Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) (6 page)

Now she needed to get some things in order, and then, well, she’d have to tackle something tougher than this.

She’d have to talk to Bryce.

MARGE SENT THE URGENT EMAIL
to Johansson Tek for Bryce.

“Hey Marge, where d’ya want me to put this stuff?” Roz peered over two full boxes in her arms.

“What stuff is that?” Marge stopped typing to look at Roz, whose face was barely visible between the clock radio and the phone stacked on top of a bunch of files.

“I thought you woulda packed by now. Want me to put this over heah?” Roz walked to the wall and set the boxes down with a loud thump.

“What do you mean packed up?

“Oh, sorry. I thought Jade woulda told you by now.”

“Told me what?” Marge stood, unsure she wanted to hear what was coming next.

“I’m Jade’s new assistant. She told me to pack up my things and move after lunch.”

“I see.” Marge grasped the side of her chair. “Put the rest of your belongings right over there.” She pointed to the wall and tried to keep her hand from shaking. “I’ll request boxes from Shipping and start packing my desk right away.”

“Thanks, Marge. Didn’t mean to be a botha.”

“No bother.” Marge held back the crack in her voice. She was not going to cry. She would walk out of the building with her head raised high. She would have appreciated it if Jade had fired her personally. After twenty-three years of service to this company, she deserved that much.

BRYCE CALLED OUT
to Marge as she walked past his office. “Do you know where Jason is? I’ve been looking for him all morn—”

Marge’s eyes were bloodshot, her mouth tight in a grim line.

He pulled her into his office, shut the door behind him, and put both hands on her shoulders as she sank into a chair. “What is it? Is it Mattie?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Marge waved her hand, hardly able to speak.

“What’s wrong, Marge?” Bryce knelt beside her.

Her eyes welled with tears. “I—I’ve been fired.”

“What?” Bryce almost laughed. Her stunned expression told him it was no joke. “There must be some kind of mistake. Who fired you? I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“Roz is moving into my desk right now.” Marge breathed deeply. “She’s Jade’s new assistant.”

That didn’t make any sense. “Don’t worry. I assure you, there’s been some kind of mistake. I’ll be right back. Don’t move, okay?” Bryce waited for her to nod before he left.

He stormed over to Jade’s office, noting that Roz was indeed moving her stuff in.

What the hell is she thinking firing Marge?

Jade was nowhere in sight. He clenched his teeth. Once again, Jade was sending him off the rails. Finally, he spotted her coming off the service elevator. “Jade, may I have a word with you?”

“In a few minutes. I need to finish up something first, and, oh, I need to speak with you about something too.”

Bryce grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty conference room.

Sara and Jason stopped, apparently eager to see what was going on.

“Get your hands off me.” Jade pulled her arm free and glared at Bryce. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Me?” He shoved the door closed, then whirled on her. “What the hell do you think
you’re
doing, firing Marge without consulting me? Do you know how many years of service she’s put into this company? She’s indispensable. You have no right to let her go.”

Jade raised her voice to match his. “Let her go? Why do you think I let her go?”

“Because Roz is moving into her desk as we speak.” He pointed in the direction of Jade’s office. “Or are you going to deny that too?”

“No.” Jade put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to deny that. I hired Roz as my personal assistant today.”

“So you did—”

“Yes I did.” She raised her hand to stop him. “I believe Marge is most helpful to you. I was just down in Storage asking them to bring a desk for her. I was trying to get back up to Marge to let her know before Roz surprised her. Clearly I didn’t make it back in time, and clearly I made a mistake.”

“Marge is in my office right now. You better fix this fast.”

“Fine.” Jade yanked open the door and headed to Bryce’s office.

Bryce caught Sara handing Jason five bucks. “Who’d you bet on?”

“You.” Jason gave him an appreciative male-to-male smile.

Bryce followed Jade.

Great, just great. Now the employees are betting against us.

JADE REGRETTED
the pain she’d caused Marge the minute she walked into Bryce’s office. “Marge.” Jade sat down next to her. “I’m so sorry for giving you the wrong impression.”

A glint of hope sparkled in Marge’s eyes.

“Bryce really needs you, and I need someone like Roz to keep me informed. So I was planning to make you Bryce’s executive assistant and give you… let’s say a five-percent increase in your salary. Does that work for you?”

Marge straightened her shoulders. “Yes, that is an acceptable offer, Miss Buchanan.”

“Good. They’re setting up your new desk right now.”

Bryce winked at Marge. He stepped aside to let her out to the hallway to see her new desk and accessories being set up right outside his office.

Marge appeared happy with the new mahogany wrap-around desk, with two matching lateral filing cabinets and a bookshelf flanking either side. It was Gloria’s old set.

Bryce put his hand on Jade’s shoulder to stop her from leaving. “I apologize for earlier.”

