OFF THE CUFF

Two-1

His words played out in my mind long after I’d left work for the day. Even though the night went by without a peep, I couldn’t move past the feelings he inspired in me. Was I truly inadequate, or was he just a d**k?

It seemed maybe Kinsey was just as tired as I was. After dinner, she passed out and so did I.

In the morning, I felt refreshed and was determined to have a better day than the day before. I’d been able to get my social media pitch in, and I was going to start the day out passing off projects before meeting with Donte in the afternoon.

It was a new day, and I was excited for my new assignment.

When I arrived at my desk, there was obviously something wrong—my laptop was missing. Everything else was where I left it, but in place of my company laptop was a simple blank Donovan Trading and Investment business card. Instead of an employee’s information, neat handwriting in all capital letters spelled out—YOU’RE MINE.

I stared down at the words, trying to understand their meaning.

First thing I needed to do was to find out where my laptop had run away to. I often took it home, but I knew there was no way I was getting work done after the s**t day I’d had.

A knock to my boss’s open door drew his attention, and he looked up.

“Morning,” he said as he waved me in. “Great job on that pitch.”

His compliment did little to settle my nerves, which were strangely on edge. “Where’s my computer?”

He froze, then cleared his throat. “Ah, about that. You’ve been reassigned.”

I froze. “Reassigned? What does that mean?” I demanded.

He held up his hands. “It’s just temporary.”

“Why?”

He let out a sigh and rubbed at the back of his neck. I liked Matt, he was a good guy to work for, but something was off.

“Because you had a bad day yesterday and pissed off an exec, and the whole office heard about it. You know how gossip is.”

The simmering anger morphed into a stone sitting in the pit of my stomach, growing larger and denser with each passing second. The asshole was an executive. Figured, with the expensive suit and sexy scowl.

I knew my behavior was wrong, but the man didn’t need to respond the way he did. Accidents happened, and he’d hit the right nerve on the wrong day. No regrets or anything, but I knew what was happening was punishment.

“How is this even possible? I’m in Marketing!”

“He’s the President of Acquisitions. The Worthington takeover takes precedent. He needs help, and he has decided you are the one to fill that role.”

“What about my Worthington project?”

“Donte will become lead, and you will assist. I’ve worked it out that you will still be able to work on it some while helping Carthwright.”

Some.

Anger coursed through me. I’d worked so hard to get where I was. The prestige of such a project would greatly help my career—only now the credit I’d hoped to receive might not come, affecting my evaluations and raises for years to come.

All for a couple of drops of coffee.

And then a lot more when that pretty mouth of his started insulting me.

“He’s waiting for you.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to be some asshole’s gopher as punishment for an accident.”

He stared at me, his eyebrow raised, and I rolled my eyes in response.

“Please, Roe. I promise you it’s temporary. Everything will be back to normal in no time.”

“No,” I said as I shook my head.

“There’s only one other choice in the matter, and I know with your situation you don’t want to take it.”

He hit a nerve there. No way was I able to just quit. Taking care of Kinsey had drained a lot of my savings over the last year. While I did get assistance from the state and she was on Medicaid, without Pete paying half the rent, the full amount fell on me.

That, and babies were expensive.

And so were cute baby clothes.

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“You’ll be back in no time and can jump right back in with Donte.”

“This isn’t fair.”

“You, more than many, know that life is rarely fair.”

I nodded. I’d made my bed and I would lie in it, albeit unwillingly.

I returned to my desk and got my bag. If I needed anything else, I could always come back, but for now, I was going to go meet with the asshole ruining my life.

I blew out a breath to calm myself.

You put yourself in this position, I reminded myself. Only I was to blame for my actions, but I still couldn’t believe he’d taken it so far.

I could feel the strain on the muscles of my face from the frown of disgust I was wearing. I’d never really ventured to this side of the building. There just wasn’t a need, which probably explained why I’d never really seen him but on occasion. Then again, Donovan Trading and Investment occupied three floors, and I’d only seen two because I was always at my desk.

The laptop was sitting on the desk right outside his office. With it were two monitors, one attached to the desktop for his assistant, I gathered. Maybe I’d have more time than I thought if he had the foresight to set up a second workstation.

Then again, Matt did say he got Carthwright to allow me to also work on my regular work. It would be slow, but at least for some of the day I could forget where I was.

“Come on in,” a deep, smooth voice called from the door behind me.

I took a breath in and a breath out before I turned and stepped inside, my fists clenching and unclenching with each step. Steps that faltered when my eyes met his.

I knew he was good looking, but seeing him up close, getting my first real good look at him, I was stunned. He went past the fantasy version I’d built. I didn’t remember him to be show-stopping attractive. The glower he was shooting me only intensified his gorgeous eyes and the angles of his face. His dark hair was very short on the sides and longer on top and was perfectly swept back.

“Miss Pierce,” Carthwright said as I stopped a few feet from the edge of his desk.

