Eager for a fight, I got up and followed him without hesitation. Silently, we walked past the darkened and empty cubicles into the cavernous conference room. No one would hear us.

“Have a seat.”

“No thanks. I prefer to stand.”

A frown bisected his thick brows. “Very well. Let’s get down to it. What’s your problem today?”

I let out a cutting laugh. “Problem? I don’t have a problem. I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine.”

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm. Now explain yourself.”

I crossed my arms. If he thought he was going to knock me down then he’d learn something about me today. I’d lived with a bastard of a father who was a helluva lot meaner than Gavin could ever imagine being.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you, Mr. Hawthorne. In fact, you should be explaining yourself to me.”

Gavin’s eyes widened. He shook his head, as if disappointed in me.

“I knew this was going to happen.”

Now it was my turn to look at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“What do you mean by that?”

“There’s a reason why you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.” Gavin’s narrow gaze assessed me from head to toe. “Things get messy. Case in point.”

I definitely didn’t like where this was going. Nor did I like him throwing things back to me. He was the offending party. Not me.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense, Paige. Last night I tell you I’m interested in dating you. Today you’ve been doing nothing but giving me attitude.”

“Excuse me? How have I been giving you attitude?”

“Let me count the ways, Paige.” He ticked off the points using his fingers. “Your work has directly suffered. You took longer to give me the information you know I need in a timely manner. You barely made any effort to do what I asked. I don’t order you around because I’m bossy. If I make a request of you it’s because I need it.”

“Hold on, Gavin!”

He spoke over me as if I hadn’t said anything at all.

“Today is undoubtedly the worst performance you’ve shown this company. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s happening on the heels of last night.”

“That’s not fair! I’m not the kind of woman who’d leverage you like that!”

His complaints crossed into personal territory and I wasn’t going to stand for it. I was a screw-up in my private life, no doubt about it, but not when it came to my professional life.

No way.

“Results speak for themselves.” He crossed his arms, looking down on me from his superior height. “I don’t approve of your methods, Paige. How are we ever going to work if you try to take advantage of my goodwill?”

I was so damned furious I saw red. How could he lay everything at my feet like I was some kind of conniving, manipulative bitch?

Truth hurt?

Forget that. No way were they even remotely the same thing. This time it was all Gavin.

Didn’t he see how he’d been treating me all day long? He’d humiliated me in front of the whole office! If anything he was the one taking advantage of my goodwill.

“I’ve been busting my butt for you all day like I’ve done every day. My performance hasn’t suffered at all!”

His expression grew colder.

“You’re mistaken. This is not the Paige Winters I hired. This is not the PA I’ve depended on for the last two weeks. You are not being yourself and frankly I don’t like it.”

I was on the verge of unleashing my temper in a torrent of obscenities. I didn’t often get to this point, but when I did, I just didn’t give a fuck what happened next. I could count on one hand the times I did this to my father, and while he always made me bitterly regret it, it was a consequence I’d been willing to take.

I didn’t doubt Gavin would be any different.

But just like exile had been my last consequence with my father, I was willing to get booted out of here too. I spent my whole life alone. I wasn’t afraid of it. I’d survive leaving Gavin like I survived leaving every other place.

True, but leaving Gavin isn’t the same as leaving everyone else. This time you truly care.

No! Bullshit. I didn’t need him. I didn’t need anybody.

I couldn’t let myself forget the reason why he was staring me down like I was a vile disappointment.

Like the only two people who really know who you are look at you. Patrick for existing and Melissa for not being Gavin.

Rage flowed through me, stronger than ever. Seriously, how dare he lecture me? I wasn’t being myself?

He didn’t even know who the hell I really was and obviously he didn’t want to know. He just wanted me to be the poised and unruffled PA who didn’t have real feelings and was willing to take all his crap with a smile.

That was the real issue here.

I dared to have feelings.

Bitterness burst inside me. Contrary to my fantasy, Gavin was no different than anyone else I’d encountered. People were all the same. As soon as their expectations weren’t met, they turned on you because humans were narcissistic to the extreme. Everyone else was only made to serve as a reflection.

That was why individuals didn’t cross social, physical, and ideology lines. It would challenge their personal truths. Nobody wanted to see themselves in less than the best light.

Including Gavin Hawthorne.

This bitterness made my voice venomous.

“You’re right. I’m not being myself. I’m not being a doormat for you. I’m showing something called spirt and self-respect. I’m sure they’re concepts foreign to a man like you.”

“A man like me?”

“Oh yes. I know men like you very well.”

Gavin took a step closer. His blank expression should’ve made me uneasy. Thankfully, I was way past feeling anything remotely close to uneasy.

I welcomed the upcoming battle.