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She parked, rode up the elevator, and popped open the door with a clang.
Eli strode out of the kitchen, red apple and knife in hand. “Thought I told you to take the day off.”
She threw her purse on the dining room table and swept over to him in a huff so quickly, a breeze lifted her hair. He cut a thin piece of apple with the oversized knife and laid the slice on his tongue, the slow sensuality of the action causing her steps to falter.
Why…was that sexy?
Focus, Isa.
She forced her attention back to the run-in with Eli’s…whatever Zach was to him…and propped her hands on her hips. “Zach Ferguson.”
Eli paused, the knife piercing the skin of the apple.
“I ran into him at Elsa’s just now. Or, rather, he ran into me. He let me know he would have asked me out if I wasn’t—and I quote—‘taken.’”
“He shouldn’t be asking you out.” Eli’s voice was calm but his expression turned to granite.
“That’s not my problem.” She offered an impatient smirk. “My problem is that someone told him I was taken.”
Eli sucked his tongue against his teeth with a tst, a sure sign he was irritated. Well, too bad. She was irritated.
“You’re not to date Crane employees while you’re working for me,” Eli growled.
“I’m not aware of any Crane business Mr. Ferguson is doing.” She crossed her arms over her breasts in challenge.
“The answer is no, Sable.”
“You don’t have any right to tell me who I can and can’t date.”
“You’re not dating Zach.”
“I might!”
“You won’t!” He took a step closer, his top lip curled. “Not while you work for me.”
She had no interest in going out with Zach. He was good-looking, but he had trouble written all over him. But she was equally pissed that Eli thought he could control her personal life in the same way he held her business’s reputation hostage.
“I can wait you out,” she said. “Given our track record, it shouldn’t be too much longer before you fire me again.” She snatched the apple from his hand and took a bite.
He took another imposing step closer and Isa, mouth still chewing, set the fruit on the table behind her and stood her ground. Eli might like others to believe he was a bear, but she knew better. She held those deep blue eyes, seeing in their depths a flash of something she didn’t like: hurt.
She recognized it instantly, having seen it enough in her own reflection after she left her parents’ company and her former life. She’d defied them, and as justified as she was by doing it, sometimes felt badly for going against their wishes. As fast as her temper spiked, it fizzled.
“Why?” she asked, taking a step closer to him.
“Why what?”
“Why did you tell Zach I’m taken?”
He was as silent as an Easter Island statue. Looked like one, too, come to think of it.
“Eli.”
He skimmed his fingers over the open placket of her shirt, the warmth from his skin radiating through the material. He flipped his hand over, keeping his eyes trained on hers and running the backs of his fingers over her breast.
She didn’t dare breathe.
He lifted the knife and in one quick motion, sliced, and a startled exhale left her lungs.
