“You can go ahead and come on in,” she said, holding the door open just a little bit as she spoke.
Jesse felt a lurch in her stomach as she stood. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she strode toward the door.
“Thank you.” She nodded at the receptionist, who stood holding the door open for her.
“Good luck,” the other young woman whispered back as she allowed Jesse to step into the room. Jesse couldn’t help feeling reassured.
The door closed behind Jesse, and she advanced further into the room and looked around for whoever it was that she was supposed to be having this interview with. Finally, she spotted the silhouette of a woman against the window.
Jesse watched the figure nervously, not quite sure what she should do.
“Oh, come now,” the figure spoke, and Jesse felt herself stiffen involuntarily as she recognized the voice. “Don’t you think we’ve moved past all these formal rituals?”
The figure turned around, and Jesse felt her stomach sink as she recognized the sharp features of her former boss. Now, they were made even more fierce by the cruel smile that was stretched across her lips.
Jesse not only felt bewildered but suddenly very tired and defeated. More than that, she felt as though she’d been had. She should have somehow known that Elaine was behind all this, though how she could have possibly known that still escaped her.
Nevertheless, Elaine stared her down pompously from across the room, and Jesse knew that it was her turn to make a move. She wished she had not been taken off guard, so she would have been prepared for this, rather than the interview she had planned for.
Mostly, Jesse was confused at why Elaine was here and not at The Edge.
“What are you doing here?” Jesse finally spoke. She was a little annoyed that the first words out of her mouth in this situation were so mundane, but she felt that she needed to know just how she had fallen into this trap and why Elaine was there.
“Oh.” Elaine laughed and strode toward the desk, where she sat down in the chair behind it. “I thought you might have caught on by now, but this is one of the little … subsidiary projects of mine. It’s definitely not as mainstream as The Edge, but it caters to a different audience and ultimately makes me money. Granted, I don’t spend very much time here because I oversee a highly competent staff.”
Jesse listened to the woman speak and felt herself descend into a little bit of misery. She should have researched the blog better, and it would have been easy to see that Elaine was the forerunner of the company. Even so, she had not, and now she was in one of the most awkward and miserable situations of her life.
“Naturally,” Elaine continued, “I oversee who is hired and fired here. I can’t have just anyone putting material out there for me. Every position here, from columnist to receptionist, is first approved by me.”
Jesse shifted on her feet, and she came to the bitter realization that this had all been a ruse and some kind of mind game that Elaine obviously enjoyed, but she did not.
“Imagine my surprise,” Elain purred out, “when I saw your name on the list of applicants. At first, I didn’t believe it. But after I looked through your resume and your portfolio, I recognized your work immediately. Usually, I don’t involve myself in this part of the process. Interviews, as I’ve told you before, really tend to bore me.”
Jesse nearly rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“Well, I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” Jesse said, trying to be as polite as possible. “I’ll see myself out.”
“Nonsense!” Elaine protested, smiling devilishly up at Jesse. “Come have a seat. There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.”
Jesse stiffened and narrowed her eyes as she glared across the room at Elaine. A part of her wanted to simply spit in the woman’s face and be done with it. Another part of her, still taken a little aback by the strangeness of her situation, was curious as to why Elaine had bothered to come meet with her. Especially after the way they had parted.
After a moment of consideration, Jesse slowly crossed the room and sat down in one of the large chairs opposite the desk. Jesse couldn’t help feeling a little anxiety. She felt like she had been in this place more times than she was comfortable with and shifted a little in her chair. She was sure Elaine was enjoying every bit of her discomfort, as her catlike smile seemed to widen.
“Now,” Elaine clapped her hands together, and Jesse nearly flinched at the sound. “I know that the last time we spoke it wasn’t under the best circumstances.”
Jesse nearly scoffed. That was the understatement of the year.
“And I don’t do this often,” Elaine said, holding up a finger. “But I have to admit that everything you said to me, while bold, was correct.”
Jesse blinked, taken aback by Elaine’s confession.
“You are a fine young journalist,” Elaine said. “I’ve always recognized that. But you know how it is as a superior when your subordinates try to put you in a compromising position. Really, most of what happened between us was just so I could assert myself. I tried to call your bluff but you actually had the guts to go through with it. Honestly, it caught me off guard. And I applaud you. It’s much like something I would have done in your position.”
Jesse offered Elaine a stiff nod, wondering where on earth Elaine was going with any of this. She was certain that the older woman had not brought her in to reminisce about the conflict between them. However, she was not at all interested in leading the conversation between them, so she simply waited in the hopes that Elaine would eventually circle back around to some sort of point.
“I would be happy to extend a job offer to you,” Elaine said, and Jesse felt a rush of surprise. “Back at The Edge. A promotion, if you will. I would give you a raise, and a lot more freedom with your hours, as well as the topics you choose to write on, and you could even work from home. I know you weren’t interested in writing comedic strips for the rest of your life. Now I’m giving you a window to get out of that.”
