“A chance?” she questioned. She folded her arms over her chest, but I caught sight of her hands before she did. They were shaking.
A spear of guilt ran through my gut.
“I’ll wait to judge the kitchen until it’s finished,” I replied. “If I still hate it, you’re fired.” That would solve my problem, but it was still not something I wanted to do. It might become necessary, though, if I couldn’t control myself.
If I couldn’t just start treating her like any other damn employee.
If I couldn’t get her out of my head.
I expected her to leave at that point. I hoped she would leave. Then I could get down to the business of castigating myself in private before getting on with my day. But she didn’t leave. She just sniffed, pursed her lips, and continued to challenge me.
“And if you like it?”
I looked up at her, blinking. “I’m not following.”
“If you hate it, I get fired. So what happens if you like it?”
Little minx. Maybe she suspects the power she has over me after all. I couldn’t help but admire her backbone, either way. That didn’t mean I was willing to let her off easily, though.
“If I like it, isn’t that just you fulfilling the bare minimum of your job requirement?” The smirk on my face was more about how impressed I was with her, but I didn’t try to hide it. I figured she’d more than likely just take it as evidence of a lack of faith in her abilities.
Truth was, I hadn’t made a final decision on that yet.
“Maybe,” she admitted. “But you just humiliated me in front of the contractors, insulted me, and harassed me about our sexual history. If the outcome of the kitchen has consequences for me, I think it’s only fair that it have consequences for you, too.”
She continued to impress me.
“You realize that only makes me more motivated to hate the kitchen?”
She shrugged. “Maybe so. But I’m confident enough in my work to know you’ll love it.”
“Very well, kitten,” I purred. “You’ve intrigued me. What do you want? More money?”
She shook her head. “Money would be too easy for you.”
“Then what?”
“The truth.”
Her words hung in the air between us. I furrowed my brow.
“What do you mean ‘the truth’?” I was suddenly uncomfortable.
She circled the desk, coming to lean against the side of it. I was momentarily distracted by the visual of the wood biting into the flesh of her ass, picturing my hand in its place.
“I want to know why you’re like this,” she said. “I want to know why the man I met at Repeat is so different than the man I work for now.”
“Darling, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment,” I said, trying not to show how deep her words dug. “I think you’re expecting the answer to be some Mr. Hyde type potion that changes me from a mild-mannered doctor into a horrific beast.” I grinned predatorily. “But maybe this is just the way I am?”
“If that’s the case, then it should be an easy wager for you to make,” she challenged. Her eyes bore into mine. I’d never seen her so fierce. I’d never seen her so beautiful.
“Fine,” I agreed. “But you would have been smarter to ask for more money.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Maybe the answer to my question will be as simple as you say. But maybe it won’t.”
She pushed off from the desk and strolled toward the door. I watched her leave, meditating on the potential seriousness of this development. I didn’t just admire her spirit. I goddamn respected her.
And I still fucking wanted her.
Obviously I should have said no. If nothing else, I should have just told Elizabeth that I was the boss and I either liked the kitchen, which meant she was doing her job, or I didn’t and she was fired. But it was looking like I was completely unable to think clearly when in her presence.
And that could lead to big trouble.
So since I couldn’t stop myself from giving in to her, that left me just one other option.
I needed to make her hate me.
9
Oliver
Not long after Elizabeth went home for the day, somebody else knocked on my study door. My sanctuary was quickly becoming one of the busiest rooms in the house.
“Mr. Bentley,” Todd called through the door. “Could I have a moment?”
I sighed. “Come on in then.”
The door opened and Todd came through looking displeased. Not for the first time, he looked downright fatherly and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought I was about to get a good haranguing.
“What is it?” I asked, sliding the screen of my laptop closed and resting my folded hands on top. I didn’t bother removing my glasses. I would be working for some hours yet, and I didn’t intend for my chat with Todd to go on very long.
“Still combing through those contracts?” Todd asked.
I nodded. “Nearly finished now.”
“You could have gotten a lawyer to do it for you.”
“And I could hire somebody to spoon feed me all my meals, but I still do that on my own.”
“But at least you can be assured that you won’t come up with an empty spoon when you feed yourself,” Todd continued. “The same cannot be said of trying to find mistakes and discrepancies in dozens of legal contracts.”
I frowned at him. “Is there something I can help you with, Todd?”
He strolled toward the desk, hands clasped behind his back. I watched warily.
“I heard you got in a fight with Ms. Paulson while I was out on errands,” he began.
Ah, here it comes.
“And you’ve come to chastise me?” I chuckled. “Todd, I really think we ought to get you a hobby.”
He looked down his sharp nose at me and clicked his tongue. “You shouldn’t be so hard on her. Especially considering your shared history.”
“Shared history is a delicate way of putting it,” I remarked. “I fucked her in public.”
Todd remained unruffled. “I find your nonchalant attitude and apparent inability to be a decent human being where Ms. Paulson is involved troubling.”
“Thank you for your input.” I opened my laptop again. “You’re dismissed.”
But Todd didn’t so much as flinch. He was ramrod straight and still as a moss covered rock. I was tempted to go back to my work and just ignore him, but I knew he was likely just to keep standing there until I acknowledged him. He was good at that.
“Todd,” I ground out. “I’m not in the mood.”
“If only you’d had that attitude the night you met Ms. Paulson,” he retorted. “Perhaps I wouldn’t be having to worry about finding a new designer.”
I tilted my head back in surprise. “Did she quit?”
A small spark of panic flared in my belly. Had I been so awful to her that she walked right off the property? I squashed the spark. If she had quit, that might not turn out to be such a bad thing.
“No, she didn’t quit,” Todd said. “In fact, the contractors were impressed by her degree of professionalism and tact in regards to your little interaction.” He narrowed his gaze. “The same could not be said for you.”