Arrogant Boss

“No. No, no, no. This cannot be happening right now.”

Julian uncrossed his arms and bent to inspect the control panel. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll be out of here in no time. Are you claustrophobic?”

“No. I’m late.”

Julian gave an infuriating little chuckle, like he thought I’d said something witty. The yellow button was flashing and I hit it, holding it pressed down.

“Someone will be with us soon. This qualifies as a valid excuse, you know, regardless of where you’re rushing to.”

I sighed. “Rachel has a team-building session scheduled this morning.”

Julian burst out into laughter, infectious and loud. It was exactly like him: larger than life itself.

“With trust falls and egg-and-spoon races?”

“God, I hope not. Although I was told to bring comfortable footwear and a shirt I didn’t mind getting dirty.”

He was still grinning at me. “By who? Josef?”

“Yeah. And Sasha.”

“I can see that. Well, I had a busy day scheduled, but you just made me consider skipping all that for a chance to join in on some team building.”

“You already know the team!”

“Do I, though?” He raised an eyebrow. “There’s one new member I don’t know very well at all. Yet.”

“Well, the key to getting to know me is most definitely not trust falls.”

“Really? That’s practically how we met, Ace.”

I shot him a furious look. There were so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t-he was my boss now.

“Not on purpose,” I ground out. “And I don’t think it increased trust.”

He still wore that infuriating smile. “Hmm. How do I do that?”

Was he flirting with me? I bit my lip and fished out my phone, trying to avoid the power of his gaze. The man was a walking neon sign of sexiness. It wasn’t fair of him to flirt with me. He’d recover, but I’d come out permanently blind from the light.

“The key to gaining my trust is to make sure I get out of stuck elevators on time.”

“Right. Well, let me call service. They should already be alerted, but just in case…”

I watched as he called someone named Tim and gave a few short orders, explaining our situation.

“It’ll be fixed in five minutes.”

“Five?”

“Yes.” He cocked his head. “I have complete faith in my personnel.”

“Even those you hire without an interview?” The words came by their own accord, and it wasn’t until they were out that my mind registered what I’d said. I owed this man so much-my brother’s job, my own-and a significant increase in both of our salaries.

But Julian Hunt just laughed. This close, I saw that his eyes were a deep green, a comforting and warm color. They were eyes you could lose yourself in.

Ones I should stay far away from.

“Especially the ones I hire without an interview,” he said. “That means the decision was based on intuition, and those decisions always turn out to be the best ones.”

“You have high expectations?”

“For you? The highest. Just make sure you get a few back-to-back bonding exercises under your belt, and you’ll be up and running here at Hunt in no time.”

“Right,” I murmured. “I will. Can I ask why you hired me though? I’m not Turner. I don’t have-”

An electronic voice cut through the space. “Mr. Hunt? The elevator is fixed. It’ll start moving shortly.”

“Thank you. We were heading to the eleventh floor.”

“Sending you there now.”

The elevator began its smooth ascent again and the attendant clicked off. Julian glanced at his watch.

“Three minutes. And to answer your question, I think I have good people reading skills. And I read you the second I saw you, Ace. You have fire.”

I was caught in his gaze, steady and intense on mine. What do you respond to something like that?

A smile broke across his lips. “This is your floor.”

I swallowed. “Right. Thanks.”

Julian gave me a wink as I stepped out of the elevator. “Good luck today.”

“Thanks. I think…” I trailed off, the elevator doors already shutting behind me, and he was gone. So I cleared my throat, squared my shoulders, and hurried down the hall.

Turner and I carpooled home that day, just like we did most days. The house we’d inherited from our parents was only a fifteen-minute drive from the office.

My car was nice, but it was in need of a bit of a service. I would for sure treat it to a bit of pampering with my fancy new salary. It was right up there with paying off my student loans and buying a few sets of matching bras and underwear. Not that I was currently dating anyone who saw me undress, but a girl could hope. The image of Julian smiling came back to me, and I pushed it away firmly. No, Emily.

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Turner was quiet the entire drive.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him as I pulled up on our driveway.

“What I should do first thing tomorrow morning.”

“And what’s that?”