Jade Crew: Captive Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 4) by Amelia Jade Page A

back to the conference room which had been her original destination before her afternoon had exploded. Evening, she corrected as the clock in the room showed her it was now half past five. She tossed the folder that was tucked in the crook of her arm onto the desk, the contents spilling out as she sat down grumpily in a chair.
    The other two women stared at her but she ignored them, intent on wallowing in her own misery and self-directed anger for a few minutes more.
    Was she really full of political bullshit? Or was there actual validity in her reasoning for turning him away? And in the end, even if there was, did Kierra want that to be the way she lived her life? Political necessity over feelings of the heart?
    It reminded her of how many in the medieval and ancient world hadn’t married for love. Instead they had joined together in a political union for the good of the state. Is that really how she wanted to view her love life? It wasn’t anywhere near the same extreme, but she was only campaigning for an elected position and already she was analyzing her entire life to gain the most meager political advantage through her actions.
    Finally looking up, she saw both Jenny and Hannah focused on her
    “What the hell happened out there?” Jenny asked bluntly.
    Kierra looked back and forth between her and Hannah. She had left the conference room to get the notes for a speech which she had forgotten in her desk drawer. Before leaving the two of them had been joking and all smiles, a slight contrast to the mood that now occupied the room.
    She took her time forming her words. “Do you ever do something that seemed smart at the time, but once you actually spoke it aloud you realized how utterly stupid it made you seem?”
    The two women looked first at each other then back at Kierra. It was Hannah who spoke first.
    “Darren found you, didn’t he?”
    “He did, actually. And thank you for telling me that he came by,” she said allowing a hint of anger to enter her voice. Kierra was a grown woman; the last thing she needed was someone deciding who did or did not get an opportunity to speak to her.
    Hannah had the good graces to look abashed but Kierra noted that she also did not apologize for her actions either. She didn’t like what that hinted at. Perhaps a stronger word—in private–would be necessary with her campaign manager. Kierra filed that away for further thought.
    “So what happened?” Jenny asked, looking back and forth at the two of them as if she sensed the unspoken rift that had opened all of a sudden.
    “He came asking about why I called off our date for tomorrow,” she explained.
    “What did you say?” her assistant said, looking interested.
    “I told him the truth,” she snapped. “That’s when I realized how stupid I sounded. How utterly political and uncaring our—” she stopped herself. Despite everything, it wasn’t fair to blame the others. In the end it had been her decision. “— my reasoning was,” she finished, emphasizing that fact for the others.
    “Oh.” Jenny looked away awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.
    “Exactly. Then Darren called me out for being full of political bullshit and stormed out,” she finished, nodding thoughtfully to herself as she replayed the exchange in her head yet again.
    “Kierra…” Hannah started to say but Kierra cut her off with a swift chop of her hand.
    “Don’t. Just don’t.” She didn’t want to hear anything about she had made the “right decision” or any other similar phrases. Not just then. She was still doing her best to determine that for herself and Kierra did not want any outside voice influencing her decision.
    Jenny spoke next. “Whatever you decide, you should probably see this first,” she said, sliding an envelope across the table.
    “What is it?”
    “Just look,” her assistant urged.
    The handwriting on the front of the envelope killed any further questions from Kierra. She had seen it before, perhaps half a