Hard Rules
“Don’t play innocent,” he says, his gray eyes darkening to match the deep gray of his suit he wears too well to be such a jerk.
“I didn’t sleep last night,” I say. “I needed a jolt of caffeine.”
He attacks again. “Why are you at work?”
“Because you aren’t pushing me out. I need this job.”
“I promised you severance pay,” he reminds me, as if he’s offered me a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow he’s destroyed.
“Severance does not a career make,” I say, grabbing my coffee as it’s set on the counter. “I need to get back to work.” I try to step around him.
He is quickly in front of me again. “You aren’t staying, Emily.”
“Yes,” I reply firmly. “I am.”
His eyes glint, and I see the obstinate determination in his stare even before he declares, “You have until the end of day and then I will ensure you’re gone.” He turns and leaves, and anger surges through me. He will ensure I’m gone? He is being so unfair and I can’t believe I thought I could love that man.
“Wow,” Jessica says, joining me. “You’re trembling, honey.” She reaches for my cup. “Let me hold that. What happened?”
“I’ll let you know when it’s over,” I say, taking off after Shane, my steps fast, but not fast enough. I round the corner to the bank of elevators at the same moment he steps into a car. I will never make before it leaves.
Another elevator opens and I step inside, facing forward. Jessica joins me. “What are you about to do? And is it smart?” she demands, punching the button to our floor.
“Very and don’t even think about taking his side right now.”
“Easy, honey,” she says, holding up her hands, and she obviously she opted to leave our coffees behind. “I just think you should know that he was protecting you. There’s something nasty going on in this company.”
“You have no idea what has happened between us, so please don’t try to make this about whatever is happening in the company.”
“Oh shit. What did he do?”
The elevator opens and I don’t even consider answering her, exiting in time to spot Shane in the lobby moments before I myself am there too. He cuts down his hallway and I pursue him, my heart in my throat, a cocktail of adrenaline and anger driving my every step. I round the corner and have a brief moment of hesitation when I spy Derek’s door open, but it’s so very brief, my focus on Shane and Shane alone, who is now entering his office. I’m there as his door shuts. Not even bothering to knock, I open the door and enter.
He turns at the sound of my entry, and I shut us inside to face off with him. “You don’t get to fuck me and then do this to me. I need this job. I need the money. I need the security. I need it.”
I blink and he’s pressing me against the door, his big body framing mine, and I shove against him with all my force. “Get off me. You don’t get to bully me, yet again.” He doesn’t budge, in fact, he ups his bully ranking by snagging my wrists. “Damn it. Let go, Shane.”
“Calm down.”
“Calm down?” I demand. “Do you know what saying ‘calm down’ does to a woman? It makes her not calm down. Back the fuck off, Shane.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“Yeah. I saw that last night, but it doesn’t matter. I’m a grown adult. I don’t need you to get rid of me because you fucked me.”
“You think this is about fucking someone else?”
“I don’t care, Shane. I just want to go back to my desk and do my job.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
The absoluteness in his voice slams into me and desperateness, mixed with the tornado of emotions I’d battled all night, and thought I’d defeated, spurs me on. “Don’t do this to me. This job is all I have right now.”
“Emily,” he breathes out, his expression and grip on my wrists, softening. “Sweetheart.”
The endearment punches me in the gut. “Please don’t call me that.”
He looks at the ceiling, seeming to battle within himself, before he levels me with a turbulent stare, his hands settling on my arms. “I didn’t sleep with that woman.”
The lie ignites my anger all over again. “You smelled like her,” I hiss, tugging against his hold. “Stop bullying me.”
“Lana’s a user and manipulator. I didn’t expect her last night. She just showed up unannounced.”
“And you let her up.”
“Seth was with me. She works at BP and had information I needed about a problem there.”
“You smelled like her,” I repeat, rejecting his tidy little explanation.
“She refused to share the information with me if Seth didn’t leave, and yes, she pressed herself against me and yes, I knew her in college.”
“Fucked her in college.”
“Yes. I did and I won’t lie to you. For a moment, the briefest of moments, I thought—she’s what I deserve, and you were too good for me, and this screwed-up life I’m living. But even knowing that didn’t matter. She wasn’t you, and you are who I want. You, Emily.” His hands settle on my waist, heating my skin through my clothes. “Just you.”
“You really didn’t…”
“No. I didn’t and Lord help any man who tries to touch you.”