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rm around him, smiling at everyone.
Sean looked the same as I remembered. Smoking hot, sexy as hell, arrogant as hell. His expression was friendly, but very confident.
“Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”
My heart was pounding and the pickle was stuck in my throat. I tried to swallow but nothing happened. I reached for my water glass.
It was then, as his gaze swept down the table, that he saw me.
His eyes widened.
Mine narrowed.
Then he grinned.
Well, this was just fan-freaking-tastic. My new boss was possibly the most annoying man on the planet who could simultaneously piss me off and make my nipples hard all at the same time.
I gripped my fork tighter.
Well, fuck yeah. My day just got even better.
I’d been all prepared to come into Bone and reassure the existing staff that I was a decent guy who wasn’t going to go all Gordon Ramsey on their ass. What I had not expected was to see the one woman who could distract me from my paralyzing claustrophobia.
This was an unexpected pleasure and an added bonus to my new position. Because seated midway down the table was the woman who had made a hell of an impact on me. It was Isla the Sarcastic. Isla the Gorgeous. Isla the Intimidator.
That was how I’d started to think of her after our encounter in the elevator. Our meeting hadn’t ended well. After a kiss that had given me the world’s biggest hard-on, we had gone into Michael and Felicia’s engagement party, sallied a few parting shots, and promptly avoided each other for the rest of the night.
But I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head the whole damn party.
Or truthfully, in the months since.
She was rude and hated me, and I couldn’t even argue the why of it. I had been a dick to her. My only excuse was that being in a close space was a real challenge for me, and I had gotten on the elevator hoping to be alone so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. Then when the fucking thing had stopped moving, I barely remembered what I said after that until we were safely in the hallway. But I was sure none of it was good because she looked at me like I was a cockroach she wanted to smash with her boot.
Yet, she was gorgeous, there was no denying that.
She had both the look and the attitude of an eighties punk rocker.
She had shoulder-length hair that had been bleached almost white on top, with the bottom strands going darker the lower you looked. She had big expressive brown eyes, a cute little nose with a tiny silver stud in the side, and lush, full lips.
That I had kissed.
Kissed, sucked, bit, devoured…
Lips that I had tried to forget.
Now she was staring at me in both shock and anger, eyes snapping, mouth wide open.
It seemed I’d actually made her speechless, which was a hell of a feat from what I remembered of her.
“Thank you, everyone. I’m excited to be a part of the great team here at Bone,” I said, dragging my gaze off of her.
I was not there to eye fuck Isla.
Making sure to make eye contact with each person around the table, I used a reassuring tone. “I know you are running like a well-oiled machine here, so I promise not to come in and change everything up. I want to work with all of you to keep Bone the amazing establishment it is, while kicking it up a notch.”
It was the usual corporate talk. I’d been in the business long enough to know what was expected of me at a meeting like this. Reassure everyone. Make them feel like nothing is going to change.
All while knowing you were about to switch out half of the menu.
