Utter disbelief crossed Parker’s face, as he’d obviously missed exactly where he’d gone wrong.
Actually, Jack’s sympathies were with Pepper on this one. “I don’t think she intends to sponge off anyone.” He stepped forward so she had to look at him. Time to be a peacemaker between the siblings before they really got going. “Isn’t this what you thought you’d be doing when you accepted the job?”
“What job? What job offer?” Pepper snapped back. “I never got asked anything about shit-all, and you know that’s usually part of getting a job. At least that’s what I’ve always heard.”
“But you knew that I was going to hire you,” Parker insisted. “It makes no sense for me to need a photographer and digital programmer and then hire someone other than you. Not when you’ve got all the training.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re supposed to ask me.”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Pepper. I have a job for you. Would you like to come work for me?”
She shot to her feet. “See? You do know how to be a civilized human being when you try. And the answer is no.”
She headed for the door.
“Hold on.” Parker stepped in front of her, and Jack waited for the violence to begin. Fortunately, his friend was smart enough to realize when he’d pushed too far. “Okay, maybe I went about it the wrong way. But we really do need you. I thought this is what you wanted.”
“I don’t know if it’s what I want, okay? I need some time to think about it.”
“But it’s a job.”
“Working for you. My big brother.”
Parker frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
She sighed, a huge, soul-sucking sound like she’d lost the will to live. “That right there is part of the problem. That you don’t have the slightest idea that working for you could be anything other than peaches and sunshine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And that’s why I need to think about it. That, and I have a job interview—” she glanced at her watch, “—in thirty minutes. I’ll have to get back to you.”
She was out the door before Parker could say another word.
Jack stifled a groan. The old bickering like cats and dogs had set his nerves on edge, but this time an entirely new emotion colored his usual wish that they can the fighting.
“What the hell were you thinking?” The words exploded out before he could stop them.
His friend spun around. “Not you too.”
“Yes, me too.” Jack thought through everything he had just witnessed. Pepper might have been driving him mad, and she still had some growing up to do. And the two of them needed to chill the fuck out instead of resorting to snapping at each other. But still, Parker had made one enormous mistake. “Did you really assume she would start working for you?”
“Working for us, and yes, why not? That’s what family does—they take care of each other.”
Jack stared at Parker in shock. “That wasn’t taking care of her. That was telling her what to do and expecting she’d do it. Whether or not it’s what she wanted.”
“Of course it’s what she wants. She went to school for media and digital promotion, and that’s exactly what is on this list.” Parker shook the papers in the air.
Clueless in San Francisco. “Are you sure you’re actually living with Lynn?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?” Parker folded his arms over his chest, a tower of absolute frustration as he squared off against Jack.
“Because I assume that you’re not typically a dick to Lynn, which is why she puts up with you when you are one. But ordering someone around isn’t the way to get them to do what you want.”
“I asked her if she wanted the job.”
“Only once she pushed you.”
“She’s my sister. She’s done with school, needs a job, and we need—”
“She’s a woman,” Jack snapped. “A skilled, intelligent woman who can get a job without your help, but who might work for DreamMakers if her brother isn’t the jackass of the century to her every time he turns around.”
The longer Jack spoke, the colder Parker’s expression grew. And the longer Jack spoke, the more he wondered what the hell he was doing, because he certainly hadn’t planned any of this.
But one fact was crystal clear. Parker was sure to pick up on—
“She’s a woman?” Parker demanded.
Jack narrowed his gaze. “Hell, Parker. I know the concept is foreign to you, but that’s what little girls grow up into. And the breasts were kind of a dead giveaway.”
“Why the hell are you looking at my sister’s breasts?” Parker roared.
“Oh, chill out. I was just making a point.”