I could do it. At least for six months. Right?
“I thought that Benji was a jerk, and I was going to call him out on it, but then you walked in.?
“So you say,” she said. And once again, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“It’s the truth, Paris. You don’t have to believe me, but hopefully, you’ll see it eventually. I’m not the asshole you think I am.” I paused. “I know…language.”
She turned away from me, letting out a long breath. “They call me the Shark. You heard that?”
“I did. I thought it was a good thing in our line of work. I don’t think it is from your tone or his.”
“They call me Shark because I smell blood in the water when it comes to mistakes, and they like making fun of my period.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, my hands fisting at my sides. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Oh, they haven’t said it out loud to me, but I heard one of the guys whispering about it once. So, I’m going to assume that’s what he meant.”
“Fucking assholes. Why do you put up with it?”
“You’re serious? I put up with it because I love what I do, I make damn good money, it has a fantastic health insurance plan, and…as I said, I’m damn good at my job. I’d have to deal with this no matter where I went. So, they can all be leery of me and just watch me do my best work, or I can whine about it to the boss constantly and never get anywhere.”
“Jesus,” I grumbled. “You don’t have to worry about that from me. I’m not one of those guys.”
“I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?” she asked, lifting her chin. “Because you’re only here for six months. I’ve been here for a long damn time. This is where I want to stay. So don’t fuck this up for me. And yes, language. See what you made me do? I’ve become Paris in the streets, rather than Paris at work.”
The fact that my mind went to Paris and the sheets was something I’d have to deal with.
“Remember, we work together. You aren’t my boss, and I’m not yours. So, don’t even think about trying to order me around.”
Now I was getting pissed off. “I wasn’t thinking that. Did you not hear me when I said that I like quality assurance? I mean, hell, I told you I’m going to make mistakes. I need someone to help me clean them up. If you’re going to be a jerk about it, then I might get angry.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?”
“Are you ever going to tell me why you hate me so much?”
“I just said—”
I cut her off. “No, not right now. From before. You’ve always grumbled about me and around me. At every dinner or event that we do as a group, you always growl at me. It’s the same way Myra growls at Nate, and Dakota practically hides from Macon. I don’t know what’s going on with all of you guys, but I’m sick of it. Unless you stop being friends with Hazel, we’ll be stuck in the vicinity of each other for a long damn time. And now that I’m working here for the next six months? We’re going to be working closely. So, stop hating me and start working with me.”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you.”
This time, I laughed. “You don’t even know me.”
“No, I don’t, but you’re like all the guys here. And I’ve had to fight to get where I am. And I’m tired of it. I like my job, and people like Benji make it harder and harder for me to continue liking it. Maybe I’m a bitch, but people can fuck right off.”
“You’re not a bitch,” I grumbled. I didn’t even like saying the word.
“Far from it. You just like things done right. As you should. You may hate me on sight, but I’m not going to use that word.”
“Whatever.” And then she froze, cursing herself.
“Great, I’ve been in here longer than two minutes, and now everyone’s going to think I’m fucking the new employee.”
“If I hear anything, I’ll put those rumors to rest. Because no matter where I work, I don’t take kindly to assholes putting women down. Putting anyone down for that matter.”
“You say that, and yet they’re going to be high-fiving you while calling me a whore.”
I counted to ten so I wouldn’t say something I’d regret later. “Why do you love this place so much if that’s how you automatically think?”
“Because it hasn’t happened here yet. It happened at the last place I worked. I’m used to it. I’m a woman in a man’s world. It’s what happens. However, I’m done playing nice about it.”
Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it as if she weren’t even thinking and then paled.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Just stupid pact stuff.”
That made me smile. I knew about the pact. The four women—Hazel, Paris, Myra, and Dakota—had decided to make a pact to set each other up on dates. Blind dates, friend dates, dates of some sort. So they could all find their happily ever afters, or at least a good time. Somehow, my brother had ended up in the middle of it, although Cross had been an accidental blind date. It seemed to have worked for him and Hazel, though, because they were happy and talking about marriage.”
I knew Paris was up next, but it had been a good six months since they’d started this. I didn’t realize that she was still on the chopping block.
“Do you have a date?”
She cursed under her breath, and I held back a smile. “Apparently, they’re setting me up again.”
“Again?”
“Okay, this is the friendship zone. Once I leave here, we’re going back to being coworkers. Okay?”
“You said friendship. I’m going to take that as a win.”
She glared at me, but I saw her mouth twitching. “I think this is my fifth blind date. I suck at it.”
I shook my head, not even bothering to wince. “You don’t suck at it. People all over the world suck at dating. I don’t understand blind dates at all.”
“Seriously?”
“Meeting up with a stranger and then forcing yourself to parade around on a date when you’re starting from scratch? No, that doesn’t sound like a cup of tea to me. And statistics are going to show that there’s not a high success rate.”
“My statistics show there is no success rate,” she said dryly.
“Perhaps, but you’re trying. Though you did pale a bit there. What’s wrong with your date?”
“Oh, they just helped me set it up. It’s tonight. Yay.”
This time, I did wince at her tone. “It can’t be that bad.”
She snorted. “Oh, honey. You have no idea.”
And then I smiled, and she smiled back, and something inside me warmed a bit.
Okay, that was interesting. However, it meant nothing.
After all, we were working together, though I was pretty sure Paris didn’t like me at all. She may be friends with my group, but she was going on a blind date, and I was in a semi-serious relationship.
And Allison wouldn’t like the fact that I had images of Paris in my head. Oh, she wouldn’t have minded in the past, but now that Paris and I were working together? No, that wasn’t about to happen.