“It’s Roe,” I said as I crossed my arms in front of me, my hip c*****g to the side as I shifted my weight—a movement that didn’t go unnoticed by him.

His gaze locked on mine. “I’m well aware. Do you know who I am?”

“The suit I bumped into by accident and unfortunately splashed some coffee onto.”

“Anything else?”

“Carthwright.” The Assholian. I snickered internally.

He leaned back, his eyes still studying me. “I’m the President of Acquisitions. Do you know what that means?”

I sighed and shifted my weight again, c*****g the other hip. Talking to me like I was stupid was my biggest pet peeve. “You’re working the Worthington takeover.”

“That was an expensive suit.”

“Was?” I quirked a brow. “Did I sully it and you had to put it out of its misery?”

The f**k-me eyes of his glowered at me again, but I caught the uptick of his lip. His full, kissable lips.

Get ahold of yourself, Roe!

“Feisty. Yes, I can work with that.”

Feisty?

I wasn’t sure what his game was, but I’d never had someone get under my skin so easily or fast. I knew better than to accept people at face value. I also knew I couldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. And Thane Carthwright? Well, I didn’t think I could even get that man a centimeter off the ground.

He was easily over a foot taller than my even five feet.

“Why am I here?” I asked in an attempt to steer my thoughts away from the god-like man in front of me.

Why did it have to be him?

He ignored my question and continued on. “You are mine now. You work beneath me, and I’m going to hold you there until I’m satisfied,” he said with a smirk, his voice smooth and confident.

His words combined with the way he was looking at me flipped a switch I hadn’t felt in a while, and heat flooded my face.

The prickle only grew under his scrutiny. The navy blue suit he was wearing only made his eyes pop more, especially with the added bright blue cuff links.

His face had been clean shaven the day before, but today there was a light sheen of scruff. It did nothing to detract from how handsome he was, and I really needed something to detract from that.

What the hell?

“I’m your boss now. You will listen to me and do as I say.” His eyes never left mine, and I swallowed hard. “Your future is in my hands.”

I clenched my jaw, pissed that he’d gotten the upper hand. His attitude irked me, and I knew I was going to have to leave friendly Roe at the door in order to deal with the ass in front of me.

“Where is your assistant?” I asked in an attempt to gain back some of the ground I’d lost. He wasn’t going to walk all over me.

His mouth turned down. “My assistant decided a baby was more important than her job, and she’s out.”

I thanked the heavens for that cold splash of water, because with one sentence I was miraculously cured from whatever had a hold of me.

“You’re pissy because she’s on maternity leave?” I asked for clarification.

“For nine more weeks,” he grumbled.

I had trouble with my patience and my tongue. “The woman has to heal and bond with her new baby,” I said, unable to hold back all the anger in my tone.

Another thing that didn’t go unnoticed by the man, and his brow quirked at me. He called me feisty, and I was going to show him just how feisty I could be.

“She could have made it three weeks and you wouldn’t be standing in front of me.”

My eyes widened as his words hit close to home. I’d only had three weeks with Kinsey when I first took her in, and I knew it was not enough time. “Wow, and I wasn’t sure I could dislike you more.”

“I don’t care whether or not you like me—you’re mine until she returns, so go do your job.”

“And what is that, exactly?”

“First is to stop glaring at me.”

A harsh laugh left me. “That’s going to be a hard one.”

His eyes narrowed, but otherwise he ignored me. “Your job is to make mine run smoothly. And you will start that by answering the phone by the second ring and refilling my coffee when my cup is empty. There is a binder sitting on your desk filled with all the information you need. Since you are already familiar with the company and the programs, there is no learning curve there. Get it right.”

Yesterday he had called me incompetent, and today he demonstrated that time hadn’t improved his perception of me. I knew it wouldn’t matter if it had been twenty-four hours, days, or months, it wouldn’t change. Thane Carthwright was a complete jackass.

A jackass who believed I was inept and unqualified for any job.

The decision upon me now was whether I would continue to feed that belief, or was I going to knock him on his f*****g ass?

Maybe I could accomplish both.

“Yes, sir,” I ground out and turned to leave.

“Oh, and by the way, you’ll need to wear a blazer.”

I stopped and swirled back around. “Why?”

“Because the position requires it.”

“Does that mean if I don’t, you’ll fire me from this position and I’ll go back to my real job?”

His jaw ticked and his lips formed a thin line. “No.”

“Are you going to buy me these blazers?” I asked.

“No.”

I smiled at him. “Then no, I’m not going to wear one.” I spun back around and continued my path out the door.

I sighed as I gave the desk a look of disgust, then sat down and opened the binder.

Surely, I was in hell.

It didn’t take long before his phone began to ring, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was still reading the extremely boring binder. It circumvented itself so many times, it was no wonder the temps didn’t work out. I was having trouble deciphering it, and I’d worked for the company for years.

“Pick up the phone!” Carthwright yelled.