Jesse was taken aback by the offer, and while the idea sounded good at first, Jesse knew Elaine, and she knew that none of this was as cut and dry as Elaine was making it sound. Still, it was too good an offer to just refuse without at least inquiring into what would be required of her to attain it.
“It sounds like a great offer,” Jesse admitted drily. “So what’s the catch?”
Elaine bared her white teeth in a predatory smile, and Jesse’s stomach clenched a little in anxiety.
“Always so smart.” Elaine chuckled softly. “There is only one condition you must meet if you want to accept the position. A non-negotiable condition.”
“And what might that be?” Jesse asked, more out of courtesy than actual curiosity.
Elaine turned to face Jesse, her usually relaxed and cocky expression transformed into one of absolute seriousness. It only served to make Jesse even more suspicious than she already was.
“All that I want from you,” Elaine said, “is the Hal Roberts article that I assigned to you in the first place.”
Jesse felt her blood begin to boil, and she stood up from her chair, intent on leaving this entire situation behind.
Chapter 81
Jesse
“Wait, stop!” Elaine called out as Jesse reached the door. Finally, too angry to maintain her composure, Jesse whirled back around to look at the older woman.
“I already wrote you an article on Roberts,” Jesse said through clenched teeth. “And I will not write another one. Ever.”
“You and I both know that you threw that article,” Elaine hissed at her, and Jesse was embarrassed to be a little frightened by the tone of her voice. “Look me in the eye and tell me right now that the article you gave me was the article that was supposed to get your name out there and start your real career as a journalist.”
Jesse clenched her teeth and shifted uncomfortably where she stood. She could say a lot of things about the article she had written, but Elaine was right. It had
been a toss out.
“That’s what I thought,” Elaine said, her voice softer. “Now please, sit down and listen to what I have to say.”
Reluctantly, Jesse did sit.
“Now, I can understand why you did it,” Elaine said, nodding in understanding. “I know how easy it is to get swept up in the charm of an alpha male and forget what you were even doing in the same room with him in the first place.”
Jesse stiffened, and she felt her stomach drop.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jesse denied. “Every encounter we had was for interview purposes.”
“Really?” Elaine raised her eyebrow. “A restaurant and a coffee shop are hardly the proper places for an interview, wouldn’t you agree?”
Jesse blushed a little, embarrassed that Elaine had brought up her brief appearance in a photograph with Hal.
“Besides,” Elaine waved off the previous comment. “If you were interviewing him, why did your article consist of facts and figure that anyone could have found in an unedited Wikipedia article?”
Jesse was a little stung by the comment, and it must have shown on her face.
“You and I both know that you probably had more than enough material to write the article that I wanted,” Elaine said ominously. “And now, I can guarantee you have even more.”
Elaine bent down behind her desk to withdraw a file, which she then slid across the desk to Jesse. Jesse looked up at Elaine before slowly opening the file.
Jesse’s stomach dropped at what she saw. The file was full of pictures of her and Hal at his cabin. Jesse blushed as she realized that they had caught them outside in the pool, from the first night they had been there. They seemed to have pictures of just about everything that had transpired out of doors and even a few shots through windows.
Jesse closed the file and looked up at Elaine, who was once again smiling over her, looking for all the world like a wolf descending on a flock of sheep. Or rather, one sheep in particular.
“How did you know?” Jesse asked, her voice blank.
“A little … birdie let me in on your little vacation,” Elaine smiled, and with her finger, she mimicked the action of a helicopter propeller.
Phillip.
Jesse felt sick.
“People will tell you just about anything you want to know if you have a little bit of change to offer them,” Elaine said smoothly. Jesse clenched her teeth and said nothing, merely waiting for Elaine to continue.
“Now you see,” Elaine spoke again, her tone as imperious as ever. “I have all the leverage here, but you still have what I want. I can see that you’re torn, and I can hardly blame you. But if I were you, I would maybe take a step back and ask myself: is this really the type of man I want to be in a relationship with?”
Jesse narrowed her eyes and looked up at Elaine, who smiled wider.
“Aren’t you curious as to why I wanted the article in the first place?” Elaine raised a brow. “I mean sure, he’s rich and famous, but there are so many others like him. No. Ever since his movie came out, I suspected that there was something else going on with him. Maybe something in his past or just some kind of mental illness. And I think that surely, you’ve realized that too. And at this point, you’re in the perfect position to find out all the things I want to know. All the things the world wants to know.”
Jesse’s eyes widened a little, and she felt sick. She was taken back to the night in the cabin when Hal had snapped. She was also very well aware of how similar what she was doing now was to what he had initially accused her of. She was filled with immense guilt just by being in the same room with Elaine.
More than her guilt, though, she felt an eerie sense of truth in the words Elaine had said. She already knew that Hal had experienced severe loss and strife in his past, and it was surely enough to leave anyone with scars. When she thought back on the night he had raged at her, she remembered the crazed, vacant look in his eyes.
It had almost been like it wasn’t him.
