The man’s face whipped toward me. He stood up straighter, giving me a full, belly clenching view of everything he was working with. From the looks of it, he wasn’t just working with the full kitchen. He’d taken over an industrial kitchen supply store and had more inventory than he knew what to do with. And those cheekbones.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. You, though? You’re an insecure, egotistical asshole. I just thought you should know that.”
“Next time you want to play hero, wear a cape.”
I opened my mouth in disbelief. “You’re-”
Thunderbolt Cheeks stuck his forefinger out faster than I could react, pressing it against my lips. If I’d been less worked up, I might’ve bit him to teach him what happens when you assume you can put your hands on a stranger. Instead, I just stood there dumbfounded as I stared into those blazing blue pits of dream juice he called eyes.
“This is my world,” he said with a voice that probably could slice stones in two. “Make something of yourself if you want that opinion of yours to mean anything.”
I realized the entire room was staring at us with slack jaws. Even the guy who had been getting verbally reamed looked like he wished I would just stop talking. Why did they put up with this?
“You know what?” I asked, trying not to take a deep rapturous breath of whatever scent he was wearing. Sex God? Naked on a horse? Black and white lumberjack? Whatever it was, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I needed to create distance while I still could. “I don’t have time for this. I have a meeting with him.” I pointed to the door to Mr. White’s office, where I saw the silhouette of someone moving around inside. “I bet he’ll love to hear how you’re treating people out here.”
I walked with as much confidence as I could, following my memory of the map to Mr. White’s office.
I was going to do my job and get the hell out of there. That egotistical asshole might make an ill-advised appearance in my fantasies going forward, but he wasn’t going to be allowed to talk there.
I reached Mr. White’s door and knocked twice. A man in a janitor’s uniform answered, nodded his head, and then walked out of the office.
I almost glanced over my shoulder, but the puzzle pieces had already clicked together. Mr. Ego wasn’t just some uppity manager. He was...
Oh, shit.
2
Adrian
I hadn’t moved from Walker’s desk yet. Everyone was still as fossils, except the little firecracker who had come out of nowhere. She looked like she’d escaped from a Disney Princess parade float, ditched her outfit, and somehow wandered into my office.
She was wearing a blue dress that should’ve been conservative, but there was nothing conservative about those curves. There was no hiding that ass. Her body may have demanded attention, but her face commanded it. She had ridiculously big, slightly upturned eyes that were shaped like almonds. Her nose was pert and dusted with freckles, and her lips were full enough to immediately drag my thoughts to a very dark place.
Focus, Adrian. Remember why you’re here.
But all I did was focus on the rest of her. The blonde hair worn in a braid on one side and straight on the other. She had miles of curves, and I wondered how long I would’ve kept staring in complete silence if the sound of her knocking on my office door hadn’t brought me to the present.
This was too perfect. The meeting she so self-importantly announced was with me. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she realized.
I pulled the knot on my tie, rolled my neck, which was still a little stiff from the shit night of sleep I’d gotten, and strode across the room.
My employees finally started resuming their work once I was moving, as if they had been too worried I might notice them and annihilate them right along with Walker if they so much as clicked a mouse.
“Excuse me,” I said, reaching past the escaped Disney Princess to pull my door open. “I have a meeting.”
She stared at me with those huge blue eyes. I knew it had been far too long since I’d given my body what it needed. Looking at this woman was making me hum with molten heat.
I walked inside my office, then pulled the door closed, even though I knew damn well she was here to see me.
I went behind my desk, folded my ankle over my knee, and waited patiently.
It was nearly a full minute before a hesitant knock sounded at my door.
“Come in,” I said.
The woman walked in. I expected her head to be hanging and her to look like she was ready to lick my boots clean for the bullshit she’d pulled out there. Instead, she looked defiant.
“I didn’t realize you were the one I was meeting,” she said.
“Clearly.” I gestured for her to sit in the chair across from my desk. I found an odd beat of satisfaction when she moved to obey without question. She wasn’t entirely hopeless, at least. “What’s your name?”
“Juliette. Er, just Jules. Jules Adams.”
“I’m Adrian White,” I said. It was the first time I’d used my real first name at a company. But Coleton was the grand prize, the final destination. Some part of me had always wanted Russ Coleton himself to hear that Adrian was the one who destroyed his empire from the inside out. But if I was going to get there, I needed to keep it together. I’d only just begun the journey, and Coleton was by far the biggest corporation my team and I had ever set out to bring down.
The woman opened a little folder with a Maxi Designs logo on the front. “I was thinking we could start with colors, if you have a pref-”
“Oh, no,” I said, chuckling. “I only wanted you to know who was going to be making sure you never worked in this city again. We’re done. That stunt you pulled out there in front of my staff? I’ll be sure to tell Maxi exactly why she just lost her biggest client and is about to have to hire a publicist to salvage her reputation.”
I expected tears. I was used to tears. I didn’t enjoy being a ruthless prick, but I’d never been one to shy away from the most effective methods. I got what I set out to get because I never compromised. I never took the easy road. I did exactly what it took, no matter how many “feelings” got hurt along the way.
But Jules clenched her jaw and her eyes flashed with rage. “You’re a coward.”
I actually laughed in surprise. Definitely didn’t see that coming.
“You can’t handle being questioned, can you?” she asked. “Did I give your precious ego a boo boo when I stood up to you out there? Do you feel like you have to make an example of me so you can still stroke that swollen pride of yours when you go to bed tonight? Well, go ahead, asshole. Ruin my life if you want. I started over once. I’ll do it again if I have to.”
To tell the truth, she was making me think about something else that was in danger of becoming swollen. I liked her backbone, even if it pissed me off. I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my chin as she got up and reached for the door. “Or,” I said. “My secretary put in her notice a few days back. You could work for me.”
“What?” she asked. “One minute you want to make sure I never work again and the next you’re offering me a job? So you’re a narcissist and insane?”