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I wanted to ask him if he was actually hiring me on the spot without checking my references. I could have been unstable, or a sex offender, or something. Did he care about that baby at all?
“Since you didn’t look at my file, I’m going to let you know that I have an arrest record. I was arrested for assault and battery when I was eighteen. I think this is something you should know.”
That got Knox’s attention.
“How the fuck did Emily let you in my house?” He leaned over and I stepped back even if there was a desk between us. His energy was pushing me out of the room.
“I, umm, well, you see…”
“Are you a sociopath?”
My jaw dropped and the adrenalin rush pushed me to get closer and slam my hands on his desk.
“No, Mr. Knox, I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern. I am not some kind of dangerous, violent, crazy woman. I’ve explained this to Emily already and you would have known if you would have bothered to read the file.”
“You seem pretty violent to me, Miss Hart.”
“I was attacked, ok? Someone from my high school broke into my car and attacked me. I’m not a brawler, I was a scared eighteen-year-old girl who knew how to throw a punch. I was arrested because his father was a state senator and I was…” I stopped myself just in time. He didn’t need to know the whole story. “It was self-defense, Mr. Knox, and if that’s a problem for you, I can go right now.”
My eyes were pinned on to his, both throwing daggers at each other and now that I’ve said what I had to say and the adrenaline was gone, I’ve realized that I just yelled in Hunter Knox’s face. He offered me a suite in his fancy house and I gave him a screamed lecture in return. This was going to cost me.
“You’ll start tomorrow at eight, Miss Hart.”
“Wait, what?” He wasstillgiving me the job?
Meticulously, Knox took a piece a paper, wrote something on it, and then pushed it to under my nose.
“Monthly salary,” he clarified, and my jaw dropped again. He was paying me in a month almost four times what I made as a teacher. “Don’t be late. I want to give you a tour of the house and have you sign some things before I leave for the office and I have a busy day.”
“I’m never late,” I said, but my eyes were still on the page.
“Good.” Mr. Knox got up and came to stand next to me. His towering presence was so vibrant and overwhelming, I had no choice but to turn to him and look up. I realized then that I was only at the level of his chest. “Word of advice, Miss Hart: never again direct that disobedient attitude at me because that will get you a punishment.”
Something in his tone and the way he was looking down at me made my mind go blank and my mouth dry up.
“A punishment? Like a cut from my salary?”
Mr. Knox let out a low chuckle, but I couldn’t find the joke.
“You would have so much potential.” Huh? “But the baby needs you more.” With that, he turned away and started walking through the door. What the hell was that? The baby needed me more?
I had no idea what Knox meant, or what my undiscovered potential was and maybe I shouldn’t pay it a second thought, but there was something in his voice, something magnetic, that made me think about the meaning of his words the entire drive back home.
Punishment. The word was echoing in my head over and over and over again like a record on repeat. I knew punishment, I’ve had plenty of it in my life, but the way Hunter Knox said it didn’t trigger any bad memories. His velvet voice wrapped that otherwise ugly word into a veil of sensuality.
I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into, but I had to be careful around Mr. Knox. His pretty shell could make you forget really easy that inside he was an ass with a frozen heart.
Well, my new full-time job with no time off will do the trick and keep my mind busy enough, so I wouldn’t think too much about the man who turned me on and called me a psycho, all in the five minutes of knowing him.
