Page 16 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
She clasped her hands together. “I’ve been doing some thinking, and I think I’d be making a mistake if I quit and went home. I want to see this through, and I apologize for being flaky and letting my doubt get in the way.”
“Doubt and disappointment,” I amended.
“Yes.” She looked down, blushing. “That was rude of me. I’m sorry.”
I waved her off. “It’s fine. You have good timing. We have meetings with clients in the office this morning. I’ll give you a ride back to the cabin to grab some business appropriate clothes.”
“You mean I don’t have to wear snow boots every day?” she dared a joke before going serious again. “Before we go any further, I did want to lay down some rules and expectations.”
I almost snorted. “Rules?”
She nodded. “Yes. Rules.”
“There are no rules other than mine,” I said. “This is my business, and I suggest you lean into that.”
CHAPTER8
WINTER
There are no rules other than mine.
His snide comment rang in my ears as I sat in the passenger seat of his all-terrain SUV. It was black, shiny, crazy nice inside, and still smelled like new car. The seat warmer made my rear end nice and cozy, and the view of frosty fields during the drive was gorgeous, but I was still annoyed by how abrasively he’d dismissed my request to lay down some rules.
All I’d wanted was to discuss my creative freedom in the role. How much liberty was I allowed to take? Did I have to follow schematics? How was I going to know how to decorate a tree when the only experience I had was with my parents’ tree, which was full of half-broken ornaments I’d made in elementary school?
Whatever, if he wants to be an asshole, so be it.
“You’re uncharacteristically quiet.” North glanced over at me as we sat at a red light, his hand causally draped over the steering wheel. I dared not to look. I was annoyed with him, and I didn’t need to be reminded about how attractive he was.
“Just nervous, that’s all.”
“To meet the clients?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Lies.
I wasn’t nervous to meet them. People were my jam, and I wastheirjam. Strangers loved me. Charming was one of the biggest pillars of my personality. Well, according to my dad, anyway. Obviously he had a slight bias. Still, I’d always managed to schmooze the pants off anyone I needed—and not in a manipulative way. People just liked working with me. I was accommodating, polite, friendly, and good at cracking jokes.
Maybe these clients would think I was a breath of fresh air compared to North’s uptight,there are no rules other than mine, personality.
“You’ll do fine,” he said, surprising me with kind words. “All you have to worry about today is seeing how it’s done. I’ll take the lead, you sit and listen.” He shot me a deadpan look. “In other words, no talking, just take notes.”
“Wonderful. I’m great at taking notes.”
The light turned green and we pulled away, my snarky sarcasm going either unnoticed or ignored.
Where did this giant oaf get off treating me like I was a ten-year-old tagging along for career day?
A few more minutes of uncomfortable silence passed before I broke. “How much further?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, so what? I don’t like car rides with undefined lengths.”
“Ten more minutes.”
Ten more minutes of this torture? I simply could not do it. We had to talk about something.Anything.
