Derek was supposed to be getting to her but was angry by his own body’s betrayal. The second he touched her arm lightening shot through his fingertips, straight to his groin. Her smell, which was so much more delicate than most women, surrounded him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and take her immediately on his new desk.
He was trying to play with her and instead he was the one who was getting burned. If it weren’t for her eyes widening in desire or the fact her breathing was getting shallow he would’ve completely lost it. Seeing her desire for him was giving him back some strength. He’d have her again but it would be on his terms and he’d be the one to walk away, leaving her wanting more.
It took every ounce of his control but he stepped back and casually propped himself on the edge of his desk. It would look like she hadn’t affected him at all. He was great at putting on masks.
She had her hands clenched at her sides as she got herself under control. His lips turned up at the corners in a mocking smile as he waited her out.
“First of all, what happened in the past is long over. I haven’t thought about you since the last day we were together. Had you not brought it up, I would’ve completely forgotten we even had sex,” she lied to him. She got some pleasure as his smile was wiped off his face and his eyes narrowed at her.
“Secondly, I can handle anything. If we need to work together I can stand being around you. I just prefer not to since you disgust me,” she spat as she made her exit. She raced down the hallway and into the ladies room, where she emptied her lunch. She sat on the floor for several minutes as she regained her composure. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to handle working for the man who’d broken her heart so badly she’d been afraid to get involved in other relationships.
She’d try and work for him as long as she could, while she started searching for other work but she couldn’t go without a paycheck. She had her son to think about. She gathered herself together and then walked proudly back into her old office. Amy looked up to glare at her. She glared right back. She had zero tolerance for the jealous woman.
“If you would please move, I need to get to my desk,” she said, proud of the authority in her voice.
“He didn’t fire you?” Amy asked in shock, before she could stop herself.
“He has no reason to fire me, I’m excellent at my job,” Jasmine replied. Amy stalked out of the room, Jasmine assumed, to find out if she was telling the truth.
“I need to gather a bunch of things together to go over with Mr. Titan, can I please have some privacy?” she asked the people in the room, with steal in her voice. She may have been asking but if they refused to leave, then she’d no longer ask, she’d demand. This was still her office and she wanted it to herself.
The other two people left without a word. She was assuming they were running to the boss to find out if she could kick them out. She simply didn’t care. She had nothing to hide but didn’t feel she had to share her space with a bunch of strangers.
Derek sat back down at his desk after Jasmine departed. He was angry with her but far angrier with himself. He couldn’t believe he’d let her get to him. The whole point of his revenge was to affect her, not the opposite way around.
He was incredibly pleased to find out she worked for the company. He’d simply been planning on cutting off her cash supply by breaking her father. He would’ve been to the offices sooner had he known she was an employee. He should’ve done more research so he could’ve been prepared to see her that afternoon. Things were going so much better than he had hoped. He’d been expecting her to show up at his door, begging him to give her father some mercy.
Instead he had her working under him. That thought made his groin tighten once again. He really wanted her under him again. He wouldn’t take her until he was more under control, though. The whole point was to teach her a lesson for walking out on him, not falling for her all over again.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration at how easily she got to him. There was a knock at his door and then Amy walked in. He didn’t like her personally but she was a shark when it came to business and a good addition to his staff.
She sauntered over to him, not quite able to control the fury in her eyes. “I thought we were going to be discussing everyone in the executive office who was going to remain on staff or be let go,” she said in her most seductive voice. It did nothing for him.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Ms. Freeman,” he said.
“Ms. Freeman?” she asked in surprise. “Is she related to the previous owner?” she finished, losing some of her normally cool composure.
“Yes, she’s his daughter and I’m letting her keep her position for now,” he said in a voice that brooked no room for argument.
Amy stared at him, somewhat perplexed and more than a little angry. He could tell she was trying to figure out exactly what his and Jasmine’s relationship was. He didn’t have any desire to fill her in on his personal life. It was none of her business.
“Are you keeping her as some sort of power strategy?” she asked hopefully.
“Something like that,” he answered nonchalantly. The answer seemed to satisfy her. She once again put on her seductive persona. He sighed, as he thought he was most likely going to have to let her go. She was getting far too confident and starting to push boundaries.
She sidled closer to him. “Do you want to get some lunch, I’m starving. Or I could order in and we could eat here while discussing some more strategies,” she suggested as she sat on the edge of his desk.
Normally, he would’ve been turned on by the sight of a sexy lady propped up on the edge of his desk, deliberately showing off her uncovered thighs. He’d never been attracted to Amy, though. She wasn’t his type, in the least. He liked a far less power hungry type of person in his bed.
“Why don’t you and the other’s go out to lunch? I have a lot to get done before we start bringing people in. Besides, I will be going over some records with Ms. Freeman in a while,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed again at the mention of Jasmine, and cemented his decision of letting her go. He wasn’t going to tolerate a jealous woman in his offices, especially when she had nothing to be jealous about.
There was another knock on the door and then his two most trusted employees stepped in, looking a bit frazzled. They weren’t easily shaken, so he was concerned. “What is it?” he asked them.