18. Jade

CHAPTER 18

JADE

I stare at Grayson's retreating back as he leaves my office and promptly walks into his.

He doesn't glance at the glass wall between us as he sits down at his desk and crosses his arms.

What the hell got into him today?

He looks like he's completely through with the day, even though he's only been here for half an hour.

I don't know what happened or what he was talking about with Lara earlier, but I would be willing to bet that it's the same thing she's been talking to me about for the last week.

She's the first one to say anything about the way Grayson and I allegedly look at each other. She seems to think that we've been hiding a relationship, even though I've told her that it's just sex.

Although, I would be lying to say that I haven't been thinking more about pursuing a real-life relationship with him.

I still don't know if he feels the same way about me that I'm feeling about him.

There are some moments when I think that he could be falling for me, but there are others — like now — when I start to think that I'm the one who has no idea what's going on.

He glances over at me before pointedly looking at the gold watch on his wrist.

Arching my eyebrow, I lean back in my chair. He isn't my boss, even if I do like him to take control in the bedroom.

If he's going to march in here and demand that I go to his office when he was already in mine, he's going to be waiting.

Humming to myself, I pull closer to my desk, looking through emails on my tablet for the next ten minutes. I take my time scrolling, feeling his angry glaring boring into the side of my head.

By the time I get to the last email, I'm ready to get up and face whatever mood Grayson is in.

Standing up, I smooth down my skirt and step out of my office, stopping at Lara's desk as she rushes back into the office with a bagel in her hand.

She drops down to her desk. "What's going on? You look like you're ready to go to war."

"I might be." I smile and take half of the bagel she offers me. "Grayson marched into my office and demanded that I meet him in his. Any idea what this is about?"

Lara shrugs and takes a bite of her bagel. "His father might be bearing down on him again, telling him that he needs to get his life together."

"That happen a lot?"

Lara gives me a world-weary look. "Mhmm."

I nod and finish the bagel slice, savoring the taste of smoked salmon and cream cheese. "It's probably just about the app. We got some notes back from the design team the other day and our replies are due tomorrow."

Lara glances over her shoulder as Grayson continues to glare at me. "Good luck. I wouldn't want to deal with him right now if I was you."

Part of me hopes it's another meeting that's going to be filled with tension, ending with me bent over the desk or slammed up against the wall like our normal meetings.

We spoke for a little last night on the phone, going over details for the app, but it isn't the same as spending time together.

All week, I've been craving some alone time with him, and whatever the circumstances are, I'm finally going to get it. Heat pools between my legs at the thought, my heart skipping a beat like I'm a teenager with a crush on him again.

Maybe tonight I can ask him to get dinner with me and we can talk about the future.

I've been waiting for a good time to tell him that I spoke to Leo about staying on with the company a little longer. Tonight could be a good night.

First, I have to get through whatever meeting he wants to have.

After taking a deep breath, I walk into the office and shut the door behind me. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Grayson crosses his arms. "There was about twenty minutes ago."

"Well, you were the one who walked into my office without so much as a hello and then demanded that I come talk to you. I was in the middle of something."

His teeth grind together, red splotches appearing on his neck. "You just stood out there and ate a bagel with Lara."

"And you've been sitting here and glaring at me while drinking your coffee." I keep my tone even, not wanting to fight with him even though I know he's trying to push my buttons.

He's doing a decent job at it too, but then again, he's always been good at it.

As he stands and plants his hands on his desk, leaning over it and looking at me like I'm in trouble in the principal's office, I see the man I knew twelve years ago.

It's written all over his face. He's angry at me for something, but I don't know what.

I stride across the office to his desk, standing tall. "Why did you call me in here, Grayson?"

His nostrils flare before he sits back down, his shoulders slumping. "I didn't want to be the one to have to tell you this, but Dad asked me to."

"All right." I sit down across from him, draping one leg over the other. Something feels off about this entire conversation. The hair on my arms stands, little bumps forming.

Grayson looks me in the eyes, expression unwavering. "Dad has said that your contract renewal is dependent on whether or not you get the CEO position."

I take a moment to watch the corner of his mouth as he speaks, but there's no slight curl to it.

He isn't making this up.

The talks with his father were supposed to be confidential. Nothing about the CEO position had been mentioned during them either. I just told Leo that I would be willing to continue collaborating with them through the first year of the relaunch to ensure that it was as successful as possible.

It was supposed to be something I spoke about with Grayson before the final decision was made. He wasn't supposed to hear anything about it.

And the CEO position was never supposed to be part of the deal.

Grayson arches an eyebrow. "I thought that this would have been something you talked about with me. I would have thought that we had both gotten past that childish behavior."

My body tenses, the urge to tell him where to go and how to get there on the tip of my tongue. "Look, I don't know what conversation you had with Leo, but I have no interest in becoming the CEO. I've told you that before. I thought we were at the point where you trusted me."

He scoffs. "How could I trust you after everything you've done to me?"

"I've apologized." I keep my tone even, but it feels like everything we've been building together over the last few weeks is being ripped to shreds.

