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“All right then, what do you want to tell me?”
I leaned back in my chair, hands folded over my stomach and waited.
CHAPTER2
CASSIE
You knowthose moments in your life when you just wish you could hit rewind and never think about that moment again? Yep, I’ve had one of those and put a foot in it big time. Couldn’t wait to tell Stevie about it to unburden the terrible feeling of awkwardness and frustration. How could I have made a mistake like that? It made me look like a total idiot, something I did not want to do in front of my new boss.
When I ran away from Dr. Foster after I thought he was a stranger prowling around our offices, I rushed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I liked to think that I didn’t care about anything, but I had never done anything that embarrassing. At least not in a really long time. I leaned my hands over the sink and stared into the mirror.
God, it’s so not fair that he’s hot. So not fair. He really is God’s gift to women. It’s a good thing he’s a dick, right? Good thing. Good thing.
My mind just kept repeating the same words over and over; I thought my brain was broken. But I took a deep breath.
Tall, muscular, dark brown hair, jawline razor-sharp with just a hint of sexy stubble. And the hands. I had a thing for hands, big strong hands that knew what to do with you.
I spoke to my reflection. “Get a hold of yourself. You can do this, Cassie. You’re a bad ass bitch. No way some hot guy who thinks he’s hot shit is going to ruin your career.”
Yeah, but what if he fires you because you thought he was a stranger? Because you were rude to him?
“Then, I’ll find a new job.”
Okay, so I was talking to myself. It was time to go. I dried my face with a paper towel, took another deep breath and left to go find his office. The old manager was nothing like this guy. Since it was a government-owned lab, he didn’t have to get too involved with what we were doing. We weren’t micromanaged, but Dr. Foster seemed to think otherwise.
Besides, I had no idea this Brad Foster had a doctorate. Geez, just another thing to make him think he’s hot shit.
Even though he is.
I shushed myself and knocked on his office door before opening it slowly. He stood as I entered, and I wondered how old the man really was that he still thought of things like that. Old timey manners. As I got a bit closer, I did notice the silver fox thing he had going on at his temples, and I bit the inside of my cheek to remind myself to behave.
He sat and leaned back, looking all casual. “All right, so what did you want to tell me?”
My anger just couldn’t take it. I stopped being so reserved, and I just wanted to give him the cold, hard truth. That’s what he needed to hear anyway.
“Well, I think that you’re just coming in here and messing everything up. We were doing fine. Our numbers were good; we were hitting our targets, we were publishing our findings and using the funding to their advantage. I don’t know why you have to keep firing people and changing up systems. Things were fine as they were.”
I stopped then. My voice had gotten loud, and I realized that I’d been pacing around, throwing a tantrum when I should have been speaking calmly and firmly. I returned my hands to the edge of the desk as I remained standing. His eyes, a beautiful, breathtaking deep blue, just watched me for a few seconds before one brow lifted.
“Look, Cassie,” he said, and I corrected him.
“Miss Williams is fine.”
Geez, this guy drives me crazy. Already assuming he can call me by my first name? And how is he sure I’m not a doctor too?
“Fine. Miss Williams. Look. This is now my lab. I’ve purchased it, and I want to see it succeed. What’s the point of staying in the same place when you can grow and change?”
In a huff, I turned away from him and looked up at the wall behind him.
Great. A Harvard diploma. Microbiology. Just what I needed to see.
“You got rid of my research partner! We’d been working for months and making good headway! It could diminish the success of the project! What kind of a boss does that?”
“This kind.” His voice was low, and there was a dangerous tone to it.
For a moment, just briefly, I could feel a little tingle of excitement under my skin. I liked danger; I liked darkness. This was working for me real good.
Shit.
