Jaded Read online

  He stretched, purring like a cat, and wrapped her up in his arms.

  “And Angela didn’t care all that much ‘cause she reps us both. She’s getting paid either way. But I’m about ready to drop her.”

  “Because?”

  “Number one, she didn’t send me on that audition and number two, she’s proven to me what a shady slimeball she is.”

  Jade was buzzed, but not so much that she couldn’t recognize the manipulations of a real shyster. And it wasn’t Angela she was thinking about.

  “The lesson to be learned here,” he continued in between slathering wet kisses on her neck. “Is that sometimes the best time to make your move is when the other guy isn’t looking and isn’t suspecting. Not my fault he was so trusting.”

  A soft knock on the door brought Jade into the present and set her plan back into motion.

  Helen Gurney, Rodney’s long-time friend who happened to have office space available so that Jade could conduct the interviews, poked her head into the office.

  “Everything going okay?”

  “Could be better, but we’ll see. Have one more to go.” Jade adjusted her short-sleeved cashmere sweater and checked her watch for the third time in under a minute.

  “I would’ve been happy to conduct this first round of interviews for you. Save you some trouble.”

  “I know but I thought it’d be easier if I just knocked it out myself.” Jade had little intention of divulging any unnecessary information.

  Helen shook her head, her silver bob swinging in perfect unison. “Can’t believe Kim just up and quit on you like that.”

  Jade shrugged. “It happens.”

  “Business is brisk?”

  “I’m in the planning stages of starting my own cosmetics line. So between that, work, charities, and also being available for Rodney’s political duties, everything gets pretty crazy for me to handle alone.”

  Helen turned her head for a second. “I think I just saw your next interview come in. I must say, they are a beautiful bunch.”

  Jade smiled and slid a manila folder over the résumé with a picture stapled on back. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”

  “I’ll let you get back to your work.”

  Jade opened a small bottle of Perrier from the silver platter service at the center of the table and filled her water glass. The glimmer from her three-carat engagement ring bounced off the silver and erupted into a brilliant rainbow.

  “God,” she lamented. “And His jokes.”

  “Ms. McCann?” A voice called from the telephone mic. “Your next appointment is here.”

  “Send her in.”

  Seconds later, the receptionist ushered in a young woman Jade suspected was roughly twenty-five, thirty tops.

  “Oh my gosh!”

  Jade lowered her extended hand.

  “Yes?”

  “I recognize you,” the woman said.

  Jade slid the manila folder aside and looked at the résumé again.

  Syeesha Green.

  “This is nuts! Ray didn’t tell me I would be interviewing with a celebrity.”

  A smile crept onto Jade’s face before she could stop it. “I’m not exactly a celebrity. My husband is. I’m a worker bee. Just like you.”

  Nice smile, Jade thought.

  Teeth so white they looked bleached. Eyes a brilliant hazel. The picture was a poor representation of the woman who stood before her. It was good enough for her to make the cut and land her the interview, but it did little to capture her approachable beauty.

  “Have a seat,” Jade said.

  The applicant had a good body. Even though she was wearing an inexpensive pinstriped suit, Jade could make out full breasts. Not large, but certainly more than a mouthful. Rodney would appreciate that. She was above average height, dwarfing Jade.

  “During your husband’s race,” Syeesha said, “I remember thinking how beautiful you looked all the time. Never a hair out of place. Makeup superb. Style. Grace. Perfection.”

  “Stop, please.” Jade raised a hand. Of all the women she’d interviewed, Syeesha was the only one who had recognized her. Most people didn’t notice the wife of a representative. Still, she didn’t want this woman thinking that flattery would get her the job. Yet, inexplicably, Jade’s hands quivered like a schoolgirl on a first date.

  “I’m sure you’re anxious to find out about the position, but before I begin, I’d like to know more about you.”

  Like an actor who’d just heard “Action!” Syeesha slipped back into a professional demeanor as she summarized her educational and professional background.

  Meanwhile, Jade took the opportunity to absorb the woman’s features. Syeesha had heart-shaped pink lips and a delightfully small, pointed nose. Her eyes kept solid contact with Jade’s own. A small mole beside her right eye rose and fell as she spoke. While Jade spent hundreds of dollars a year on creams and facials to maintain a youthful appearance, Syeesha’s luminescent skin had the enviable glow of unadulterated youth. Jade noted that Syeesha wore light makeup, but it wasn’t to cover flaws. Jade’s discerning eye would’ve detected signs of blemishes or marks. No, Syeesha didn’t wear makeup out of necessity but simply to present a polished, professional appearance. Jade bristled at the idea that she would probably be more stunning without it. Unlike the other gorgeous specimen she’d interviewed earlier, Syeesha appeared completely unaware of her attractiveness. Her expressive face carried on, unrestrained, while she spoke. Pretentiousness eluded her.

  She wore her unprocessed hair in a ponytail, slicked back and neatly bunched at the nape of her neck. Deep waves were enhanced by a touch of gel, nothing more. If Jade was looking for someone who was different from herself but still capable of intriguing Rodney, then she believed she may have found that person in Syeesha Green. Jade realized her crossed legs were bouncing beneath the table. She touched her knee lightly to quell her excitement.

