“Violet, can I speak to you?” came Dirk’s voice from the doorway. I glanced over at Patricia, who nodded as if the request required her permission. I stood up, feeling wary as I followed Dirk out of Patricia’s office and down the hall to his.

“Have a seat,” he said, handing me a steaming cup of coffee from the shop downstairs. I stared at him, nervous as I sat down in the chair across from him. Every time I saw Dirk, I became nervous, afraid that they were going to get rid of me. I didn’t exactly get along with Patricia, who had me doing work for her, more like a personal assistant than a secretary. She often made me clean her office or go downstairs for coffee. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that I could prove myself enough to get promoted again.

“What is it?” I asked him after a moment of quiet, during which all he did was give me a creepy, unnatural smile.

“We’re sending you to Texas,” he said. I gaped at him, my mouth dropping open.

“Texas,” I repeated numbly. He nodded.

“We have a special job that only you can do, Violet. I’m told you’re doing very well with Patricia.”

“You are?” I asked him. So far, Patricia hadn’t been anything resembling friendly toward me. Most of the time, she would snap directions at me in the morning, then ignore me as I silently went through the motions day after day. Working with Patricia seemed like a slow death to me, especially given how hard I had fought to get a spot in this firm. I had gone through school, put myself through college against all odds for this very reason, and now I had become an errand girl for somebody who was hardly more qualified than I was to manage anything. He nodded.

“Very well. In fact, you’ve charmed her quite a lot. She thinks you would be perfect for this job.”

“What job?” I asked him, completely confused. Patricia had done nothing but snap at me since I’d started working for her, and I knew that there had been more than a few times that I’d snapped back in response. Sometimes, I wasn’t able to help myself.

“You’ll be going with Cooper Maverick to the business branch there. We want you to convince him to sell his share of the company.”

I blinked at him, speechless.

“What?” I said.

“It will be simple, really. He doesn’t really want that job. All you have to do is convince him—”

“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked him, my face growing red. “Are you suggesting that I—?”

“No, of course not,” said Dirk, putting both of his hands up defensively. “We just think that if you use the same charm that you used on Patricia—”

“Patricia hates me,” I said to him blankly. “We don’t get along.”

“Nonsense,” he said, waving me off. “She loves you. She’s just shy.”

I snorted, shaking my head, pushing my hair back from my face.

“Listen, I really don’t want to go to Texas. I have no idea how to convince Cooper of anything.”

“We have faith in you, Violet,” Dirk said seriously. “I think it might be just what you need in order to move up in this company.”

I stared at him, realizing only then that he was serious, and he wasn’t giving me a choice.

“Now, you can’t let him know what you’re doing,” Dirk said. “You’re going to have to pretend that you’re there to see whether he’s fit to run the branch.”

“You want me to lie?”

“No, of course not,” Dirk said in a charming voice, with a fake smile plastered over his too-full lips. “Just—leave some aspects of your job to yourself. Can you do that, Violet?”

“Yes,” I said, my mouth dry. There was nothing else to say. If this was my chance to move back up in the company, I had no choice but to take it.

“Good,” he said pleasantly. “You will leave in two days. Mindy will send you the flight information.”

“Okay,” I said to him. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Dirk said. “Like I said, you’re the best woman for the job.”

“Yeah,” I said to him, standing up, feeling numb as I left the office. The door was slightly open, and I was looking back over my shoulder to thank him again when I bumped into someone, my coffee spilling all over him. I looked up to see that it was Cooper Maverick.

“I’m—I’m so sorry,” I said to him, stumbling over my words. “I’ll go get a towel.”

“Don’t bother,” he snapped. I raised my eyebrow at him.

“I’m sorry,” I said, more slowly this time.

“Yeah, I got that,” he said sarcastically. “Just watch where you’re going next time.”

“You can’t talk to me like that, Cooper,” I said to him. I didn’t care who he was—I wasn’t going to let a man talk down to me. He only laughed in response, though.

“You seem to forget who is in charge, here,” he said. “I’m not sure who you think you’re dealing with, but—”

“Somebody who thinks he’s too good to treat his employees with respect,” I said. “I know exactly who you are.”

I saw something flare up in his eyes—anger, irritation.

“You know nothing about me, Violet.”

“I know that you’re used to getting what you want. But I’m not going to grovel to you.”

He grinned at me, a sarcastic half grin as he shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something but cut himself off with one last scathing look at me before Patricia walked by, and his grin turned into a charming smile as he turned to follow her to the elevator. I could hear her flirty laugh from where I stood near Dirk’s office, filled with annoyance and irritation, knowing that there was no way I was going to be able to convince this man of anything.