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“Would you fire me if I said yes?” The question came out with a quiet strength, as though the answer wouldn’t change the outcome, but she would like to know.
He didn’t even have to think about it. “No, I wouldn’t fire you, partly because I’m afraid of what Jayna would do to me if I did.”
“So what would you say if I asked you to stay away from her?”
That he did have to think about. “I would tell you that I don’t want to hurt your sister. I would also tell you that I don’t give a damn about gossip, and I don’t think Jayna will, either. If we decide to go for it, the rest of the world can go straight to hell.”
Sienna’s lips curled up. “Good. Then you’re ready. You should expect my mother to try to scare you off at some point.”
A sense of relief swept through him. He could handle that. It would be much harder to progress with Jayna if Sienna was against the relationship. On the other hand, knowing her mother didn’t approve would likely send Jayna into his bed immediately. Of course, he had a family, too. “Jayna should probably expect to have to deal with my mother as well.”
Sienna waved that worry off. “Oh, Jayna will not care about what your mom thinks. She won’t care about what anyone thinks, but you should know that she also won’t care if the world hates her. If gossip isn’t going to bother you, then you’ll be okay with my little sis. I had to make sure. Jayna could get upset if you’re upset.”
He’d grown up surrounded by gossip. The town ran on it, and Sienna seemed to be tapped in. “Are they already talking?”
Sienna chuckled. “After this morning? Yes. When I went to the café to pick up lunch, the whole place was buzzing.”
“Dare I ask?” He should probably know what people were saying because it would absolutely get back to his mother.
“Well, given the way Jayna ran off Paul this morning, some people think she’s seduced you and your family is trying to save you from her,” Sienna explained. “But she knows she’s got a good thing and isn’t letting you even see your family. You are a captive to passion.”
So he needed to take his mother somewhere public for lunch this week or he would likely be considered a prisoner. “Anything else?”
“Oh, there’s always another side. People in town love to argue, so they need a counterpoint. In that case, you’re the villain. You are taking a woman who is down on her luck and making her do all your work and possibly also taking advantage of her physically. But I’m pretty sure it was my mom spreading that rumor, and not many people listen to her.”
He’d barely even had a chance to kiss her yet. “I’m paying her in steak, Sienna. Let everyone know that. She’s got expensive tastes. I don’t suppose anyone is talking about the fact that we’re two single adults with very similar interests who happen to like each other, and that the dynamic of our relationship shouldn’t be anyone’s business?”
“No. No one has said or thought that,” Sienna said with a shake of her head. “And you should not expect that to change anytime soon.”
“Good to know.”
Sienna slid a hand into the pocket of her blazer. “There are some things she likes about this place. I think she likes being around my kids. I also think she’s enjoying being in court. She used to talk about how boring all the corporate stuff had gotten. She’s been more energized in the last week than I’ve seen her in a long time. Maybe if we show her how fun this place can be, she won’t leave.”
Would she enjoy dancing at Guidry’s? Or would it pale in comparison to the lights of New Orleans? Would thequirkiness of this place rub her the wrong way, or would she see it with different eyes now that she was older?
The phone rang and Sienna turned to get back to her desk.
“Hey, Sienna, if that’s for me, tell them I’m out. I’m going to work on a special project, and I don’t want to be interrupted.” Jayna was taking one for the team. He wasn’t going to waste her efforts.
“Will do.” Sienna closed his office door on her way out.
He sat back. So everyone was talking.
It might be time to give them something to talk about.
He was supposed to work on his latest book, but some instinct deep inside made him pull up the folder that containedThe Man in the Black Hat. He would look through it and see that Jayna was wrong.
Except at some point while he read, the police detective with the long blond hair morphed into a raven-haired woman with a chic bob.
He started to rework some of the book. Maybe there was some flirtation between the characters, some emotion he hadn’t mined. He could make a few changes and see what Jayna thought.
After all, what could it hurt?
chapter seven
Jayna stalked into the office as the sun was going down. Earlier in the day, she’d been preoccupied with thoughts of steak and shrimp and a couple of martinis at Guidry’s. She’d dreamed that tonight they would dance and maybe come back here and he would kiss her again and she could lose herself in him.
Not anymore. She was going to murder Quaid Havery.