  “So you want to be a lawyer?”

  Syeesha hesitated. “For now, that appears to be the track I’m headed on.”

  “You seem unsure.”

  “I graduate next year.” She shrugged. “But you never know. I may need to do a little more thinking before I take the plunge.”

  Jade scribbled on the résumé. Future undecided. College debt.

  “I suppose you’d like to know more about the job and what type of person would best fill this role?”

  She nodded and leaned forward. “Everything’s been very cloak-and-dagger with Ray. No mention of the employer’s name or anything about the actual job.”

  “Good. I’m glad I found a recruiter who knows how to be discreet. The job is to work as my personal assistant. As you know, my husband is a very busy person. So am I. I have charities in addition to working as a makeup artist.”

  “That’s right. I couldn’t remember your profession.” Syeesha appraised her face. “Blush looks good on you.”

  Jade furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry?”

  “It’s just that my sister has a thing about—“ Syeesha waved her words away. “Never mind.”

  “Basically, I have a lot going on and I need help. I need someone very flexible.” Jade paused, chuckled to herself.

  “Did I miss something?” Syeesha asked.

  “I just thought of an old joke. Forget about it.” Jade leaned forward, interlaced her fingers. “I need someone open-minded. Your duties may change from day to day. I may need you to stay in my home office all day, maybe for a week or so, just organizing my life. Next I might need you to be on assignments with me. Sometimes I might need to share you with my husband.”

  “Oh, I’d love that.”

  Both of Jade’s eyebrows rose.

  “I mean, I’d love to meet him. Rodney McCann. Representative McCann.”

  “The position might require that you—or I should say the selected candidate—work odd hours. Will that be okay with your significant other?”

  “No significant other. Unfortunately.”

&nbs
p; “Kids?”

  Syeesha began to speak, but then hesitated.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  Syeesha hesitated again, and then said, “With all due respect, Ms. McCann, this line of questioning isn’t really appropriate for a job interview.”

  “Oh, I had no idea. I’m new at this sort of thing, so I apologize. But I still need to know if odd hours would be a problem for you. I hope that’s an okay question to ask. Legally, I mean.”

  “I’m still in school. I go a few nights a week so I’ll need to leave early enough to get to class.”

  Jade made more scribbles, although she knew she’d never refer to them again. She put the pen down and clasped her hands on the table.

  “I must say that I think you’d be a fine assistant. My intent was to interview several more people and then conduct second interviews, but I think I’ve made my choice.”

  Syeesha smiled. “We haven’t discussed pay.”

  Jade leaned back in her chair. “Of course. The position pays between thirty and thirty-five. How much are you making now?”

  “I’m sorry but Ray said . . .” Syeesha paused. Jade followed her eyes to the glint from her ring bouncing off the silver service tray and casting another rainbow.

  She’s uncomfortable talking about money. Especially with someone who appears to have so much of it. She’ll just assume when Ray said fifty a year that he was mistaken.

  “I’m willing to go high,” Jade said. “Thirty-five annually?”

  Syeesha locked her eyes back on Jade’s. “Ray said the job pays between seventy and seventy-five.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “I could’ve sworn.” Syeesha frowned. “Pretty sure I don’t remember hearing thirty to thirty-five.”

  Jade swallowed hard. “Forty.”

  “I’m no good at this whole negotiating thing,” Syeesha said, “but I just think with all the flexibility that I’ll need to have, working for possibly two people instead of one, and all the . . . assets I bring—you know, education level, professional experience. I think sixty-five is appropriate.”

  Jade sucked in a deep, measured breath. If she hadn’t already sifted through three dozen résumés and endured interviews with completely inept candidates, she would’ve called Syeesha’s bluff and told her to hightail it back to East Flatbush.

  But the girl was as close to perfect as she’d ever find.

  “Sixty,” Jade snapped. “And I won’t discuss it further.”

  ***

  Chapter 13

  Syeesha zipped into her apartment long enough to change into some casual clothes, then she went out again. That way there would be little chance for her euphoria to be blasted to bits by another encounter with Kiki.

  She was on a train leaving Brooklyn, halfway back into the Manhattan, when she realized she didn’t have a plan. She wanted to tell someone about the interview and the amazing opportunity to work for a rich power couple but who was there to tell?

  Trina?

  Eventually, yes. But Syeesha had to work up so much patience to tolerate her self-absorbed sister that she felt depleted just thinking about it.

  She hopped off the train at Grand Central and walked toward Bryant Park with no particular destination in mind. It was late afternoon. The lunch set that usually converged into the park wearing business attire and carrying twelve-dollar lunches were drifting away, haphazardly abandoning wobbly chairs and round metal tables painted a deep forest green.

  The jacket she wore was too thick for the mild April weather. She peeled it off, glad that she’d had the good sense to pull on a T-shirt and sweater before escaping the apartment. A slip of paper flew from the pocket of her jacket and landed on a bed of pebbles.

  Probably an old receipt.

  She picked it up to toss it into a trash bin, but glanced at it just before dropping it inside.

