. I'm just asking you to make some room in it for me.”

She didn't know what to say to that. “I know that I care about you. And I might…” She took a deep breath. If she admitted she loved him, or thought she was falling in love with him, what happened if she was wrong? Or worse…what if he realized he was wrong, and she didn't? They barely knew each other. It was more than a long shot.

“Shh. I shouldn't have crept up on you with that,” he said, stroking her hair. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

She nodded, grateful at the reduction of pressure. He leaned down and kissed her, and she tickled his tongue with her own. He laughed into her mouth. The two of them made their way toward the bedroom, shedding clothes slowly on the way there.

“I wanted you,” he said. “If it hadn't been for that stupid dinner, I would've left. I was dying to see you.”

“You did what you had to,” she discounted, ignoring the hours of waiting. “I would've probably done the same thing.”

“I'm glad you waited,” he said, taking off her shirt and smiling.

“I'm glad I did, too,” she said. “Now, anyway.”

J
ADE STEPPED BACK
into the office of Michaels & Associates for the first time in a month. It felt strange, surreal. She'd already had to fight Los Angeles traffic to get to the office, so she was running a little bit late. Still, they'd been so pleased with the outcome, she knew they weren't going to be pointing out her slight tardiness. Of course, she probably had a pile of work on her desk that was taller than she was, but that wouldn't matter much. She was looking forward to it. She wondered if they were planning on putting her in an actual office, now that she was an account supervisor. Of course, there was a chance she wasn't going to be in the office much anyway. Or in the country, for that matter.

I wonder if that's negotiable?

After all, there were still plenty of clients that she was responsible for. And just because Michaels & Associates wanted to expand internationally didn't mean that
she
necessarily was the person for the job. Maybe it was still up in the air. But if they did think she was responsible enough to handle working on the road, maybe they'd be up for her telecommuting. Say, from San Angelo. Assuming, of course, that she'd be there often. She could just go there on weekends…even though the weeks apart from him were excruciating, surely that would wear off, right?

Hell. I haven't even broached the subject with Drew.

She'd spent a wonderful weekend with Drew. She got the feeling both of them realized that after that weekend, they'd both be buried in work…her from her new promotion, him with his new improvements and renovations to the factory. Still, it didn't feel like a last weekend for either of them. On the contrary, she felt more hopeful than she could remember feeling in years. She didn't want to ruin it, maybe, by talking about plans for the future.

“Promise me you'll call me tomorrow night,” he'd said, sealing the promise with a long, involved kiss before she reluctantly got into her car for the two-hour ride back to L.A.

She would be calling him tonight, she thought as she made her way back to her cubicle. Maybe then, after she saw how he was going with the factory, she'd start broaching how they were going to handle their relationship.

She didn't know when she'd gotten so careful, she thought with a wry grin as she put her laptop case down on her desk. It was so unlike her, the woman used to leading with her chin.

Maybe it was because this time, she was leading with her heart.

“Jade? That you?”

Jade looked up to see one of the other account execs, Bob, peering around the muted fabric wall of her cubicle. “Yup. How's it been around here with me gone? Pretty quiet, I imagine.”

“Well, you certainly liven up the place,” Bob said, “but the bigwigs are getting pretty lively themselves. Something big's coming down the pike. Something in
volving your boss. We haven't seen Raw Diehl running around like this since she got here.”

Jade fought to keep her grin contained. “You don't say.”

“Honestly, we've been pretty freaked out about it.” Bob studied her carefully. “You've been out of the office, but if you knew what was going on, you'd spill, right? Do you know what's going on?”

Jade sighed. This was one thing she hadn't missed. It was like spy vs. spy, every day. Funny that she hadn't noticed it as much. “I've got an inkling of what it is,” she said honestly, causing his eyebrows to rise. “I don't think it's a bad thing. Chances are, we'll find out soon enough, right?”

“You're holding out on me, Jade,” he reproached.

“Give it half an hour. Keep your pants on,” Jade said with a wink.

Grumbling, he retreated back to his own work area.

She wasn't sure how they were going to announce her promotion, she thought, sliding her laptop into its docking station and starting it. Probably something small, like an e-mail. She was hardly expecting fanfare. Still, it was going to feel good to finally reach that bar. In fact, she'd probably ask Betsy out for a drink to celebrate. The woman was the one who set up this opportunity. With any luck, the two of them would become a force to be reckoned with at Michaels & Associates.

