Working It Read Online Free

needed…
    Inexplicably, he thought of Jade’s green eyes and wickedly sexy smile.
    The ball bounced off the rim with a clanging ring.
    He sighed, grabbing the ball and heading back to the factory. He might as well get some more work done. His game was pretty well shot.
    Â 
    â€œJ ADE , I only have one thing to say about it. And that’s no. ”
    Jade sighed, forcing herself not to sprawl in the plush chair that flanked her boss’s huge glass-and-metal desk. “Betsy, this would mean a lot to me.”
    Her boss, Betsy Diehl, surveyed her solemnly from her own leather executive chair. She was one of the newest partners at the marketing firm of Michaels & Associates, and she’d been Jade’s boss for about two years now. Jade had been apprehensive, at first—lots of people had nicknamed her “Raw Diehl”—but the relationship had worked out. Jade valued her boss’s honesty and brutal pragmatism. Betsy expected a lot, and she pushed hard, but Jade felt as though Betsy honestly understood what it was like to struggle. Betsyhad worked hard to get where she was, or so she had told Jade, going from poor circumstances to her current respected position as a marketing genius. She’d been written up in industry magazines. She’d co-authored a book. Today, Betsy was wearing her steel-gray hair in a sophisticated blunt-cut bob and a stylish eggplant suit that screamed Rodeo Drive. She looked like a woman who other people looked up to…a woman who took crap from no one.
    She was exactly what Jade wanted to be when she grew up.
    â€œWhy does this account mean anything to you?” Betsy’s voice was cultured, as if she was chastising a member of her garden club rather than her direct report. “You’ve got a full load as it is.”
    â€œNothing pressing,” Jade said. “I’ve got all of my key accounts taken care of, and it’s not like I’d be ignoring them. I would love to take Robson on as a challenge, but you know I don’t turn my back on my work.”
    Betsy’s nose wrinkled with displeasure. “Robson is a little nothing account. Sure, some of the other partners thought that it would turn into something, but—”
    â€œI think we shouldn’t write it off just yet,” Jade interrupted, causing Betsy’s frown to deepen. Jade bit back on an impatient sigh. “Sorry. I’m just really excited about this account. It’s a little hard to explain.”
    Probably because I’m not entirely clear on the reasons myself.
    â€œIt can’t be the money,” Betsy scoffed. “Because a measly hundred thousand is hardly worth getting out of bed for.”
    Jade smiled at the comparison. “No. It’s not the money.”
    â€œIs it the challenge?” Betsy’s eyes narrowed. “I know you, Jade. If somebody told you that you couldn’t climb Mount Everest, the next thing I’d see is a framed photo in your office of you on some snowy peak with a broad grin. Probably giving the cameraman the finger.”
    Jade looked away, laughing nervously. “I’m not that bad.”
    â€œI heard about this Robson character from the other execs,” Betsy warned. “I never should have let that pass your desk, but you’ve still got that reputation as a closer…”
    â€œI like that reputation.” Jade grinned. “I’m one of the best.”
    â€œYes. But, Jade,” Betsy said, her voice going gentle and patient, “that hasn’t exactly gotten you the promotion you’ve been hoping for, now, has it?”
    Jade’s grin slid. She stood, started pacing a little. “I know. And I know you think I should be working on higher profile accounts. But we haven’t had a high-profile account come my way in months.”
    â€œWe just have to keep working on it,” Betsy said. “Be patient.”
    â€œI’ve been patient for five