Page 47
“Because I do,” I answered, hoping he'd leave it alone.
“What happened to where you staying?” he asked, his gaze sharpening.
“Nothing happened.”
His eyes stayed on me long enough to make me uncomfortable, but thankfully, he let it go.
“Handle it when we get back,” he instructed.
I frowned. “You really do think you can just tell people what to do.”
“When they work for me?” He gave me a slow once-over before meeting my eyes again. “Yeah. Sometimes I do.”
This arrogant man.
“And what if I say no?” I challenged, watching him closely.
His face didn’t change. “You’re not.”
I actually laughed. “You don’t know what I’m gonna say.”
“I do tonight.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone like I wasn’t standing there two seconds away from throwing something at his head.
“Be ready by seven Monday morning.”
I stared at him for a second, waiting for him to crack a smile or give me some indication that he realized how demanding he sounded. Nothing. Ezra simply stood there with his phone in his hand, looking completely unbothered, like he hadn’t just planned four days of my life without consulting me first.
“You are really an asshole,” I told him, shaking my head.
One side of his mouth lifted as he glanced down at his phone. “Probably.”
The casual response irritated me even more. I snatched my purse off the bar and shoved the strap onto my shoulder hard enough for it to slide right back down my arm.
“I’m serious. You don’t get to stand there barking orders at me like I’m one of your little soldiers just because my name is on your payroll.”
That got his attention.
Ezra slowly lifted his eyes from his phone. He slid it into his pocket, then took a few steps toward me until only the width of the bar separated us.
“And I’m serious too,” he said, his voice lower now. “When it’s personal, you can tell me no all day. When it’s business and I’m telling my manager where I need her to be for the job I’m paying her to do, I expect her to be there.”
I tightened my grip on my purse. The messed-up part was, I knew he had a point. That didn’t mean I had to like the arrogant way he delivered it.
“I hate you,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes at him.
Ezra’s eyes moved over my face, lingering long enough to make heat creep up my neck. Then that irritating little smile returned beneath his beard.
“No, you don’t.”
My hand froze on the strap of my purse. The confidence in his voice irritated me almost as much as the fact that he was probably right.
I narrowed my eyes at him before turning toward the door. “Keep telling yourself that.”
His quiet laugh followed me across the empty club, making me walk a little faster before I did something stupid—like turn around and prove his arrogant ass right.
His voice followed me again before I made it to the door.
