Holiday for HIre(21)

“You’re right,” he said. See? To her pleasure, his tone had calmed considerably. “You’re right! You did hire me. And my mistake was thinking that I was ever anything besides an employee .”

If they weren’t in the middle of a disagreement, that might have made her chest flutter. The timing was unfortunate. Worse, she was the one left to define them outside of their working relationship when she hadn’t figured out what that was for herself .

She cleared her throat. “Of course you aren’t just an employee, Ian. We have a connection. We’re—” She searched for something safe. Something that didn’t limit or obligate. “We’re friends .” Yes. They could remain friends after this was all over. Hopefully even friends with benefits .

Apparently Ian felt differently .

“Friends? Hah!” He paced, like a caged tiger in her kitchen. “Friends don’t treat each other like idiots. Friends don’t complain about the hostess gifts the other one brings. And last I checked, sleeping with someone is not par for the course in a normal friendship .”

“This is hardly a normal friendship, Ian.” She wasn’t ready to take the benefits off the table .

“Don’t patronize me, Jane. Of course it isn’t. Because it’s never been a real friendship .”

“Of course it—” she started .

“No. It’s never been anything more than your Pygmalion fantasy. The poor little rich girl, molding the literally poor guy into her image. Do you have the slightest clue what this has felt like to me? How degrading it is, to be told that my clothes aren’t good enough, that the way I talk isn’t good enough, that I am not good enough ?”

He was roaring again, and Jane took a step back .

“I’m sure who you are is fine in your regular life. But this was a job . You knew what it was when you took the position .”

“Do you think I ever forgot for a single second that this was a job?” His voice was lower but somehow filled with even more rage. “You made it so clear that you were paying me to behave in a certain way. And I didn’t do anything wrong, Jane, I dressed like you said, and I talked like you said, and I made sure all your friends had a great time at your party. You know what? Nothing will ever be good enough for you .

“I will never be good enough for you .”

And with that, he walked through the door and out of her life .

Jane opened her mouth. Then closed it. Opened it again, then closed it for good because there was no one there to talk to anymore anyway .

She did let out a final harrumph before turning away from the door. Just so she could have the last word .

Besides, this was just fine. Absolutely fine. The finest .

Ian had saved her the trouble of going through an it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech. All they would do now was the wedding, no kissing, and now that she thought about it, she’d never asked if he could dance, but she was fairly certain even a basic box step would be beyond him .

So that was another moment of intimacy they didn’t have to have. Her little inner voice said, you didn’t need the truly intimate intimacy, either , but at that thought, the lump in her throat grew bigger .

She had to go back to the initial plan .

This whole thing had been to show up Blake, not to become entangled with the guy she’d hired to do so. This was exactly how things went bad—by deviating from the course. She should have known that. Sticking with the original arrangement ensured a tidy outcome .

Well, it wasn’t too late to get back on track .

She checked into her Facebook group, the BBB ladies. Since hiring Ian, she’d barely graced it with her presence, but now she was interested. The wedding was days away. What was the chatter on the street, so to speak ?

Fiona MacDougall: Anyone want to share a stretch Hummer ?

Ella Chang: Count me in, plus my date: he’s also a count . ;)

Courtney Fick: We already hired a horse-drawn carriage, thx tho !

Ruby Hapstall: My date is uncomfortable with people he doesn’t know, paps everywhere lol! We’re helicoptering .

Good grief. Everyone, but everyone, was going all out. The modes of arrival were far too ostentatious for Jane’s taste, but it certainly looked like everyone had managed to collect dates that would show Blake they weren’t sitting around pining after him .

This was just not fair. She hadn’t pined either, but that was not going to be apparent when she showed up with a guy who would probably use the wrong silverware and was barely speaking to her anyway .

Then something else hit her—what if he didn’t go at all ?

The thought made the lump in her throat sink like a rock to her stomach. Was it possible? Would Ian really back out on his obligation like that ?

Actually.

She hadn’t paid him his final payment .

And after that fight they’d had …

Jane carefully reviewed what was said. His parting words had had an air of finality to them that may not have had anything to do with getting the parting shot in, as she’d initially assumed .

Her eyes suddenly pricked with tears. Because she was dateless for the wedding, of course. Not for any other reason .

Was she really back where she started ?

No, actually, she was probably even farther back now, because not only was she flying solo again, but she’d also wasted hours of her time training Ian for nothing .