Page 72 of Miss Typed

Frustration bubbled up. “You more than anyone should know we don’t always get to do what we want.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Aiden

“Do you enjoy your job?” Chloe asked. Obviously frustrated, she appeared determined to make her point.

I swallowed hard at her question. Of course I didn’t enjoy my job. I was doing it to pass the time until— Well, I wasn’t sure what. But for her, the sky should be the limit.

Finally, I answered. “No. I don’t enjoy my job.” But since I knew I’d never find the same level of joy in a career other than the one I’d loved, I didn’t have high expectations. “I’m not sure the office-suit-and-tie thing are for me long term.” For one, I missed being outdoors.

“What do you think you’d enjoy doing instead?”

Being a captain in the Marine Corps and being with my troops, keeping them safe.

Truthfully, I didn’t need to work given the money I had in the bank, but my pride wouldn’t let me simply live off my inheritance. It was on the tip of my tongue to mention the government contracting jobs I’d applied for in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I refrained. I’d yet to have an interview to see if they’d be willing to take on an amputee as an employee. “I don’t know. Maybe a job is just a job.” The idea was something I was trying to resolve.

She sighed. “Exactly. A job is just a job to pay the bills and meet obligations.”

Wait. How the hell had we ended up discussing me, when this needed to be all about her? “Chloe, you have so much talent. I’ve seen it. What do you want to do with your graphics design degree?”

“Nothing. I make a better living being an assistant.”

What the hell was I missing? “I’m sorry I took your moment with Tom.” My natural instinct had been to stick up for her against that asshole.

“You didn’t take it so much as I gave it away. It doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does. It matters to you.” I lifted her chin again, making her look me in the eyes. It was absolutely killing me to see her so defeated.

“We should get back to work. Did you want to show me the software?” She pulled away and took a deep breath, apparently ready to transition to the next task.

“Yeah. I’ll run through it with you. But first, I think you should call Reid and tell him what happened.” I was trying to defer to her wishes to deal with the situation despite my temptation to dial him right now and take over. Besides, I’d be able to catch up with him later.

She turned to leave, stopping at my door. “I know you’ll only call him after I’m done. Might as well make it efficient and reduce it to one conversation. You call him. I’ll see you in ten minutes to go over the software.”

With that, she walked out.

* * *

I couldn’t not call Reid. At the very least, I had to give him a heads-up. Unfortunately, Tom had worked faster.

“Helen, Tom, and I have a meeting tomorrow with the global HR director,” Reid told me. “My hands are tied. I’ll stand by the decision not to fire her, but they may decide to reverse it.”

“If they do that, then I walk.”

He sighed heavily. “Aiden, you’re letting your emotions rule—”

“Damn right I am. She doesn’t deserve this.”

“And I’ll call you as a character witness if they’ll allow it. You can explain she’s been nothing but great in her new position. But right now you have to let go of the personal. For them to suspect she’s sleeping with her new boss will absolutely not paint her in the best light.”

His words made me want to punch something. But he was right. No matter how unfair it was, he was giving it to me straight. “Fine. I’ve gotta go.” I needed some time to cool down before Chloe came in to talk about the surveillance software. I also needed time to figure out what the fuck I could do to fix this for her.

She knocked on the door, coming in after I told her to enter. Aside from the flat look in her eyes, you wouldn’t know anything was wrong.

For the next hour, we went over the software, but that was all I could take of her robotic answers. I knew she had to be a mess inside.

Screw this. I missed my sunshine. “Come on. We’re leaving.”