Page 34 of Crazy Thing

My office door swings open, and Ziggy walks in with my lunch. She sets a sad looking sandwich on my desk. Then she shoots me a look.

That look says it all—Ziggy’s been eavesdropping on my conversation. And now she’s judging me as the greedy and selfish bastard she thinks I am.

“Look, we’re making you the best offer you’re going toget. Offer expires within the hour, so take it or leave it,” I spit out before ending the call.

Ziggy is setting a stack of files on the edge of my desk when I glance up at her. “We’re going to have a working lunch,” I announce.

In response, she scowls at me. “Fine.”

Then she ventures out to grab her own lunch container, before rejoining me in my office. She lowers into the chair across from me, on the other side of my desk, her yellow notepad resting on her lap.

We’ve been working together in my quiet little office for almost a week now. Even after the injunction victory, things have remained tense between us. Ziggy seems to hate all that I stand for, and I’m annoyed by half the things she does.

Yet, somehow we seem to be getting things done together. In fact, ever since she started working as my assistant, I’ve felt more productive than I’ve been since…well, since forever.

She opens her container and I peek at the hearty-looking stew inside. Shit—that smells good. Especially compared to my lame sandwich. In any case, I don’t wait for her to finish eating before I start giving her a new list of tasks to work on.

“I know that hockey team will be reaching back out any minute now to take the trade offer, so when that comes through, I’ll need you to follow up with our team’s legal counsel to have all the documents thoroughly reviewed.”

“Okay.”

“Make sure they know to expedite it.”

“All right.”

“And then as soon as the final paperwork comes back, you’ll need to prepare all the official materials for theleague’s final review. We need to make sure it’s ironclad. Otherwise, the league won’t approve it.”

Ziggy only nods.

“Oh, and while you’re waiting on the team’s lawyers to do their part, I need you to contact my private investigator and personal lawyer. See if they can finally locate this mysterious waterfall owner. Something weird is going on there, and I need to get the full picture if we’re going to stop the sale permanently.”

“‘Kay. Will do.”

I stop to stare at Ziggy. Her continued curt and abrupt responses are out of character. Even for her. I consider letting it go, but I’m not in a sweep-it-under-the-rug kind of mood today.

“What’s your problem?” I ask.

“Nothing.” She keeps her eyes downcast, pretending to scribble notes on her notepad.

“Well, whatever it is, I can tell that you’re judging me. So let’s hear it, Fairy Girl. What’d I do now?”

She continues to refuse to meet my eyes. “I’m not judging you,” she says tersely. “Judging you is not in my job description, and I’m only here to do my job.”

I snort. “Bullshit.”

When she can’t hold her tongue anymore, her head finally shoots up. “Fine! I see the way you’re handling this hockey player acquisition, and all of it makes me question whether I can trust you with the waterfall situation.”

My brows dip low as I shake my head in confusion. “The two are completely unrelated. I don’t see your point.”

Ziggy practically growls in frustration. “Oh, come on. It’s obvious that all you care about is money. Profit. Your bottom line. And I can’t yet figure out how buying the waterfall willbe profitable to you. So that makes me think that you have something else up your sleeve. ”

I cross my arms, suddenly feeling defensive. “The waterfall deal is different.”

“Oh, really? How is it different?” she counters.

“The waterfall has memories for me.”

Ziggy laughs.

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