Jordan, Olivia - Carly's Two-Stepping Temptations [Studio Seductions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Olivia Jordan Page B

person you’d just destroyed your career to help completely walked out on you once the shit hit the fan?”
    Carly sighed. “I guess you’re right. Still, you should have said something.”
    “No, I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have been listening in on her phone conversation in the first place. I just didn’t feel right blabbing information I wasn’t supposed to have had.”
    “Fine.”
    Jared could tell by the edge in Carly’s voice that everything wasn’t fine. “Okay, what else is wrong?”
    “You didn’t—you didn’t fool around with her or anything, did you?”
    Jared briefly considered the awkward almost-kiss that Melissa had tried to foist upon him but decided it wasn’t relevant. They hadn’t technically kissed, and he’d make sure to set up strict boundaries after that. His relationship with Melissa had been purely professional ever since. “No, I never fooled around with her.”
    “Not even in your first weeks here, before we got together?”
    “Of course not!”
    “She’s pretty.”
    “Why would I get involved with a married woman?”
    Carly shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re right, though. I’m sorry. This news has thrown me for a loop, and I’m not thinking clearly.”
    “It’s okay. I know, this is confusing. But I would never get involved with a married woman. And even if she’d been single, I wouldn’t have done anything.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Because I was carrying a torch for you.”
    “You’d tell me if something did happen between the two of you, right?”
    “Of course I would. Why are you asking?”
    “I don’t care what you did before we were together. But if anything happened, it’s probably going to come to light at some point in the near future, and I just want to be prepared.”
    “I promise, nothing else happened, but if something had, I would have told you. You won’t be blindsided again.”
    “I love you,” Carly said, finally smiling.
    Jared grinned. “I love you, too.”
    The brief moment of relief that Carly’s smile brought him vanished as he pulled into the studio parking lot. He didn’t want to think about the anger that Taletha was probably going to unleash the second he walked in the door.
    Carly squeezed his hand as they rushed into the building. “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, it will all work out, and I believe in you.”
    As Jared walked through the front door, he froze in place. Taletha was standing at the front desk, waiting with a glare that sent chills through him. Carly gave his hand one more squeeze, and then rushed off to the locker room to finish getting ready.
    “Give me one good reason not to fire you right now,” she snapped as soon as Carly was out of earshot. Lynne, who was famous for her sense of discretion, put on a pair of headphones and went on with her work as though drama wasn’t unfolding right before her eyes.
    “Taletha, please, just let me explain. None of what they’re saying is true. Melissa never confided in me. I stood up for her yesterday when the crowds outside the studio were getting rough, but that’s it.”
    “Then how did they come to that conclusion?”
    “I don’t know! It’s a political-scandal feeding frenzy. Are you really expecting accurate reporting?”
    “How did they know you were her teacher?”
    “They knew she was doing the event, and I walked her to her car last week in order to protect her from those obnoxious reporters. I suppose it wouldn’t be unreasonable that some reporter put two and two together.”
    Taletha started shaking. “Jared, this is completely unacceptable. Do you understand how bad this is for us? It’s one thing to try to get some publicity out of the scandal and try to look a little bit daring. It’s another thing entirely if we’re being implicated in that scandal.”
    “I already told you that the stuff on the radio isn’t true! I never attempted to cover anything up. I might not have run to the press about it, but I didn’t try to keep