I laugh loudly and then shake my head as we both walk through the doorway. "It's not that serious, Jack. I think you need to relax."
He slings an arm around my shoulder, directing me down the hallway as he responds, "See, it's that exact mentality that proves you need me in your corner."
Walking into the conference room, I don't bother responding, noting Penny and Cassidy already seated at the longtable. Penny immediately stands but I sense from her demeanor exactly why she has the reputation that she does. Jack stops a few feet from her, mutters quite grumpily, "Ms. Wolf."
Penny barely manages the fakest smile I've ever seen as she responds, "Mr. Jackson."
Then the two of them stare at each other, or rather glare at each other, apparently in a silent battle neither is willing to lose. I glance at Cassidy who's watching the exchange with amusement in her eyes. I use her distraction to check her out, from her upswept hair to her prim suit, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to muss her up. Her sparkly eyes slide to me, catching me watching her and her smile fades, her eyes narrowing slightly.
I can't decide if it's because she truly dislikes me or just a habit. As if after all these years she's just been conditioned to act and react a certain way around me. But then she flips me the bird and that fleeting question I had about her true feelings for me immediately dissipates. Yes, she's the fucking worst.
Tapping Jack on the shoulder, I say, "Let's get this over with."
Jack jumps slightly, my interruption of their standoff startling him, but then he nods. "Yes, let's."
He moves to the far end of the table so he's facing Penny. I sit to his left facing Cassidy. I do understand why I was presented with a laundry list of potentially irrelevant demands. I'm sure Cassidy has concerns about losing whatever upper hand she could have here.
Which is completely absurd given the fact that she knows I want that team. There are very few conditions I wouldn't agree to get my hands on it.
Jack flips his papers over sliding a carbon copy across the table toward Penny. She takes it gingerly, as if she's concerned she's going to catch something off of the now tainted contract.Then she glances at Jack and asks, "Did we have some concerns then?"
Cassidy glances over, her eyes widening at the amount of red ink on the page. Jack glowers at her from across the table. "I guess you could say that. About halfway through it, I'm starting to wonder if you're going to ask for unicorns and fairies."
Penny laughs and Cassidy only looks confused as she asks, "Surely it wasn't that bad?"
Jack's bark of laughter comes out bitter. "The first thing we're going to address is the living arrangements."
"Non-negotiable," Cassidy responds immediately.
Jack opens his mouth to argue, and I put my hand up stopping him. "I literally don't care where I live."
Cassidy immediately relaxes in her seat, and I reach over, yank the pages out of Jack's hands. I hold it out in the air between me and Cassidy. "Is all this shit important to you?"
She waits a beat and then finally nods, so I add, "I will agree to all of it as long as you agree to three addendums."
Penny flips her page over, pen at the ready as she says, "Shoot."
I lock my eyes with Cassidy as I ask, "The whole point of this is for you to end up pregnant?"
"Yes," Cassidy responds firmly.
I hold her gaze for another moment and then nod. "Addendum one, she travels with me. Barring some type of medical advice or conflicting events that cannot be rescheduled, we travel together."
"That'll mean sometimes you have to travel with me?"
"Yes," I reply. "That's the plan."
She eyes me momentarily before turning her gaze to Penny, who's already watching her. She gives a short nod, and then she turns back to me and says, "What else?"
"Addendum two, no birth control."
"But," she begins to argue, but I interrupt, "You have an end goal here, so there's no point in putting it off. Starting right now, no birth control."
Her expression is conflicted, which I find rather confusing, but again, after a moment, she turns back to Penny and nods. This time she doesn't turn her gaze back to me, and Penny asks, "And the third addendum?"
I smile, fully prepared for her to outright refuse the next one, especially considering we haven't discussed it at all beforehand. "Free use."
Penny gasps. Jack laughs.
