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James ran a finger around the rim of his crystal glass. She tried not to gulp at the movement, nor at the banked heat in his gaze. Those fingers… She shuddered. What she wouldn’t give to feel him touch her damn nipples like that.
Bad Hailey!
Bad, bad, bad!
“I for one would like to know, Hailey,” James told her silkily, “I know Aidan always sells his sister short.”
Aidan snorted. “Thanks for that, bro. Leave me out in the cold, why don’t you?”
James grinned at him. “You daren’t do anything else.”
Hailey frowned at that, then wriggled her shoulders uneasily. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re a ball buster, sis.” Aidan grinned at her as he cut off a huge piece from his rib eye. “Embrace it, Ms. Feminist of the year.”
“I’m not a feminist,” she immediately denied, scowling harder when James and Aidan immediately roared with laughter.
Jeez, what was it with today?
She was sick of being laughed at, dammit.
“We’re getting weird looks, you guys. Shut the heck up,” Hailey said, frustrated.
Her brother and James shared a look then snickered silently as they retreated to their meals. She huffed. “Look, I’m not a feminist. I just believe in equality. Why should two people who do the same job, work the same hours, and put in the same amount of dedication have different salaries simply because one has a penis and the other doesn’t?”
“You’re preaching to the converted,” James retorted sagely.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hailey retorted.
“It means you don’t have to preach to us about equality. We already implement that in all our contracts.”
She jerked her chin at him. “What about maternity leave?”
James barely bothered to blink. “Three months for the mother, six weeks for the father.”
“Paid?” she retorted again.
“Of course,” Jamessaid with a frown, then clammed up when he took a bite of his own steak.
She cocked a brow at her brother. “Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”
Aidan merely shrugged, but it was James who said, “Because it’s no big deal.”
No big deal?
She out and out gawked at James now. “Are you being serious? Your PR company needs shooting. Jesus Christ, guys. This is huge. A company like you, trolling out equal salaries and implementing them, and maternity/paternity leave as well? It should be shouted about!”
James shrugged. “We don’t need to shout about it. It’s exactly how it should be in our book.”
“From your perspective, I know what you mean. You have to see that it’s a massive deal, though. And not just for public opinion on Arias. But because people need to hear this is happening. You’re too large a company to let this get swept under the rug.” To her brother, she batted her baby blues—well, greens—and pleaded, “Please, Aidan, throw out a press release or something.”
“It will just invite scrutiny, Hailey,” Aidan sighed. “That’s the last thing we need at the minute with the contracts we’re juggling.”
She huffed, but before she could say another word, James butted in, “You never did tell us what you’ve been doing this last year at your firm, Hailey. I meant it when I said I was interested.”
Aidan shot him a suspicious glance, but it wasn’t half as suspicious as hers. “Why do you want to know? And don’t think I’ve dropped this particular subject.”
“Because we know very little of what happens when you’re in Florida.” James remarked.