Jade inclined her head, happy he apologized first. Warmth lingered on her arm where his hand had been.

“I really appreciate what you’ve done for Marge. I would have appreciated it more if you had talked to me about it ahead of time.” The anger in his voice gave way to a soothing tone.

It was easier being mad at Bryce when he was yelling at her. When he spoke to her this way and looked at her with appreciation in his eyes, she couldn’t stop from backing down. Even worse, she couldn’t stop the flutter in her belly.

“I made the decision with Roz twenty minutes ago. Next time I have a spontaneously great idea, I’ll consult with you before mentioning it to anyone else.”

Jade headed to her office. She could now cross off having the embarrassing conversation with Bryce from her list. She had to admit, she kind of liked pushing his buttons. The strong clench of his jawline, the deep honey of his eyes, and the wide stance of his legs made him über sexy.

I shouldn’t be thinking about him that way.

No, what she should be thinking about is the way she’d handled Marge’s change of assignment. As much as she’d wanted to surprise Marge with her new desk area setup, she should have asked Roz to give her time to speak to Marge first.

She was reminded of what Gran used to say: “It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and don’t make the same mistake again.”

Boy, did she learn from this one. She hoped it would be her last.

GIRL TALK. THAT’S WHAT JADE NEEDED
most of all. She hiked up the four flights of stairs from the parking lot, under the viaduct along Seattle’s waterfront, to Pike Place Market. As usual, the market was jammed on a Saturday morning. Checking her watch, she picked up the pace, weaving her way through people milling around the flower booths and jewelry stands, ducking under the salmon flying through the air for the customer who ordered it, and stopping for the tiniest of moments to look at the glasswork she adored.

She walked along Post Alley to Café Campagne, a little French restaurant that was one of her favorites. She and Aleks used to come here during their summers off from UW, to sit at one of the sidewalk tables and chat for hours. Jade couldn’t wait to tell her everything that had happened.

“Finally!” Aleks shrieked and gave Jade a huge hug when she walked through the door. “Come over here, I have a table already.”

Seeing Aleks was just what she needed. They’d hit it off right away during Jade’s junior year of undergrad, despite Aleks’s carefree style. Jade envied her for not growing up in a prim and proper environment. They’d met when Jade had posted a room for rent in her new apartment on the university’s e-board, and Aleks had ended up living with her for two years. They’d been best friends ever since. “When did you cut your hair?”

“Just yesterday. Don’t you love it?” Aleks shook her head. “I didn’t realize my hair was so wavy until I cut some of it off.”

“Are those purple highlights?” Jade found it hard to tell against her jet-black hair.

“Yeah, I liked the burgundy ones better. I’m thinking about going even lighter, like lavender. Hey, you look like you’ve lost more weight. And I don’t mean in a good way.”

“Gee thanks. These last couple weeks, trying to fill Gran’s shoes, working in her office… It’s been really hard.”

“So, tell me about it.”

“Which part, the horrifying part or the more horrifying part?”

“Let’s start with the horrifying part.”

“Well, first I spoke to my dead grandmother in my new office.” Aleks didn’t say anything. “The doctor said I was hallucinating because I was dehydrated and not eating.”

“I know someone who saw his dead grandfather when he was sick. I’m not so sure it was a hallucination. Maybe you really did see your Gran.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Sure, why not. Is hallucinating better?”

Jade laughed. She had a point. “I don’t know.”

“So what’s the more horrifying part? You didn’t talk to her in front of other people, did you?”

“No way.” Jade laughed. “But I did pass out in Bryce’s arms.”

“Oh my gosh, are you okay? What do you mean you passed out?”

“From not eating. That’s when I went to the hospital.”

Aleks crossed her arms and mock-glared at her. “You were in the hospital and you didn’t tell me? I know you said you needed to focus on work for a while, but you’ve been leaving me out of the loop way too much. Now that you’re home, you need to be a proper friend and let me know these kinds of things. And you need to return more of my calls.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Jade grew up in a neighborhood with estate homes spaced far apart. There were no girls her age she could play with, so her only friend was a boy named Steve, but he moved away during junior high. Sometimes she forgot the girl ethic.

“You okay now?” Aleks asked.

“Yeah, I’m under strict orders to eat high-caloric foods.”

“This is the perfect place then. Let’s order.” Aleks waved to the waiter. “I’ll have the trout almondine.”

“Very good.” The waiter wrote down her order and looked at Jade.

“I’ll have, let me see,” Jade scanned the menu. “I’ll have the steak frites.”

“The house specialty.”

Aleks waited for the waiter to leave. “So tell me about your hunka hunka. You passed out in his arms, how utterly romantic.” Aleks batted her eyelashes in jest.

Jade smiled coyly. “It was more embarrassing than romantic, but… it was really nice.”

“I’m still surprised your grandmother had him in the will. I didn’t realize he was so important to her.”