For the last week, I've thought about telling him how I feel. Maybe asking him if he wanted to turn this into something more than just sex.

Somewhere along the line, strings attached, and I should have severed them before they snapped.

I should have known better than to get attached to Grayson Harris.

He's nothing but a heartbreaker. Always has been, always will be.

Grayson clears his throat. "You have nothing to say for yourself, do you? You're the same person you were in college."

"No." I lean forward, slightly over the desk. "I've become an entirely different person, but you're still the same little boy chasing after your daddy's approval and doing whatever you think you need to for it. You don't give a damn about other people, and you never have."

He flinches, but his gaze hardens at the same moment. "That's rich coming from you. Yet again, you're here, pulling the same underhanded tricks."

"You don't have a clue what you're talking about. I want nothing to do with this company beyond helping you succeed. Why the hell do you think I even took this job in the first place? I wanted to make amends for what happened in college. I know how much this company means to you."

He shakes his head slightly, and I know there's nothing I can say to make him believe me. He's crafted a narrative of how this is going to go, and I'm sitting here without a script.

"Jade, let's not pretend that this is anything other than what it is," he says, his attention turning to the papers on his desk as he shuffles through them.

With a disbelieving scoff, I sit back in my seat, arms crossing. "Why don't you tell me what this is. Because I think you and I are seeing two very different situations right now."

Grayson glances back up at me, and when he does, it's like I'm looking into an abyss. There is no emotion in his eyes, no lines of worry or regret that crease his face.

He stares right past me. "I think you saw an opportunity. You knew that with a business going under, a new CEO would be named after they decided to save it. You saw that you could sink your talons into a multi-billion-dollar company, and you did."

"I haven't been a journalist in eight years." My tone is sharp, cutting through the tension in the air.

He shrugs. "Does that matter? You have your own digital journalism empire."

"I have a fiction one too, but you don't see me out here writing books. I love fiction and journalism, but my passion lies in running those two companies, not walking into failing ones and doing everything I can to save them. Even calling on contacts I've built good relationships with over the years and hoping they would help."

"You did this all for your own benefit."

My blood boils, my nails biting deep into my palms. "No. I didn't, but at least now I know what you really think of me."

"I think what I always thought. You were good for a bit of fun, and regardless of what you had to do where you are, you've been nothing but a snake, coiled and waiting for your opportunity to strike."

Little pinpricks tease the corners of my eyes, and my throat grows thick. I push down the urge to cry, knowing that it will only give him more power in this situation.

I can't believe that he's sitting here and saying all these things to me, but I do know that I'm not going to continue putting up with it.

I've worked too hard to get to where I am to be torn down like this.

"Grayson, I have no desire to insert myself into your life and take over what you've been chasing for years. I think you deserve better than to be constantly overlooked, regardless of what you might think of me based on something that isn't accurate."

"You didn't speak to Dad about renewing your contract?" he asks, his tone cold and his knuckles turning white as he grips the pen in his hand.

"I did." I sit taller, tilting my head slightly in a silent challenge. If he wants to keep attacking me personally, he can, but it's not going to change the truth. "I told Leo that I would be willing to stay on for a year. He said that he would have to give it some consideration and talk to the board about their budget."

"I don't believe for a second that you didn't ask for the CEO position in the same breath." Grayson shakes his head. "Not only did you go behind my back again to submit a proposal to Dad, but he said that there were several candidates for the CEO position."

"And what makes you think I'm one of them?" My voice rises an octave. "Did Leo tell you that I was one of the candidates, or are you spiraling out of control because you're threatened by me?"

"I'm not threatened by you."

And there's the answer.

He thinks that after everything, I'm going to hurt him.

I can see it clear on his face now that I know what to look for. He wants to push me away and punish me. The eagerness to believe the story that he's concocted in his head makes one thing clear.

As much as I thought something could work between the two of us — that we could be happy together — he's never going to see me as anything other than the woman who poses a threat.

He doesn't see the person I've become.

Back in college, he certainly never saw the person I was.

Doing this with him again is impossible. It's never going to be right between the two of us.

I stand up, pulling together every ounce of self-respect I have. "I have done everything in my power to help you revive this company. I did it because I wanted to help you after I screwed you over in college. I cared about you."

"Well, it's a shame, but unfortunately, I believe your time here is going to end shortly."

His words are a sharp slice to the back of my knees, cutting me where I stand and leaving me bleeding out on the ground.

"You know, that's the first time I think you might have been right about something." I head for the door then pause, body tense as I turn to look at him over my shoulder.

There's a large part of me that hopes he's going to apologize. He's going to tell me that this has all been a sick joke. That he let his fears get the best of him, but he's sorry. That he's going to work harder to move past everything that happened years ago instead of holding onto the anger.

If he did, I know that I would forgive him in an instant.

Instead, he looks down at the papers in front of him.

I breathe through my nose, blood rushing to my ears. As I turn the doorknob, I know that this is really the end.

"Have a nice life, Grayson."