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Alexis
She ripped the sketch off her pad and wadded it up. She turned, aimed for the trash, and missed by a few feet. Damn it. She couldn’t even make a basket today.
But Kane had gotten under her skin. So far under it felt like he was still in her. Why couldn’t she be like him and just forget it?
Alexis glanced to the lobby where he laughed with another one of his blonds, grin stretched wider than she thought possible. No wonder everyone always said he was a player. Not only that, he was a tease.
Getting her worked up like that and then walking off. God, it had to have hurt him, too—she’d felt how hard he was—but he’d done it. And shit, it’d hurt.
She’d thought they’d finally found some common ground. And the attraction, the zap she felt every time they touched couldn’t be ignored.
Alexis put her pencil to the paper again and tried once more to sketch the tiger. Something dark. Something sexy. There was no way she was going to screw this up. She wasn’t going to give Kane any excuse to fire her now.
She sketched another moment, then frowned. Not quite.
Alexis ripped off the sheet and tossed it toward the basket again, but this time Levi was there and he caught the paper.
He opened it and smiled. “It’s not that bad.”
She frowned. “It’s not that good.” She started sketching again.
Levi shrugged. He dropped the paper in the basket and shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, uh…”
He wouldn’t meet her gaze, but she still felt a flicker of unease in her stomach. He’d better not try to ask her out now. She knew she hadn’t been giving him signals. And if shoving him off of her the other night wasn’t enough of a clue that she wasn’t interested in him that way, she didn’t know what was.
“I just wanted to…” Levi jerked when Kane came up behind him. “Hey Kane.”
“Say it,” Kane snapped. “Tell her you’re sorry so we can all get back to work.”
“I’m sorry,” Levi blurted. “About last night. I was drunk.”
Alexis nodded, her stomach clenched tight at the look she saw in Kane’s eyes. Almost…possessive?
“And you won’t let it happen again,” Kane said. “Right?”
Levi’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes. I mean, no—I won’t let it happen again.”
Kane gave him a shove toward his station. “Good. Let’s all agree to be respectful of each other, and we won’t have this problem.”
Alexis just stared at him. What? Did he think she’d disrespected him? Because, come on, he was the one who’d shoved her against that door and made her come without even using his hands.
His eyes pierced hers, like he was daring her to argue. She kept her mouth shut, though what she really wanted to do was yell at him.
What an ass! He’d led her on and now he was the one in a weird mood.
Kane stooped to retrieve the balled-up paper in the trash. He unwadded it, stared at it a moment, then smoothed it out on the counter. “You’re going in the right direction here.”
Her jaw clenched. “I think I’ve got it, thanks.”
It pissed her off even more when the corner of his lip quirked. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
But he didn’t back off. Instead, he walked straight to her and snatched the sketchbook from her hands to study the new sketch she’d started. “This isn’t going to translate unless it’s a back piece. Is this a back piece?”
He knew damn well it wasn’t. But he wanted her to say it. “No, it’s not a back piece.”
“You think this is going to fit otherwise?”
“It’s a start—”
“And your client is going to be back in later in the week. They’re going to want more than a start—”
“It’s more than a start.”
He pointed to her sketchpad. “Then get started.”
Then he strolled to the front of the building and jumped right back into the conversation with the blond.
Alexis clenched her fists together at her sides. When she glanced over at Levi, she found him staring.
“What the hell do you to?” Trey asked.
“Nothing!” she hissed, quiet enough Kane couldn’t hear her. “He’s in a pissy mood today, that’s all.”
But that wasn’t all. He in a horribly pissy mood, and he took it out on her for the rest of the day. Making her clean the bathrooms at the back of the building, making her redo her sketch two more times, forcing Drew to help her out with a client because she “wasn’t pulling her weight” today.
By the end of the day, she was fuming. It was one thing for him to walk off on her last night after she’d rode him to ecstasy, but another for him to treat her like shit at work. When he was ready to lock up, she waited for everyone else to leave first, and then stepped in front of the door.
“This has to stop,” she said, folding her arms.
His eyes narrowed on hers. “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean? Today? The way you were treating me. I get there was this thing.” She rolled her eyes. It was more than that, but whatever. She could keep it professional—and he should too. “But Kane—you can’t treat me like that at work. You need to—”
“Need to?” he asked, eyes flashing. He took a step forward. “What you need to do is realize who the boss is here.”
“Are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
No, he looked dangerous. Like he could explode at any minute. But she didn’t care. She didn’t care if he was upset and she didn’t care if she pushed his control. “You look like an ass, is what you look like. Grow up.”
His mouth snapped open, then he folded his arms. “This is my shop, which means I’m in charge. I can do what I want.”
Anger flared inside. Whatever he wanted? Did that include treating her like dirt? “Fine,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm.
“Good,” he started.
But she shook her head. “I quit.”
Alexis turned to the door, ready to yank it open and make her grand exit. She’d regret this later, but Kane deserved it.
Before she could get the door open, Kane was there. He slapped his hand on the surface and gripped her arm. “You’re not going anywhere.”