Break of Day by Mari Madison Page A

reality, you take this job and you’re going to be doing a lot of babysitting. Asher’s not easy to work with and it’ll be a thankless job. And probably frustrating as hell.” He shuddered a little, as if thinking about his own encounters with the guy. “Asher is going to do what he wants, when he wants to do it. And most times you’ll just be playing catch-up.”
    I swallowed hard. “And if he changes his mind? If he decides he doesn’t want me after all?”
    Richard didn’t answer at first, staring down at the papers on his desk. “Let’s just hope we never need to discuss that,” he said at last.
    My heart sank a little in my chest. Not that I hadn’t figured that to be his answer. Asher could get rid of me as easily as he had brought me on. No skin off his back. No big deal.
    â€œI don’t know . . .” I hedged. “Doesn’t sound like much in the way of job security . . .”
    â€œMaybe not,” Richard agreed. “But it pays forty a year.”
    I stared at him, trying to keep my jaw off the floor. Forty thousand a year? Holy crap. Was he serious?
    For forty a year I could keep my apartment. I wouldn’t even need a roommate anymore. I could get my mom out of that crime scene of a trailer park and move her somewhere safe. Heck, I might even get to see a dentist once a year.
    Forty thousand a year. To be someone’s babysitter and pad my resume in the process? Yes, freaking please.
    â€œI’ll take it,” I blurted out. Because really, what choice did I have?
    Richard smiled. He held out his hand. “All right then,” he said. “Guess Asher has himself a producer.” We shook and he rose to his feet, escorting me out the door. “Congratulations,” he said as I stepped across the threshold. “And good luck.”
    And as I walked away I could hear him mutter, just before he shut the door, “You’re going to need it.”

six
    Â 
ASHER
    W e need to talk.”
    I looked up to see Piper enter the weather center, a frown pasted on her freckled face. I stifled a groan.
    Here we go again.
    Seriously, I was already regretting sticking out my nose to help her. Once again stepping in and playing knight in shining armor to an unwilling damsel in distress. A role that we’d already established was totally not me.
    Also, it was one thing to come to her rescue at a wedding. Quite another to tether myself to her long term. After all, I’d spent the last two years trying to convince Richard and my mother that I didn’t need a producer. And then here I was, going and actually offering them the perfect candidate on a silver platter. Hell, I might as well have walked into the news director’s office and slapped my balls down on his desk, asking to be snipped like some horny dog. Stuck my neck out, begging for a leash and a collar.
    â€œHey, Red,” I said, trying to keep my voice light and casual as, at the same time, I attempted to keep my eyes from raking over her body from head to toe. I had to admit,she may have been a leash, but goddamn was she a good-looking one. Even without the slinky bridesmaid’s dress that I couldn’t get out of my head all last night.
    Truth be told, Piper was a far cry from my normal “type”—which usually consisted of waifish California blondes with daddy issues and big fake boobs. At the same time, she was also a convincing argument that my normal type was vastly overrated.
    Case in point, today she was wearing a boxy suit that seemed to be working overtime to hide those soft curves of hers. But damn if my memory didn’t fill in the blanks just the same. After all, a visual like yesterday’s dress didn’t just fade away overnight.
    And then there were those windblown copper curls of hers, now constrained with an elastic band on top of her head. It was all I could do not to cross the room and tug on that