Jesse felt sickness in her stomach that was not completely related to the disgust she felt at Elaine’s proposition.
“Oh, and of course,” Elaine went on, pulling Jesse from the recesses of her thoughts, “if you won’t come back to work for me, I’ll have little choice but to post these photographs in the next volume of The Edge and leak them to every other major magazine in the city as well. But of course, in the end, the choice is yours. However, I think the pros far outweigh the cons in this situation, don’t you?”
A long silence filled the space between them, and Jesse’s thoughts were actively racing through her mind. Elaine was simply waiting on her response, and as of yet, Jesse didn’t know what on earth she was going to say.
Jesse glared across the desk at Elaine, a feeling of pure rage and hatred bubbling beneath the surface. The older woman sat with her fingers set in a steeple in front of her face, smiling as though she had already won this battle. The woman was right. She had a full house, and Jesse knew very well that she was not bluffing.
Jesse had seen the pictures herself, and she knew that Elaine had the means to offer her a better position at The Edge. She knew that Elaine had all the means to ruin the rest of her career, and while a part of Jesse was deeply disappointed by the knowledge that she seemed so completely trapped, she was at the same time empowered with the knowledge of what she was about to do.
Jesse knew that there was not enough money that could be offered to her or enough scandalous pictures to expose her in the world to make her turn her back on Hal.
Jesse also knew, now, that all of Elaine’s chips were on the table, set out as bait just to trap Jesse.
And Jesse was not about to take the bait.
Jesse allowed a smile to cross over her face, and she delighted in the bewildered look on Elaine’s face as she uttered a single syllable.
“No.”
Elaine blinked at her, her mouth dropping open.
“Excuse me?” the woman pressed, narrowing her eyes at Jesse.
“I said no,” Jesse said, reaching to collect her bag.
“You can’t be serious,” Elaine said shortly, obviously in denial. “If you don’t do it, I’ll just find someone else who will.”
“Find them, then,” Jesse said with a shrug as she arranged her bag to sit more comfortably on her shoulder.
Elaine seemed to gape for a moment before she hastily picked up the file from her desk.
“The photos!” Elaine interjected a little desperately. “I will have them released. Every single one of them. Do you really think any respectable magazine or paper would really hire someone who behaved so scandalously with an A-list celebrity?”
“Release them,” Jesse said simply. “I won’t even blink. I’m not ashamed of what I’ve done. And if going without work at some paper or magazines means that I don’t have to worry about working for someone like you, then I couldn’t be happier.”
Elaine’s expression grew dark.
“This was me giving you a second chance,” Elaine fairly growled at her. “And believe me, if you turn me down now, there will never be another shot for you. Not just with me, but across this entire industry.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Jesse conceded. “But it will all be worth it, just because I get to leave here with the knowledge that I was the one who put that desperate look on your face.”
Elaine bared her teeth at Jesse’s words, and Jesse could see veins in her neck beginning to protrude.
With that, Jesse gave Elaine one last smile before turning her back on her and heading straight out of the office, not even hearing whatever Elaine spat at her as she opened the door and left the office.
Chapter 82
Jesse
Jesse made her way down the elevator and then out of the building. Once she was outside, she released a breath that she hadn’t fully realized she had been holding. A swarm of emotions descended upon her, and she had to lean back against the building for support so she did not fall over.
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There was no way she could have prepared herself for what ended up happening in that office. She had been so sure that she would never see Elaine again in her life, much less be intimidated and manipulated by her.
Jesse felt a little sick at the knowledge that Hal had almost been justified in his accusations. If she had taken Elaine’s offer, she could have easily drawn from all the time that she and Hal had spent together. She could have taken information from all the times they had lingered in bed, talking, deep into the early morning hours before falling asleep in one another’s arms.
It made Jesse numb to think of just how easily she could betray him, even now. Jesse was certain that if she went right back upstairs, she could go back into that office, apologize, and Elaine would offer her everything she had at her disposal if she could have even one snippet of the information that Jesse knew.
Jesse suddenly remembered that Hal had already been betrayed by someone close to him, as she remembered Elaine’s revelation that Phillip had given her a lead on their location. Jesse knew how much it was going to pain him to find out that someone in his inner circle had gone behind his back for something as arbitrary as money.
Jesse was able to settle her emotions enough to straighten up from where she was leaning against the wall and start slowly walking down the sidewalk, thoughts still swirling wildly around in her mind.
More than anything just then, Jesse wanted to be with Hal. She knew that she needed to tell him about Elaine, and about Phillip and about the photographs. He deserved to know the truth, and she wanted to be completely transparent with him, lest he once more become overtaken by his fears about her deceptions.
More than that, though, she needed the intimacy and connection that he offered her. She needed to feel his hands against her skin and feel the connection between their souls.
Jesse pulled out her phone and read the time. It was only a little past nine-thirty. She had told Hal she would call him, and that they could have lunch, but she suddenly found she couldn’t wait any longer.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 69