“Not so fast, Woodroe.” Forget about birds. She was a fucking badger. “What about the post-finale jobs you had lined up? Have you heard anything about them?”
He stared with great interest at her bookshelf. “Not all of them.”
Not yet, anyway.
“Oh, Alex.” She dropped onto her sofa as if her legs had collapsed beneath her. “I’m so—”
Nooooope. “If you say ‘sorry,’ I swear to God, Wren, I’ll—”
“What?” She raised a challenging brow. “You’ll what?”
Okay, perfect lead-in. “I’ll remove the gym benefits from your employment package, and you’ll have to work out with me in my home gym.”
Her mouth opened, then closed.
“Just kidding,” Alex said. “You don’t have gym benefits, so you actually will have to work out with me at home. Assuming you want to work out, which isn’t a requirement or anything. You do you.”
That wide mouth had dropped open again, and she looked delightfully fishy.
“I wasn’t joking about the employment package, though. My lawyer is still”—amidst much complaint, given her other efforts on Alex’s behalf that night—“drawing up the contract, but it should be ready within a day or so. I’m happy to negotiate terms, as necessary.”
At first, he’d considered offering Wren work as his continued nanny-slash-companion, but he already knew what her response to that would be. She’d turn down the offer, claiming she’d already proven her inability to keep him out of trouble.
So he’d come up with a different solution. A better one.
“I don’t …” She licked her pale lips, and his own legs turned a bit weak. “I don’t understand.”
“Jeez, you’re slow.” When she merely stared up at him, he heaved an exaggerated sigh and explained, “I’d like you to be my new personal assistant. Not virtual. In-person.”
Her nose wrinkled, and it shouldn’t be so damn cute. “That makes no sense. Why not rehire your previous PA on your own dime and keep things virtual? She clearly has more experience than I do. Besides, I have several job options in my actual field of work, so my income isn’t dependent on your largesse. Hers might be.”
Dammit. He’d hoped she wouldn’t think of that.
“I’m keeping her on too.” He shifted his weight. “Otherwise, I’d feel bad.”
How he was going to produce enough work for both women, he hadn’t yet determined. He’d burn that bridge when he got to it, as was his custom.
She pointed an accusing finger at him. “You just told me you’ve lost jobs already—”
“I didn’t actually say that. You merely surmised.”
“—and I already know how generous you are to friends and charities and everyone else on the face of this planet, except maybe Ian and Ron—”
“Like you’re one to talk, Lauren Chandra Clegg, aka Ms. I’ll-Drop-My-Entire-Fucking-Vacation-the-Moment-My-Dickish-Cousin-Asks.”
“—so there’s no way you can afford two PAs long-term, and even if you could, I won’t accept make-work when I could be doing actual work instead.”
At some point during the discussion, she’d risen to her feet again. Right now, she was staring him down with her hands planted on her hips, her chin raised high.
She was so fucking stubborn, and he wanted to plant a kiss on that soft, truculent chin as much as he wanted to call her the absolute worst. But his entire plan was slipping through his fingers, goddammit. There was no time for kissing or even insults. He needed to find a winning argument, and he needed to find it now.
“But keeping me in good order is a two-person job,” he pointed out, desperate.
She held up her forefinger and middle finger. “Yes. You and your PA. Two people.”
“But—” Shit. “If you don’t come work for me, you won’t have as much of a break. You said you needed time to get over your burnout.”
At that, she actually smiled. It was small and sad and grateful and terrible.
“I’ve been able to save money these past few months, so I’ll still have time. Not as much as I originally thought, but some. Enough.” She audibly swallowed. “Thank you for thinking of that, though. Thank you for thinking of me. I appreciate it more than you know.”
A very kind and polite goodbye was on its way, he could tell. If he didn’t conjure another reason for her to stay by his side within the next five minutes, she was gone from his life for good.