Suddenly, Betsy showed up at her cubicle. “Jade, I need you to come with me.”

Sooner than she'd anticipated. Jade couldn't help the feeling of nervous butterflies in her stomach, feeling people's gazes watching her as she followed Betsy to the main conference room where a few of the partners
were sitting. They all looked pretty solemn, she noted as Betsy closed the door behind her. Maybe they didn't want to offer her the promotion, Jade thought with sudden panic. No, that was silly. They sounded happy enough on Friday when they told her officially that she'd landed the job.

What was going on here?

She sat. The partners looked at each other. Then Dean Michaels, the man who started the firm, stood.

“Jade, it's come to our attention that there might be some problems with the promotion we just offered you.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jade glanced around wildly at the partners, who all seemed set in stone. “What sort of problems?”

“Ethical issues.” Dean's voice was mournful.

Jade felt her heart start pounding, and her stomach clenched. “I didn't do anything fraudulent. All the paperwork is well documented. I didn't violate confidentiality. I did everything I could. Now, Michaels and Associates is getting paid the first installment of a very sizable contract.”

“Now, Jade, we're not attacking you here…”

Like hell you're not. Jade forced herself to take several deep breaths. “What exactly do you think I've done?”

“You've slept with a client, for God's sake,” Robert Duncan, an older partner, said with a nasty edge to his voice. “What, did you expect a medal?”

Jade froze.

They'd found out. She wasn't sure how, but they'd found out. And it was hardly something she could lie about. Rather, she would not lie about it. Drew meant
too much to her. She'd known it was wrong at the time. Now she'd just have to brazen it out.

“Do you even deny it?” Robert's face was turning a splotchy red.

“May I ask who's accusing me of this and what proof they have?” She was amazed she could keep her voice even.

Dean fielded this one. “We've got some rather incriminating photos of you and Mr. Robson of Robson Steel.” He looked embarrassed to even have to say this.

“Photos?” She blinked at them. “You spied on me?”

He actually winced at that one. “They were provided to us by a concerned party. In light of this, you can understand why you can't possibly be made account supervisor.”

Jade gaped at him. “But…”

“In fact,” he said, not quite meeting her eyes for any length of time, “you have to understand…we don't think we can continue your employment here at Michaels and Associates.”

Now Jade jumped to her feet. “What?”

“Come now,” Robert said sharply. His thick white eyebrows were beetled together, so deep was his frown. “You honestly can't expect to sleep your way to the top in a respected establishment like Michaels and Associates! We're a family organization!”

“We're a public relations firm in Los Angeles! We've represented everything from professional politicians to actors, back when we were really raking in profits. Do you really think we were worried about our image as a family organization then?”

She knew she was blowing her stack, but the whole
thing was so incredible…after all this time, after coming so close, she was losing on an ethics issue. She took a deep breath, looking at Betsy. Betsy was looking back at her, her expression inscrutable. She was not jumping in to help or defend. Why wasn't she helping?

It looked as though Jade was on her own.

So what else is new?

She put her hands on the tabletop, feeling the cool wood beneath her palms as a sort of support and source of strength. “I will not deny that I have gotten involved in a relationship with Drew Robson,” she said slowly, and saw that many of the six partners were muttering to each other while Betsy continued to stare at her with that fixed gaze. “I am not ashamed of it, nor will I try to hide it or downplay it. However, I can say that the relationship has nothing to do with the contractual agreement Michaels and Associates has with Robson Steel. I did not get involved with him in order to get him to honor the contract and pay us. I can prove this.”

“The fact of the matter is,” Dean said, almost apologetically, “you slept with a client, while you were working with said client representing Michaels and Associates. It's an ethical breach. You have to know that.”

“So you're firing me?” Jade felt nauseous.

“I don't know that we have much choice.”

“Is there a policy on this?” She studied the woebegone look on his face. “Is there some kind of ethical code on the books?”

