The Little Black Dress (Love in Las Vegas)

18. I’m Not Jealous

Jared

This day is bullshit already, and it just got started. I hate to admit it, but I was kind of looking forward to sparring with Sophie this morning. Maybe letting her sweat a little at the prospect of being fired for her antics last night, even though I have no plans to do so.

But that was before I walked into the casino and saw her chatting up Sam, both of them all smiles and laughter like they were doing some serious flirting. I felt like punching something. Something that would reward me with a satisfying crunch. Like Sam’s face.

After taking a single step in their direction, I caught myself. I spun around and headed upstairs, locking myself in my office where I could seethe in private.

And now? Now I’m sitting at my desk, unable to focus on work as I try to figure out why I had such a dark reaction to seeing my best friend talking to a woman I can barely stand. It’s ridiculous, really. They’re both adults. They can talk to each other as much as they want.

Maybe it’s because I see Sophie as my nemesis. She’s my employee, but we seem to be stuck in this battle of wits and wills, each trying to one-up the other. And Sam should be on my side. He shouldn’t be chatting her up and making her laugh.

I close my eyes and sigh. I’m being a childish prick, I know.

A thought niggles at the edge of my mind, accusing me of lying to myself. Of refusing to admit the real reason I saw red as I watched them smile and laugh together. That it had nothing to do with Sam backing the wrong team.

That I was jealous. Of Sam.

I grunt and push the ridiculous thought aside. I don’t like her, at all. Sure, she’s beautiful. And my body sometimes goes a little haywire when I’m around her. But she’s a menace. A thorn in my side. A temporary placeholder until I can find an assistant I can actually work with.

I’m just in a bad mood because I had a shitty morning. I forgot to set my alarm last night, and I overslept. Deuces hacked up a hairball in my bedroom, and when I got up in a rush, I stepped in it, smashing it into the carpet. I almost puked, myself, when the cold, wet hair and bile squished up through my toes. And after cleaning up the mess, showering, and getting ready for the day, I didn’t have time to make a cup of coffee.

As soon as the thought passes through my mind, a knock sounds on my door. I grunt out an invitation to enter, assuming it’s Scotty coming to go over my schedule for the day. But when I look up, it’s not him.

It’s her.

With a tight smile, she glides across the office in those sexy-as-fuck red heels, bearing a paper cup.

“Good morning. I grabbed this on the way up,” she says softly as she stops by my desk and places the cup in front of me.

“Thank you,” I say gruffly before picking it up and taking a long drink.

“You’re not going to ask me if I spit in it?” she asks.

When I look up at her, she gives me a tentative smile. The blood in my body rushes southward, and I grit my teeth as I try to control my reaction. Sophie’s smile drops, and she opens her mouth to say something. But whatever it is gets cut off as Scotty breezes in.

Sophie takes a quick step back, leaving room for him to slide between us with a stack of papers for me to sign. She listens quietly while he and I discuss each form, and I can see her head nodding slightly in my peripheral vision. I can tell she’s studying the way Scotty and I interact, learning how we do things around here.

Like any new assistant worth their salt would.

The problem is, with every nod of her head, my eyes stray toward her. The way the loose tendrils of red hair brush against her chin. The long column of her throat, so smooth and creamy-looking. The outline of her bra through that thin white blouse.

I quickly sign the rest of the documents and push them toward Scotty. I need him to take Sophie out of here. And after a quick rundown of my schedule for the day, he does just that.

Once the door closes behind them, I lean back with a sigh and dig my fingertips into my scalp. I need to stop this. I’m not attracted to her. I’m really not.

And even if I were, I couldn’t do anything about it. She’s my employee. I’ve seen that kind of thing go bad with some of my peers in this town. Reallybad.

But it doesn’t matter because I’m not attracted to her. Not enough to override my good sense and her smart mouth and bad attitude, anyway.

No. I have a plan. I’ll let her stay on until I find someone else, which will hopefully happen before her probationary period is over. No fuss. No muss. She’ll move on, and my life will go back to normal without all this stress and conflicting emotions.

With that thought firmly in mind, I get up and walk toward the door. As soon as it swings open, her laughter rings in my ears. My back teeth ache from clenching them all morning, but the pain doesn’t stop me from grinding them even harder.

The laughter cuts off roughly, and I step through the door to find Sophie and Scotty eyeing me warily. Forcing my jaw to relax and clearing my throat, I step toward them and say the first thing that pops into my mind.

“I need to go walk the floor. Sophie, you should come with me.”