“That would be Mr. Witmore.”
Her face flushed and she quickly corrected herself. “Sorry, Mr. Witmore. We are all wondering why we are looking to buy a magazine. It doesn’t fit in our current portfolio.”
I arched a brow. “It’s not really your place to question my decisions, is it, Ms. Jones? This is not a publicly held company. The only person I answer to is myself.”
She sputtered as the rest of the team hoped I didn’t zero in on one of them. “No, it’s not. But you did hire me to help create your kingdom.”
“Everyone out,” I said. “Except for Ms. Jones.”
She swallowed while they all scrambled to leave as fast as they could. I tapped my fingers together, wondering if I could get away with firing her.
She lifted her chin. “I stand by what I said.”
I stood and moved to stand behind her. I leaned down, so I didn’t have to speak loudly. “There is a way to speak to the head of the company and that’s not what I heard from you.”
She spun around so our mouths were close and licked her lips. “I’m here to make you money and whatever else you want from me.”
I felt eyes on me and turned to see Chloe stopped in the middle of the hall staring at me. I straightened, knowing how my closeness might look to her. I turned back to Ms. Jones as her head swiveled toward Chloe.
“Stick to your job. There is nothing else I want from you. And if you can’t handle that, I suggest you quit.”
I marched off, but Chloe was gone. I couldn’t risk going to her desk. So I waited for lunch, only she didn’t show up.
Nine
Chloe
This new job was turning into an epic fail. The first couple of hours had been great. I’d run into Ryan on the elevator and he’d been all in. He’d even invited me to lunch. I’d gotten wet and ready. But that was where it had ended. I’d happened to walk past one of the conference rooms and there he’d stood, leaning above one of the most attractive women I’d ever seen, his face bent over her as though he were about to kiss her or had just kissed her.
Then he made some kind of show as if he was telling her off. He must’ve thought I was some stupid moron or something. And maybe I was. I’d gone from working for one asshole boss to another. Only my former boss hadn’t fucked me, like Ryan. And I hadn’t fallen for any of Hugh’s tricks because I’d been smart. How could I have been so foolish with Ryan?
I was done with men. All of them. They were nothing but a bunch of dishonest, good-for-nothing assholes. Okay, they were good for something, but I could find a replacement for that in a battery-operated vibrator.
As I got back to my tiny office—and I’d been so excited to actually get an office, even if it was microscopic—I slammed the door behind me. Assface. All I could think about and hear was his voice as I’d let him do all those unbelievably naughty things to me. And damn if he hadn’t been naughty. Raw and dirty to be exact. What had I been thinking? That was just it. I hadn’t been thinking at all. Okay, maybe I’d been thinking with my clit and pussy. That was stopping right now. We were over.
Ian came to my office to invite me to his for lunch a little while later.
I glared at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why can’t I?”
“Is the two-timer going to be there?”
“What do you mean?” He honest-to-God acted clueless.
“You can stop with the games, Ian.”
“I’m not playing any games, Chloe.”
“Why don’t you go ask your bestie, Ryan?” I spat. “He can explain everything.”
Ian shrugged and left after I refused to tell him a thing.
I barely got any work done the rest of the day. It was pretty bad, only I needed this job. I had to get off my tush and get something done. If I got fired, I was in a terrible mess. Even though I was pissed as hell, I forced myself to get to work. Then I went home and poured myself the biggest glass of wine I could.
Tom the cat curled up next to me on the couch and my friend Molly called. “Hey, chickypoo, what’s going on? I got your text, but then I didn’t hear back. Tell me about this man you met.”
After the world’s longest groan, I explained, “Ryan Witmore is a complete asshole, just like my jerkface boss, Hugh Hampton, the king of dickwads. Anyway, did you meet anyone?”
“Uh, er—no one important. Tell me what happened.”
The need to vent was strong, so I launched into my story about what had taken place after I’d left the party until today at my new job. I did leave out several specific details, including Ian’s participation. “And I’m currently drowning my anger in a large glass of vino.”