Robert was turning a rosy shade of red. “Have you no shame? You're actually going to try to use some kind of…some kind of bureaucratic nonsense to save yourself? This is an honorable establishment! We've
been in this business for the past fifty years, young woman, and I'll be damned if I…”

“Michaels and Associates has been steadily losing revenue for the past four years, Robert,” Jade interrupted, and he actually spluttered. “While I respect the tradition and mission and vision of the company…
I didn't do anything wrong.
I made a mistake in judgment, perhaps, but it was a personal decision that had nothing to do with this firm. My personal life is just that.
Personal.
”

“That personal life of yours,” he replied snidely, “stops when you cross the line and convince a client to pay by sleeping with him.”

Jade's heart clenched painfully. She could picture herself getting up, walking over to the older man and punching him one square in his fat, jowly jaw. “Careful,” she said instead, in a whisper that cut through the room like a razor.

Dean Michaels held up a hand, obviously trying to get things back on track. “Jade, you've been an asset to the firm,” he said awkwardly. “We were hoping you would understand our position and honor our decision.”

“Tell me something,” she said, looking over at Betsy…who was staring back at her, not saying anything. Why wasn't she saying anything? “If I'm such an asset to the firm, why wasn't I made account supervisor before now?”

Dean let out a heavy, weary sigh. “I think that was an oversight on our part. But there were some, uh, factions,” he said, and she noticed he shot a quick glance over at Duncan and, to Jade's surprise, Betsy, “that were against the idea. Didn't feel like you really went in with the firm's philosophy. Too much of a maverick,
too independent.” His tone gentled. “Honestly, Jade, I was surprised you haven't hung up a shingle for yourself.”

It was bad enough that she was getting the promotion ripped away from her, she thought as she looked at the ceiling for a quick moment and blinked fast to stop the traitorous tears from rushing in. It was even worse to know that the head of the firm believed in her—and that others didn't, cutting her career off before it had a chance to really grow. He thought she was good, but hadn't said anything. What a stupid waste.

“I don't want to leave Michaels and Associates,” she said, focusing on Dean because he was the only one she could trust herself to look at without screaming. “And I don't think you have the grounds to fire me.”

He blinked. “You don't want to…”

“Tell me you're not thinking of a wrongful termination of employment lawsuit of some sort,” Robert bellowed. “Just tell me you're not that much of an idiot!”

“That's the sort of thing lawyers love to hear,” Jade said in a cool voice.
You jackass.

Dean frowned at Robert. “Jade, we'll have to convene a special meeting with all the partners. If you can convince them that what you did was not ethically questionable and did not go against the corporate policy, human relations policy, or our own firm's mission and philosophy, then I don't see why we couldn't keep you on.”

“With my promotion,” she added.

His eyes gleamed. Robert's eyes, she noted, bugged out as if he were going to explode.

“Of course,” Dean said with a nod. “I'll have my
secretary call the meeting up. In the meantime, I think it's prudent if you treated this as a suspension and went home.”

Jade nodded, feeling her stomach churn. “Of course.”

They all left, and Jade noticed that everyone outside in the office was pointedly absent, hiding in cubicles or anywhere else out of her eyesight. Instead of heading for her cubicle or the door, she waited a few beats, watching Robert mutter loudly to Dean, who kept walking to his office. Then Jade saw Betsy head for her office and she followed, shutting the door behind her.

Betsy made a face. “There isn't anything I can do to help, Jade. You'd best just go home.”

“You knew this was coming,” Jade said. “What do you think I should do?”

“Honestly?” Betsy sat behind her desk. “Dean was on to something. You're good. Start your own firm. Robson Steel could even work with you…well, no, they're still under contract with us. But I'm sure Drew Robson has other customers and a client base that you could work with.”

Jade blinked. “Just like that? Give up?”

“Yes.” Betsy's voice was firm. “Here, anyway. The party's over, Jade. Just call it a night and leave with dignity.”

“You can't believe that,” Jade said, feeling numb. She sat in an opposite chair, ignoring Betsy's frown. “You're a fighter. I've heard about the coups you pulled, at your previous firms…”

“I'm sure you did,” Betsy said, and for the first time, Jade noticed a shade of smugness in the woman's voice. “Let me see if I remember the rumors—I was
one of the most bloodthirsty, ambitious, ruthless P.R. women in Hollywood before switching from show business to real business.”