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He chuckled out a grin as Jada murmured a downtrodden, “The child has definitely made me realize some nasty facts about myself, that’s for sure.”
“Oh yeah?” Gracen turned from me to consider her with a slight frown. “What facts are those?”
“I believe I assumed the same thing about her that the asshole Draper did when she was first hired. That she was just a pretty piece of mindless fluff. He only hired her because of her looks, and I never in a million years would’ve hired her for the exact same reason.” Shaking her head sadly as she looked at me, she said, “You really don’t stand a chance in hell of ever being treated fairly, do you? People are either going to be ignorantly too nice to you or pettily too rude. No one’s ever going to dive past the surface of all that shiny blond beauty and get to know the real you. It’s a shame too.” Turning to Gracen, she finished with, “She’s a tremendously sweet girl.”
“I’ve noticed,” he said with an obligatory nod, only to glance my way and add, “But I’d say it sounds like she ended up exactly where she needed to be in order to succeed.”
“Hmm,” Jada murmured, turning her attention to him. “I believe you’re right. Which makes me curious why you didn’t just trade Draper straight across the table for her when you had the chance.”
Gracen arched an eyebrow. “Did you just say trade for her? Seriously, Jay? She’s not a piece of property.”
Jada sighed. “You know what I mean.”
He sighed too before giving a careless shrug. “Well, I guess that’s the question of the day, then.” Lifting his eyebrows at her to let her know he was going to leave it at that, he then glanced at me and gave a small bow. “Ladies,” he announced. “Have a good day.”
And he rotated away before moseying back down the walkway between the cubicles and wall toward his office, whistling under his breath and merrily swinging his empty basket at his side.
“Well…” Jada murmured, sending me an arch glance. “I believe that boy fancies you.”
I immediately flushed and cleared my throat before sending her an odd look and repeating, “Fancies?”
She scowled. “Don’t mock my archaic choice of words. The phrase still applies today. And don’t try to deny that you don’t return the sentiment, either. I saw the way you looked back at him. The two of you are clearly smitten with each other. So come clean already. What’s the story there?”
“Story?” I squeaked, feeling my face burn hot. “What story? There’s no story.” But her gaze narrowed, so I gulped guiltily. “I mean, I knew him—barely—before coming to work here. Through his sister. We’d spoken together two or three times. But that—that’s all.”
Mostly.
Jada stared at me hard for a couple of seconds before humming an indistinct, “Mm-hmm. Well, if that’s all you say it is, then I suppose I shall believe you. Email me that memo when you’re finished.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I murmured, blinking after her as she turned away, crossed the walkway to return to her office, and closed the door behind her.
Clearing my throat, I glanced around to make sure no one had been listening in on our conversation, but everyone else seemed to be engrossed in other things, talking to other employees, chatting on the phone, scowling at the screens of their computers. No one had heard Jada basically call me out.
Thank God.
Smoothing my skirt down my thighs, I rushed back to my desk and returned to work.
I fixed up the memo and shot the next draft Jada’s way about an hour and a half before noon. She didn’t reply but exited her office again forty-five minutes later.
“I’m off to get something to eat,” she announced when I looked up. After hooking the strap of her purse over her shoulder, she slid her middle finger across the corner of her mouth, when she checked to make sure her freshly applied, bright red lipstick was still perfectly in place. “Meeting up with a friend, so it’ll probably be a late lunch.”
“Okay.” I sent her a brilliant smile. “Have fun.”
She nodded, only to pause and lift an eyebrow. “Oh, and nicely done on those memo revisions. Could you print off a physical copy and run it down to Gracen’s office for his approval? I don’t feel like going out of my way just now.”
“Uh…” I blinked at her. “Give him a physical copy?”
They were big here about sustainability and never printing off unnecessary pages. Most documents were handled electronically. So I had to wonder why she hadn’t asked me to simply email him the memo. Or better yet, why hadn’t she just sent him the copy herself?
And Jada was never the lazy type who couldn’t go fifty feet out of her way just because she didn’t feel like it.
So the suspicion that she was playing matchmaker hit me pretty hard.
Arching an innocent eyebrow my way, she asked, “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Uh, no,” I rushed to answer. I wasn't about to do anything that would cause her to accuse me of being insubordinate. And besides, passing up the chance to see Gracen twice in one day wasn’t part of m
y chemical makeup. “It’s no problem at all,” I told my boss. “I’ll get him the copy, right away.”
