Find a way to better insulate the circuitry. No freaking kidding. “Thank you so much for your sage, expert advice,” I whisper through gritted teeth. There goes my jaw hinge again.

“Excuse me?” Lincoln holds up a palm in Ryland’s face when he tries to step in. “You’re damn right, it’s expert advice. I’m the CEO of this company and I built it from the ground up, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“I would hope not, seeing as how you’ve been here for all of three minutes and therefore, would’ve only just found out about the company history. If you couldn’t manage to retain that information, I’d have to question your abilities in other areas.”

“Oh, my abilities are just fine,” I snap. God, who does this jerkwad think he is? God’s greatest gift? I can hardly stand the sight of the snide, domineering creep. No wonder he’s divorced. Who could stand living with him? Another one of the little tidbits I’ve picked up after listening in on the office coffee clutches.

“You sure about that? Since you’ve been working on one and only one project for days on end and haven’t come to a satisfactory conclusion?”

Ugh, where does he get off? The gloves are off now. To hell with him, and to hell with Ryland for guilting me into playing nice for his sake! I like him, I really do, and I enjoy working with him, but I won’t let this asshat talk to me like I’m some idiot off the street who doesn’t deserve respect, just because he’s rich and thinks he’s a big deal. “I have an idea. Why don’t you try to fix this yourself, since you’re such a know-it-all?”

“Sam!” Ryland barks. “That’s enough.”

“No, no, I want to hear what Mr. Cage has to say,” I reply, never looking away from Lincoln’s eyes. They’re not bad eyes. Deep, dark, stormy, mysterious; the sort of eyes I would enjoy staring into if they weren’t in his face. But they are, which means they suck.

His full and in any other circumstances, totally kissable mouth curves up in a sneer. “You don’t bark after you buy a dog. I hire people like you to do that sort of thing for me, so I’m freed up to focus on big-picture issues, which you would understand if you were in my position.”

And damn my mouth for speaking faster than my brain can think, because what comes out of my mouth next is beneath me, “Big-picture issues like the fact that your daughter is asleep in the next room? What a wonderful, professional atmosphere you’ve cultivated here.”

The silence in the room is ominous.

Even Ryland can’t back me up this time. I wish I could go back in time and not have said those words, because it was unfair of me to throw that in his face. I don’t know anything about his personal life. I only know what Ryland told me on our way past the conference room…that his six-year-old daughter showed up out of nowhere earlier in the day.

It could be a trick of the light, but Lincoln’s face seems to change color. It’s goes to roughly the same shade as an eggplant and his eyes burn like two coals. “Congratulations,” he says coldly. “You just crossed the line, Ms. Harper. And you’re roughly five seconds away from getting fired.”

“All right, all right, let’s all be calm here,” Ryland implores, stepping between us.

“Nobody talks about my kid that way, especially when they have no clue what the hell they’re talking about,” he snarls, glaring over Ryland’s shoulder at me.

I’m almost tempted to apologize. Almost. But there’s something about this man. I know I did wrong, but I cannot bring myself to apologize.

“Understood,” Ryland replies, shooting me a warning look over his shoulder. “She should know better than to say things like that.”

But I can’t stop myself. “What about what he was saying?” I ask.

“Like what? Like how you should get your act together and make the drone work without bursting into flames?” Lincoln taunts.

“Get my act together?” I can feel my blood start to boil. “Perhaps if it had been designed better, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“There is nothing wrong with the design,” Ryland says to the two of us. “We just have to figure out how to solve the problem. There’s always a way to solve a problem, but we can’t waste time with stupid, petty fighting. Remember, we’re all on the same team.”

Boy, he’s just the king of the pep talks. And I thought I was the only person whose butt got smoke blown up it. As it turns out, he’s been practicing on Lincoln for all these years. No wonder he’s so good at it. “If I’m going to solve this problem, I need uninterrupted work time,” I interject in an attempt to break the tension. “I need a little faith, a little more time, and a little leeway.”

“You’ve been given plenty of time,” Lincoln reminds me.

“Thanks. I completely forgot.”

Ryland scowls at me, but I don’t back down. “There are other things I can do. I know I’m real close and I’m not one to give up. Ever.”

Lincoln’s lips purse as he considers this. “You have that going for you, at least.”

“That’s only for starters,” I murmur.

“Yes, well, I’ll believe that when I see it. For now, I only have your word and this guy’s assurance that hiring you wasn’t the biggest mistake of his and my life.”

Something tells me he’s made much bigger mistakes—such as his marriage—but even I am not stupid enough to pursue that topic. “That’s just fine by me. You’ll see for yourself once I’ve solved the problem that the other departments have gotten me into.”

Muscles jump in his jaw as my dig hits home. He turns to Ryland. “You’d better leave. Now.”

“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing,” Ryland says, as he grabs my arm, leading me out of the office and down the hall.

I’m so relieved at having an excuse to leave Lincoln’s presence without being the first person to back down from our fight that it doesn’t even occur to me to ask my manager to get his hands off me.

He doesn’t let go until we’re inside the elevator with the doors closed tight behind us. He sighs heavily, seeming to deflate before my very eyes. “What do you think you’re trying to do? Do you think you can mouth off like that and still have a job when all is said and done?”

“It seems like I do still have a job,” I point out with a shaky laugh.

He’s not impressed, judging from the way he scowls. “Barely. Thanks to me. Once again.”

I bite my lip. “I’m grateful, Ryland. Really, I am. I never normally behave like that. I don’t know why, but he annoys me so much.”

“I warned you,” he mutters, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I warned you, I did everything but beg you to avoid running your mouth in there. And that crack about Maddie! Oh, my God, I couldn’t believe it.”

“I shouldn’t have said it,” I admit, blushing. “It was low.”

“Lower than low,” he agrees.

“I can’t stand him. I know he’s your friend and you mean a lot to each other, but I really can’t stand him.”

“And that means absolutely nothing. Christ, how old are you, anyway?”

“Old enough to know what you’re saying,” I mumble. I take a deep breath and have a reality check. “It doesn’t matter if I like my boss. He’s still my boss, and I ought to respect him.”

“Right and right,” he replies, nodding his head almost comically.

“I just don’t like getting pushed too hard,” I admit. “And he pushed me. Maybe because it’s already so hard as a woman—”

“Don’t give me that sexual inequality, mansplaining, mumbo jumbo right now.”

“Hold up. Mansplaining mumbo jumbo?” I ask, hands on my hips.

“You know what I mean,” he groans as we step off the elevator. “I mean that it’s no excuse for your behavior. And I’m not always going to be around to save your job for you. I shouldn’t have to babysit you.”

“All I’m trying to say is I’ve had to fight hard for respect in my profession.”

“And you get it. From me. And you will from him too, but you’ll have to earn it. I know you can save the day. Don’t screw it all up by saying things you can’t take back. Okay?”

I nod, resigned and exhausted. Maybe it’s time to call it a day. I can worry about Lincoln Cage in the morning. And every day thereafter until I fix this issue.

Lucky, lucky me.