  Christian Chambers, CPA

  SJC and Associates

  Syeesha hadn’t spoken to him since they’d bumped into each other at the café. But she’d thought about him and his invitation to dinner. Why hadn’t she taken him up on the offer? She’d thought about the way his eyes had lingered on her as he’d backed away from the table. And his boldness on the platform that first night he’d walked her to the subway. Never would she have thought she could be so affected by him. Christian was just the smart kid in class. But in her overactive imagination he was turning out to be more than that. And the way he’d looked at her revealed that his mind wasn’t traveling solely down the educational track. That man had interests in mind outside of his scholarly pursuits.

  I should call him.

  Syeesha ran her fingers over the embossed lettering.

  I could call him.

  She thought about how moist her palms became at his nearness.

  I can’t call him.

  He was two years her junior. And although it didn’t seem like much, his maturity level was probably more along the lines of a twenty-one-year-old.

  But he really seems to have his head on straight. And that smile . . .

  Nope, she decided. She needed to focus on her legal career, her writing, and her new job. Syeesha released the business card over the trash, but a light breeze swung it into the air as if it were a feather. It glided onto the manicured lawn.

  I guess fate’s done its part.

  Syeesha placed the card on the table, studied it, then punched the number into her cell before she lost the nerve.

  “Christian Chambers, please.”

  When he finally announced himself on the line she almost didn’t recognize his voice. It had taken on a deeper tone than she’d remembered.

  “Hello?” he repeated.

  “Hey, it’s Syeesha. Green. From school.”

  “It took you long enough to call.”

  When was the last time someone sounded this delighted to hear my voice?

  “I was just walking around Bryant Park and thought I’d give you a ring.”

  “You’re not far from my office. I’m over on Park and Fortieth. I was just about to leave for the day.”

  “Total slacker. Just like in class.”

  “First you accuse me of being a teacher’s pet and now you’re accusing me of being a slacker. Make up your mind, woman.”

  “Why are you leaving work so early? Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “It’s spring break and tax season just ended.” He sounded so calm. Syeesha imagined him leaning back in a leather chair, resting his highly polished loafers on the table. “Thought I’d go home and relax. But since you’re nearby and clearly interested in seducing me this afternoon on the library’s back lawn—and I confess that intrigues me on so many different levels—I figured I’m okay with changing my plans.”

  “I am so not trying to seduce you!” Her face became warm and her stomach trembled in a girlish delight she hadn’t felt in years. She laughed in such a way that made her wonder where that particular laugh had come from.

  “Where can we meet so I can decide for myself?”

  ***

  Chapter 14

  The next ninety minutes passed quickly. After a cup of espresso for him, apple cider for her, and a slice of marble pound cake that they shared on individual plates, Syeesha’s cheeks hurt from laughing. Christian’s retelling of how he was booted from the army for having flat feet had her in stitches.

  “So naturally when I got back home I told everyone that the doctors had detected a tumor in my leg.”

  “You didn’t.”

  He shrugged. “Look, I’m a guy. I couldn’t have the other dudes in the ‘hood laughing at me getting kicked out after a month because my feet couldn’t cut it. And there were still a couple of girls I was hoping to impress. Telling them that I got Donald Duck feet was not gonna work. But I’m older now. Nothing bothers me.”

  “Nothing bothers you?”

  “Eh. Pretty much.”

  He was so different from the older men she was usually attracted to, stubborn and
controlling. Christian’s youth radiated from his skin like a magnetic field, yet his easygoing, boyish looks were deceptive. He had an old soul. His thinking was centered and clear. If Professor Asher was heat; then Christian was coolness.

  Unlike her idea of an accountant, he didn’t wear a suit. Instead, he was dressed in a cashmere V-neck sweater over a striped shirt. A small, pea-sized stain dotted his baby-blue tie. The knot was loose around his neck and the first button of his shirt was unhooked.

  “I have to thank you for coming over here and keeping me company. I had a job interview today and I couldn’t bear to go home and deal with my roommate.”

  “Good luck with the job. How’d it go?”

  “I got it.” She appreciated his smile that seemed to say, That’s my girl. “Be a few days before I start though. Background check and all.”

  “If their background check reveals all the arrests and restraining orders for stalking that mine showed on you, then you can just forget about it.”

  She laughed.

  “I’m really excited. I’ll be working as an assistant to a fairly high-profile woman. She’s married to Representative McCann.”

  “Don’t know him.”

  “The guy who starred in The Devil’s Delight? You remember that movie!”

  “Oh God.” Recognition dawned in his eyes. “Is he the one who played the devil and had to wear that stupid red costume with the pointed ears and tail? He reminded me of the lion in Wizard of Oz. That was horrible.”

  “Stop it—you’re killing me. I never said his acting was any good. But it’ll be nice to brush up against celebrity.”

  He took a bite of cake and chewed it thoughtfully. “Celebrity, huh? You’re gonna be able to balance your glamorous new job with school?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve balanced work and school before.”

  He watched her for a moment before looking out the window. The spring weather was temperamental. Some of the motley passersby wore thick jackets and fur-lined boots while others paired shorts with sandals.

  What had he been thinking, Syeesha wondered, during that brief gaze?