Chapter 17

Jay

It had been two weeks since Kasey joined Passions Publishing, and everything was going better than Jay ever expected. She’d found her place within the company and was well on her way to becoming a great leader among the other agents, teaching them the importance of relationship building in addition to strategizing.

“Trisha’s reading was quite impressive today,” Mitchell acknowledged, as he sat back in his usual loveseat as they recapped the week.

In an afternoon meeting, Kasey had arranged for Trisha to read the first two chapters of her next novel, claiming you had to hear the words from her mouth to get the full message.

It wasn’t a normal practice, but afterwards they were all impressed by the impact, deciding Trisha needed to do her own voiceovers for the audio edition. It shocked Jay and Mitchell that Trisha had never released an audio rendition of her work, but it was just a disadvantage to working with the smaller firm before Kasey joined Passions.

“The girl is truly an artist. I didn’t understand what Kasey meant, but I’m glad I listened to her read,” Jay shrugged, conceding how much he didn’t know when it came to her close bond with her clients.

“Seems like you’ve learned to give Kasey the space she needs, Jay. I’m glad to see you two aren’t butting heads the way you did that first week,” Mitchell said.

Jay had to turn towards the window to hide his expression, aware of how easily his business partner and close friend could read his reactions. Mitchell had no idea about Jay and Kasey’s physical relationship, so he could never understand how they had worked through their issues before arriving at a solution.

“She just had to settle in and see how we do things,” he finally said, smirking to himself at the memory of her settling in on his couch.

“You’ve been much calmer too. I think she’s taken a load off you. Whether you care to admit it or not, you were beginning to stress about our lack of innovation, but she solves that,” Mitchell said, always the analytical one.

“Maybe you’re right,” Jay nodded. “So, what do you have planned for the weekend?” he asked, shifting the subject.

“You know me—soccer tournaments and family events. Nothing too exciting. What about you?” Mitchell asked.

A knock on the door interrupted his response, as Kasey popped her head in. She wore her hair up in a ponytail, which Jay had learned was her regular style when she was hard at work.

“You’ve been reading all day, huh?” he smirked, growing more impressed with her by the day.

“How can you tell that?” she quizzed.

“The ponytail,” he nodded his head in her direction.

Her hand ran up the nape of her neck before her finger twirled the long brown hair nervously as she giggled. “Yeah, I read a sci-fi romance thriller today. I know it sounds like a weird mix, but I’m completely captured. I’ll share it with you tomorrow,” she smiled enthusiastically.

“Sounds good,” Mitchell chimed in.

“I was just going to head out for the evening and wanted to see if you needed anything before I left for the weekend.”

Mitchell and Jay looked between each other, silently asking if the other had any pressing business for her.

“No, enjoy your weekend, Kasey.” Jay answered for the two of them.

“Thanks!” She smiled before turning away, and soon Jay could hear her chatting with Jessica before her voice faded away completely. A lingering desire in his body wanted more of her, but ever since their rendezvous in his office, everything had been strictly professional between the two and he refused to see that as a problem.

“I think she likes it here,” Mitchell said, after Kasey left.

“Yeah, I do too.”

“Ready to get out of here?” Mitchell stood as Jay leaned over his desk, turning off his desktop computer.

“Always coming in late and leaving early. I expect more from you guys,” a familiar yet foreign voice announced themselves from the doorway.

Both men looked up to see the smug look on Renee’s face as she strutted into the office as if she owned it, Jessica trailing behind her with her arms flailing. Renee had obviously bombarded her entry, ignoring the attempts of Jessica to stop her. Jay raised his hand to stop his assistant from her pursuit, as she remorsefully mouthed her apologies.

“Just kidding. You both have to know I don’t expect shit from two trust fund kids, playing with daddy’s money.” She chuckled, while walking towards Jay’s desk, positioning herself between the two men.

“What do you want, Renee?” Jay barked, annoyed by her presence and boldness.

“No happy greeting? You’re not happy to see me, Jay?” she teased, before looking over to Mitchell. “And what about you? The boring one that no one really acknowledges. It must suck standing in this one’s shadow. What exactly do you here, anyway? I know Jay flirts with young pretty girls, convincing them to sign over the rights for their work, but you? I’ve never understood your presence?”

She looked between the two of them as if she was truly interested, trying to solve a mystery. Mitchell’s eyebrows raced to meet each other with frustration, and Jay knew she was getting under his skin.

“Renee, I’m going to ask you one more time. What the fuck do you want?” Jay asked, speaking slowly as he struggled to keep his composure.

“Oh relax, you two. As much as I’d like to say I came over to check on your flailing business, I’ve actually got an empire to run. I do have the largest publishing company in the Midwest, you know,” she reminded them.

“You only get that title because you’re only located in the Midwest, Renee. We’re a national corporation, you don’t even begin to compare to our reach,” Mitchell stood from his seat.

“Oh, that’s what you do? Sit around feeding this one useless statistics since he doesn’t understand market reporting. If he did, of course, he’d fire your ass since he’d know how close you are to being dethroned by a little firm with only one office.”

“You need to leave,” Jay said, never having seen Mitchell so bothered by Renee. He always thought he was the only one who hated the sleazy publisher, but now he could see Mitchell was just as annoyed by her as he was.

“I was only in the area looking at properties. I need to expand, business is booming too fast. My accountant got her hands on your books and alerted me that you’ll probably need to downsize soon. Of course, you’ll blame it on the success of your other locations, but we all know the truth— I’m taking your talent quicker than you can find them. At this point, you could probably list yourself as a temp agency, the way you funnel me employees.” She was so arrogant, and unappealing, right down to her ill-fitted pant suit.

“I’m calling security,” Mitchell started towards the door.

Glancing at her gold plated wristwatch that Jay could easily tell was a cheap knockoff, she waved Mitchell off. “No need to go running to protect your master, Mitchell. Just sit back in your seat like the good boy you are. I’ve got a meeting with a new agent I’m looking to sign. Maybe you’ve heard of her? Kasey Wright? Well, she’s probably already at dinner waiting on me to tell her how much better her experience would be without you two breathing down her neck.”

Mitchell looked to Jay, and with both sets of eyes on him, he forced himself to remain cool, though he was anything but.

“Goodbye, Renee,” he said, before gritting his teeth to stop from giving her the tongue lashing she deserved.

“Tootles, losers!” She chimed before walking out of Jay’s office as arrogantly as she entered.

Mitchell didn’t say a word before moving to the bar to pour himself a drink. Jay could only wonder why Kasey would even accept an invitation from a competing publishing house. She’d just signed with Passions, and he’d done everything he could to make her feel at home. Regardless of her intentions, he felt betrayed by her actions, and questioned if he’d ever be able to trust her.