Continuing his look downward, he took in the cinchedin waist and the flouncy skirt that hit a good few centimetres above the knee. Her legs were endless, long and toned, and ended in a pair of sparkly peep-toe sandals.
Stop looking. Before you have a coronary.
He tugged his gaze upward to meet a fulminating pair of grey-blue eyes.
‘Yes, there is something wrong.’
Her breath came in pants and Joe clenched his jaw, nearly crossing his eyes in an attempt to remain focused on her face.
‘I know I shouldn’t say anything. I know I shouldn’t put my job on the line. But I’ve just come from seeing Harry and Peter in the hospital and they told me that you’ve got rid of Maisey in Accounts and Lucas in Admin. How could you? It’s wrong.’
The fury vibrating in her voice touched a chord in him, aroused an answering anger to accompany the frustration and self-annoyance already brewing in his gut.
‘No, Imogen, it isn’t wrong. It’s unfortunate. Streamlining Langley is the only way for the company to survive. I’d rather a few people suffer than the whole company collapse.’
She huffed out air and shook her head, black hair shimmering. ‘But don’t you care?’ she asked. ‘It’s like these people are just numbers to you.’
The near distaste in her eyes made affront claw down his chest. ‘I do my very best to minimise the number of people I let go and I certainly don’t take any pleasure in it.’
She stood back from the desk and slammed her hands on her hips. ‘You don’t seem to feel any pain either.’
Her words made him pause; sudden discomfort jabbed his nerves. It was an unease he dismissed; feeling pain sucked, and it didn’t change a damn thing. This he knew. Hell, he had the whole wardrobe to prove it. So if he’d hardened himself it was a good thing—a business decision that made him better at his job.
Aware of curiosity dancing with anger across Imogen’s delicate features, he shrugged. ‘Me sitting around crying into my coffee isn’t going to enable me to make sensible executive decisions. I can’t let sentiment interfere with my job.’
‘But what if your executive choices hurt someone else?’
‘I don’t make choices to hurt people.’
‘That doesn’t mean they don’t get hurt. Look at Graham. I happen to know he has a large mortgage, his wife is pregnant, and now you’ve made the choice to snatch his job from under his feet. Doesn’t that bother you?’
‘No.’ To his further exasperation he appeared to be speaking through clenched teeth. ‘The bottom line is I do the best for the company as whole. Overall, people benefit.’
‘Have you ever watched Star Trek?’
Star Trek? Joe blinked. ‘Yes, I have. My sisters are avid fans.’ Repeats of the show had been a godsend in the devastating months after their parents’ death; Tammy and Holly had spent hours glued to the screen. Blocking out impossible reality with impossible fiction.
‘Joe? Are you listening to me?’
‘For now. But only because I am fascinated to see what pointy-eared aliens and transporters have to do with anything?’
‘You know how it works—they say they believe in sacrificing the few for the many. But they don’t really mean it—somehow in real life they end up knowing that it’s wrong and they go back to rescue one person, risking everyone, and everything is OK.’
Was she for real? ‘The fatal flaw in your reasoning is right there. Star Trek isn’t real life. It’s fiction.’
‘I get that—but the principle is sound.’
‘No. The principle sucks. If you run around trying to please everyone, refusing to make tough choices, then I can tell you exactly what happens. Everyone suffers.’ He’d got another wardrobe to prove that. ‘In real life Kirk would go down, and so would the Enterprise.’
‘That is so …’
‘Realistic?’
‘Cynical,’ she snapped. ‘I don’t understand why you can’t see reason. The main reason Langley is in difficulties is because of Harry’s ill health. He’s the one who understands finance. Peter doesn’t. Once Harry’s on his feet everything will go back to normal. Surely you should be taking that into consideration? Trying to think of some way to salvage everyone’s jobs.’
The jut of her chin, the flash of her eyes indicated how serious she was, and although he had no doubt his decisions were correct, it occurred to him that it was a long, long time since anyone had questioned him, let alone locked phasers with him. Apart from his sisters, anyway …
It was kind of … exhilarating.