TROUBLE 1 by Kristina Weaver Read Free Book Online Page A

been able to get Jordan a reservation earlier than two months.
    We’re seated in a booth near the back, and I scoot to the opposite side, not trusting him and my pantie-less ass right beside him.
    “I want to see it,” he says suddenly, and it takes me a beat to realize he’s speaking about the presentation and not—
    Get a freaking grip, girl.
    “But…he’ll know I told you about it if you say anything. I don’t want to lose my job, Gregory.”
    Jordan will fire me so fast for undermining him my head will spin.
    “Don’t worry about it, Hannah, I can guarantee your boss won’t fire you because Jordan throws a tantrum.”
    “How? How can you promise that? You’re not my boss. Mr Yates is a decent guy, but I’m just a PA, and if they find out I’m dating a client, a big client, and discussing business with you, I can guarantee you, I’ll be beating the pavement.”
    The waiter arrives with our drinks, a white wine this time, and we order before he answers me.
    “Yates has been looking for a reason to get rid of Jordan,” he admits. “That man plays golf three times a week and uses company funds to finance his pursuits. That would be fine if he’d actually had a good pitch, in the last year but he hasn’t. He’s lazy and incompetent, and Yates isn’t blind to the fact that you’ve been carrying him for months.”
    I’m shocked and appalled at my lack of guilt over this. Sure, Jordan isn’t my idea of a dream boss, but he’s…I’ve got nothing to defend his lack of effort in the last months, but I don’t exactly relish the thought of him losing his job.
    “You’re soft-hearted,” he says with a smile. “I can see you don’t like the thought of him getting fired, but you need to understand, it would have happened eventually. The agency is going to be restructured, and anybody who can’t or won’t do their job won’t have one for long.”
    I think about what he’s saying and consider the odds of me keeping my job once Jordan gets the boot. It’s not as if I can be PA to an empty office.
    When our food arrives I have to force myself to let it all go and just enjoy the feast. I’ll probably never get into Starlight again, so I might as well make the most of it.
    “I didn’t meant to upset you, Hannah,” he says after a while.
    “You didn’t,” I say, sighing around a mouthful of meltingly tender duck. “I just don’t want to get fired is all.”
    “You won’t. Get that presentation to Yates’ office first thing tomorrow, and it will be fine.”
    “But Jordan isn’t in tomorrow. He left for a long weekend in the Hamptons.”
    He smiles, and I get a sense of what he would be like in the boardroom. Ruthless. Relentless.
    “All the better. Now eat up, darlin’, and stop worrying about your job. I can damn guarantee you’ll still have it come Monday morning.”
    I obey and savor the meal, allowing myself a slice of chocolate cake when the dessert cart rolls around.
    At this point gaining an extra pound or two is the least of my worries. How the heck am I going to look Jordan in the eye knowing full well he’s about to get the axe?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Surprisingly, Gregory had dropped me at my apartment without once making a move for more. Maybe he’d seen that I was in no mood for hanky panky by the time dinner was done.
    Now, as I make my way up to Yates’ office on wobbly legs, I feel this morning’s coffee make a swirling re-appearance in my stomach. This is so wrong, going behind Jordan’s back, but as Gregory said last night, Jordan has gotten himself here under his own steam.
    I’m just following orders, trying to keep my job.
    “Hey, Han. What can I do for you?” Taz asks when I reach her office.
    As PA to the big boss, she is the matriarch, the queen bee, and an all-round dragon when it comes to running this place. I beat her only in the fact that I am OCD about getting things done before they actually need