Wicked Lovers, Book 12
By Shayla Black
Coming February 7, 2017
Click to pre-order.
“Wait.” Heath grabbed her arm.
Something electric arced between them, and she gritted her teeth against the sizzle.
The reaction made her even more prickly. “What?”
“Since we’re off the clock and we’ve clearly set aside our working relationship for the moment, I think it’s only right that I have the chance to say what I think of you.”
She swallowed. If he was this hip to give her his opinion after she’d hurled a bunch of insults at him, she couldn’t expect anything but ugly. Jolie sighed. It sucked but she’d earned it. “I’m listening.”
“Excellent.” He released her, his fingers curling into a fist as he began walking around her, studying her, drawing conclusions. “You don’t trust men and that runs deep. It colors your decisions and prejudices everything you say to me. If you’ve never been in love, then your deep-seeded distrust must come from the lack of any stable father figure in your childhood.”
“Thanks, Freud,” she snapped.
Heath jerked back to face her and leaned in so close their noses nearly touched. “Am I wrong?”
She refused to stroll down that memory lane. “Does it matter?”
“I daresay it does. But we’ll come back to that. If you were merely mistrustful of men, you would have waited until tomorrow and delivered a well-placed warning to keep me away from your sister. Instead, you came after me. And when you found me with another woman, your temper flared. If I merely lived up to your expectations of being a womanizing prick, that shouldn’t make you angry at all, simply smug at being right. But you were livid. I doubt all that displeasure is on your sister’s behalf. In fact, I suspect, Ms. Quinn, that you have more than a passing interest in me. You were jealous.”
Apprehension raced through her veins. He was uncomfortably close to the truth. “You’re egotistical.”
“But I’m right.” He gave her a tight smile. “For the record, if I intended to disregard policy and pursue a woman in the office, I wouldn’t bother with your sister. As you say, she’s naive and provides no challenge. But you . . . You would be far more interesting. Pretty, strong, smart, not easily bendable. Color me intrigued.”
She tensed. “I’m your boss.”
“Temporarily. We’re both adults. Surely neither of us are prone to torrid emotional attachments. We could keep business separate from personal, couldn’t we?”
Normally, she’d say yes. But working with him constantly buzzing around her, asking questions, and watching her every move had already dented her focus. “I have no intention of becoming your next conquest.”
“Then it’s good I never planned to pursue you.”
Jolie wondered why, then dismissed the question as she buttoned her red coat. “Perfect. There’s nothing left to say except I’m sorry for intruding on your evening. I hope we can forget this by morning.”
She had to get out of here. She’d overplayed her hand and needed to regroup, to think about how to approach him tomorrow. The last thing she wanted was for Heath Powell to decide she was a challenge he intended to convert into his next bed partner. Normally, the sexual urges of a man wouldn’t concern her unless she was interested. If so, she found a way to have him for a night or two, then ended it.
Something told her that nothing with Heath would ever be that simple.
But when Jolie turned her back on him and headed for the parking lot, he snaked an arm around her middle. “I never planned on pursuing you . . . but I’ve changed my mind.”
Those soft words against her neck sent a shiver through her. “Get your hand off me.”
“I’ll bet the bitch act has scared off a man or two in your past.”
She jerked away and cocked her hand on her hip. “Why is it that when a man is assertive, he’s hailed as alpha and take-charge. But when a woman is equally assertive, she’s a bitch?”
“Oh, let’s be clear. I don’t believe you’re a bitch at all. I think that under your steely exterior is a woman with a soft heart. You take in stray employees the way other people foster animals. Their former employers have all cast them off. They aren’t perfect but under your leadership, they’re productive again. You make them work hard—as they should—but you’re fair. You don’t wheedle effectiveness out of them by pretending to be their friend. You tell them exactly what you expect. But you’re chilly with me because you fear that if you don’t guard against whatever I make you feel, I’ll slip under your defenses and bruise that untried heart of yours.”
God, he’d seen way too much of her. “Don’t touch me again. If I want to be psychoanalyzed, I’ll hire a shrink. Other than that, I expect you to be professional and do your job. You have my promise that I won’t contact you after hours unless there’s an emergency. Now we’re done. Don’t forget we have a staff meeting tomorrow morning at eight.”
She pulled her keys free from her purse and walked away as quickly as her high heels could take her.
“I felt you trembling against me,” he called after her.
Jolie clamped her lips shut. No sense in acknowledging that. The best way to handle a man like Heath Powell was to ignore him.
It took every bit of her will to follow her own advice. Why did he have to be right?