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Her cheeks get the pink flush I used to love. “It’s a bad idea and one that’s just going to end in a lot of trouble for both of us. You know that.”
“I know that we have to work together.” I fold my arms and lean forward on the table, tilting my head to the side to get a better look at what she’s working on.
She leans over to grab a piece of paper and the neckline of her lilac blouse shifts, showing off the mark I left on her skin. “Look, if I was to agree to this — and I’m not saying that I am — but if I was, we would need rules in place.”
The corner of my mouth twitches as I shift closer to her. “Does that mean I should be telling you not to fall in love with me?”
Her snort is a stab to my ego. “You don’t need to worry about that. I don’t have time for emotions, and even if I did, you’re the last man on earth I think I would ever be able to fall in love with.”
It’s another twist of the knife she plunged into my back all those years ago.
I scowl down at the table, pulling one of the papers closer to me. “Yeah, well, you always were heartless.”
Jade stiffens beside me. “As long as we’re on the same page about what this is, then I’m up for some meaningless sex that ends when I’m not here anymore.”
“You’re still pretending that you don’t want the CEO position?” I shake my head, skimming through the list of ideas she has for connecting with readers. “I have a hard time believing that you would agree to do this if there wasn’t something in it for you.”
“A massive payday is what’s in this for me.” Jade pulls the paper I’m looking at to her and writes a couple notes on it. “We need to talk about the app.”
“We should scrap the app for the time being and focus on working on a podcast.” I sit up straight, crossing one leg over the other, my foot dangling.
Irritation flashes in her eyes. “Did you come in here to make the project more difficult, or are you here to help?”
“I thought that I was going to help. Do you have any idea how long an app is going to take to develop? We could have a podcast up and running by tomorrow.”
“A podcast hosted on a platform that isn’t your own is only going to cost the company more money.”
I scoff, twisting in my chair until her knees are brushing against mine. “And do you think that an app is going to cost any less money? We have a little over two months to turn the ship around, and you think someone can get us a fully functioning app in that time?”
“Yeah. I do.”
My eyes roll to the ceiling, and I take a moment to collect myself before responding. Sitting here bickering isn’t going to get us anywhere.
I have to figure out a way to get her to see things from my perspective.
For once.
I stand and round the table, grabbing some of the papers with projections on the business and the creation of the app. “According to these quotes, it would take four to six months to get the app up and running.”
“It would.” She runs her fingers through her hair, the soft waves cascading over her shoulders.
She doesn’t look like the woman who just took my cock in my office. Instead, she’s sitting here like she’s been here all day, polished and put together.
It’s as if her time with me doesn’t affect her at all anymore, and it bothers the hell out of me.
I push the papers toward her. “All of the numbers are saying that what you want to do is impossible. A podcast isn’t.”
She leans back, arms crossing as a smug smile spreads across her face. “And what is going to be discussed on this podcast you’re planning?”
“News.” I say it like it’s obvious — because it should be.
“You’re going to have two people sitting there reading the news? Or is it going to sound more like a news station on television? Neither of those options is going to have readers interested.”
I rap a knuckle against another paper. “You have the podcast charts right here, so don’t pretend that you haven’t been toying with that as a potential either.”
“I have been, but if we were going to do it, we should look at the true crime realm, not just the events that make the daily paper.”
I feel like my head is going to explode as I look at her. “We deliver the newsas it happens.We don’t revisit true crime stories.”
