Page 8 of Last First Kiss
“IT jobs, what else am I going to apply for?”
“You’re a badass soldier. Why would you sit behind a desk all day?”
Annie blew out a breath and sat next to her best friend, laying her head on his shoulder feeling defeated. Maybe she had overreacted. Maybe she could’ve handled things differently. She couldn’t help but wonder if the entire operation was going to shit in the few days she’d been gone. “Because I don’t have an actual degree in badass but instead just a mere Master’s in Information Technology, which means I’ll be sitting behind a desk all day.”
“Honey, you need to go talk to your brother. You need your job back.”
She sat up straight and shook her head. No way. He’d been an asshole and she was in no way going to go and beg. Even if she loved working at ICS and the thought of sitting behind a desk for forty hours a week made her want to hide under her bed and cry. It was ironic, since at ICS she was essentially at a desk job, but she had her finger on the pulse at all times. One day she’d be sitting in the situation room helping command forces overseas and the next she could be planning a strategic way of wiring money for a scorned wife without her husband being the wiser. At ICS, things were never dull, that was for sure. But still, she had pride and the way Joey was treating her wasn’t cool. Of all her brothers, he’d always been the most overprotective, but he’d gone overboard this time.
“Fuck him. I’m not begging. Let the office fall apart. Give him a few more days, then he’ll beg me.”
“And you’ll take the job back, after he begs?”
“Hell, no. But it’ll be nice to see him sweat. Besides, I flipped Rocco Monroe on his ass. I may have injured him. I really doubt anyone’s going to be begging me back. I may get sued, Xan,” she said, anxiously. Even though she was trying to act as if it wasn’t a big deal, it was a huge deal and it was making her very nervous. She’d acted on impulse, on anger, on pent-up frustration, and the poor prospective client had taken the brunt of her anger. He didn’t deserve it, even if he had been too cocky for his own good.
The quietness, the lack of information for the last three days, was disconcerting. A man like Rocco, with an ego bigger than his head, wasn’t going to let it go. A woman kicking his ass? Never.
“What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that . . . I don’t know what I was thinking. Clearly I wasn’t,” she admitted. She’d acted impulsively. He’d called her “honey,” he’d checked her out, but he’d never acknowledged her as a valuable member of ICS. Or was that Joey? Who was she really pissed at?
Xander flicked her ear.
“Ow!”
“You’re a hardheaded bitch, you know that?”
She rubbed her ear and pointed to the door. “Ha! The only bitch in this room is you, Xan. Get out, I have to pick up this mess and go shopping.”
“Love you, honey.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as he walked out of the room. Funny how Xander had always called her honey and it never bothered her, but Monroe said it and she immediately wanted to kick his ass. “Love you too, Xan.”
Her phone rang as she was on her hands and knees picking up her room. Even mad, she’d never avoided her brother’s phone calls. What if there was an emergency? As the youngest of the siblings, everything she ever did was to impress them. To fit in. To feel like an equal. Joey had really let her down by doubting her skills.
“What?” she answered, instead of hello.
“So you’re still being a bitch, I see.” Second bitch of the day and it wasn’t even noon.
“And you’re still being a twat waffle, I see.”
He chuckled. “Do you stay up at night thinking of these insults?”
She snarled into the phone. “What do you want, Joey?”
“Monroe hired ICS. Well, the studio did, but at Monroe’s request.”
“Great. Congratulations.” Why was he calling? Was he trying to rub it in her face?
“There’s one condition, though.” When she didn’t say anything, mostly because she was losing her patience, he continued. “You have to be his bodyguard.”
Annie stopped fumbling around on the floor of her room and sat down, her back against the bed, her ass on the floor. “What?” she asked, baffled and breathless.
“Yep. You got your own case, kid. Happy?” Was he being snarky? He didn’t exactly seem happy about it and she certainly wasn’t happy after everything that went down.
No, I must’ve heard wrong. “I guess you didn’t understand what ‘I quit’ meant.”
“Actually you didn’t really quit. I fired you.”
