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I was about to pick up the phone to call her and demand her presence when there was movement at the door. I heard the latch of the lock, and she entered the room using the extra key I’d given her earlier that night.
I studied her, noting she'd put on her ice princess face. With cool, hard eyes on me, she entered the living area.
"Have a seat," I said, glad that my voice sounded authoritative.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll stand, thank you."
Irritation flared, and I cocked my head to the side as I glowered at her. "If I said the sky was blue and the sun was yellow, would you contradict me?"
"Only if the sky was gray and the sun was orange that day."
I walked over to the minibar, grabbing another tiny bottle of whiskey and dumping it into my glass. "You do know that I'm your boss, don't you?" The minute I said it, I regretted it because that was the very reason she had given me to say we couldn't spend personal time together.
I hurriedly continued, "Why did you think it was appropriate for you to make a fool of me by marching onstage and pushing me aside like I was a petulant child?" That's what really galled me. I didn't grow up with money, and before I had it, the wealthy people I mingled with always treated me as insignificant. Only Levi had shown me respect. Now that I had more money than many of the people I had mingled with before, no one ever made me feel small. Not until tonight.
Her eyes narrowed. "You hired me to market the team. That's what I was doing. And as far as making you look like a fool, you can blame Mikael for that."
I downed the whiskey and took several large steps toward her, propelled by irritation. Her eyes widened at my approach, but she didn't retreat.
"This is my team, and Mikael is my project. I will do whatever the fuck I want to with both. You are welcome to disagree with me, but under no circumstances are you to belittle me or make me look small."
Her brows drew together quizzically. "Small?"
Dammit, I’d revealed more than I wanted to. "The point is, at the end of the day, I make the final decisions, and I decided that we needed to highlight Mikael. Maybe he wasn't a hundred percent ready, but he's a good kid and his faux pas are endearing. Even if they aren't, all press is good press."
"You tell that to the countless athletes and celebrities who've been canceled for being insensitive, sexist, racist, you name it."
I shook my head. "He wasn't that bad." Was he?
She leaned in closer to me, both hands on her hips. "Once they pick and choose their soundbites and manipulate the narrative, it will be bad."
I mimicked her, leaning in closer, willing my libido to stand firm against the intoxicating scent of her perfume and the wild heat in her eyes. "If it fails, it's on me, Betts."
For a moment, we glared at each other, with every passing second, the tension building and building. My gaze drifted to her lips, and the desire to taste them threatened to overwhelm everything I was trying to do.
Goddammit, I was helpless, and I started to move toward her.
She jerked back and stepped away. All the fire in her expression dissipated, replaced by the cool façade of the ice queen.
She held her hands out to her sides in surrender. "Fine. I quit."
What the fuck? I didn't want that. "You didn't strike me as somebody who gives up."
She shrugged. "I can't give up something I never had. You hired me to do marketing, but you've pretty much scrapped everything I've done for you. So why am I here?"
"Can you really afford to just walk away?" It was an asshole thing to say, but I wasn't about to apologize or beg, even though both sat on the tip of my tongue.
"It's not your concern. I have skills, and I'd rather work for somebody who appreciates them instead of doing all this work, only to have it ignored. Oh, and by the way, the rest of your players, I'm sure, feel the same."
I felt her words like a slap in the face. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded them so much if they were delivered in the same passionate anger she’d had a few moments ago. This dismissive attitude was making me nuts.
I stepped closer to her, looming over her, daring the fire to reignite in her. "I don't accept your resignation."
Her eyes continued to stay cool, but I saw the quick uptake of the pulse in her neck.
"I want you, Betts."
The ice began to melt, replaced with uncertainty. She swallowed. "Are you talking about the job or something else?"
