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As if she hadn’t spoken, he went on. “We need to be convincing. And I know next to nothing about you.”
“Whose fault is that?”
Suddenly he took hold of her shoulders and drew her to the side, causing unwelcome ribbons of awareness to unspool inside her.
“Careful,” he cautioned an attendee.
“Sorry, Frost.”
Because a couple hadn’t been paying attention, they’d almost plowed into her and would have if he hadn’t reacted so swiftly.
With a tight nod, he acknowledged the Top’s apology.
Maybe she should thank him, but the words stuck in her throat.
After Frost removed his hands from her, he met her gaze again. “Where were we?”
Since she was reeling from his touch, she had to force herself to remember.
“Ah yes. You were saying it’s my fault we don’t know each other.”
Accepting his lifeline, she picked up the thread of the conversation. “My previous boss, Sylvia, and I knew a lot about each other.”
“And that led to a successful business…how?”
Incredulous, she gasped. “Are you suggesting that the board fired her because she was courteous?”
“Personal should never come before business.”
Was that motto engraved on his heart or in his head? Maybe both? “Have you always been this way?” Or had life hardened him?
With an intensity she’d never seen from him before, he studied her. “Which way?”
She clamped her lips together. After all, she needed her job. “I’ve said too much.”
A hint of a smile teased his eyes, if not his mouth. “Since when has that stopped you? Have I always been what way?”
“Ruthless.”
A shadow passed over his face. “No.”
So lifehadmade him that way. Damn, she hated the fact he suddenly seemed a little more human.
“At Christoff, I’ve been attempting something that might be impossible…to save the firm from failure. That requires difficult decisions.”
“So you’re willing to sacrifice the many for the few? In college philosophy class, I’d heard it the other way around.”
A small tic—of threat?—pulsed in his temple. “You would have preferred that I’d come in and shut down the company? Fire everyone and bring in my own people?” He paused. “Including an admin assistant who is committed to me and my mission?”
Heeding his barb about disloyalty, she swallowed her instinctive retort.
“I realize that support would be a lot to expect from you.” He leaned in slightly. “So I haven’t asked.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have these kinds of discussions with him. Losing Sylvia as her boss had been devastating. That night, Kaylee had gone home and cried. And she didn’t want to lower her guard around Frost.
“Rest assured, once the ship is righted, a new CEO will be installed. And you’ll be rid of me.”
“Really?” This was the first good news she’d had in months. “How long will that take?”
