Page 27 of Between Love & Ruin

“And you know what I predict, Myra? That if you don’t stop getting in the way of what I want, I will remove you from this company entirely.”

She glares at me before slamming the door in my face, and I force myself to calm down my nerves.

I remind myself that she is young and is probably just trying to look after me.

But I am not a child, and I don’t need someone managing me. And I can make my own decisions.

She thinks Sienna is a bad decision.

I am hell-bent on proving that she is the best decision I have ever made.

* * *

“I am happy to hear that you guys are finally on board,” I say with a smile to Aisha, and I see Sienna shift in her seat.

I had to stop myself from grinning hard when I saw her come in with that attitude of hers that said she didn’t care about being here.

One eye contact, and that was thrown out of the window.

She didn’t do anything wrong by texting me that late at night. I definitely didn’t mind talking to her at that time. But I could tell that she did.

You can learn a lot about someone just by observing them, and I think I really like observing Sienna Hayes.

My current favorite hobby.

“We are elated too,” Aisha says, mirroring my smile. “Though I won’t lie, it was slightly sudden.”

She side-eyes Sienna, who just shrugs.

“I mean,” Sienna starts and I look at her, waiting to see what comes out of her sassy mouth. “It is a good opportunity. Too good to be missed.”

“Took you time to realize that,” I counter, and she narrows her eyes.

How I love rattling her already.

“I don’t make rash decisions,” she fires back.

“Oh, I am sure,” I say, voice laced with sarcasm, and Aisha just looks between us curiously.

“Anyways,” I say, forgetting for a moment that we needed to discuss how to manage their book-event schedule and mine. I can’t just empty my schedule for her.

Even if I want to.

“Since you have a few stops left here in NYC for your book event,” I start. “We have to be very smart about how we spend our time. I want this project to start soon, before we officially announce this venture in the media. We need to finalize the screenplay and the major parts before we jump in with the production.”

“We can start on days that align with your schedule,” Aisha suggests, and I nod.

That makes more sense than what I had in mind. But I still voice it out.

I want to see if Sienna thinks the same way.

“If it works with Sienna,” I say, and her eyebrows quirk up. “What if, on the days I’m free, I come to the book events with Sienna? I could see the hype around the book firsthand, which would help me make better decisions for the project. And once you’re free, we can work on the book together.”

“You have that much free time on your hands?” Sienna asks, and I have to suppress the smile threatening to spread across my face.

“Only for important things.”

She huffs. “If it works for you, then I have no problem.”