“We talk tonight or we don’t talk at all,” he said unequivocally.
He did want to fire her!
She looked at her phone, very tempted to tell him where he could shove this job and his arrogance, but she answered him anyway, “Oladele needs me, you know. This has been a very long day. I’m still in my work clothes. I want to go home, eat some instant noodles, then fall into bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” So there.
“You’re not eating instant noodles. I’ll pick up takeout.” He already ended the call.
What an annoying, domineering man. How had she ever found him attractive?
She knew how.I’m interested. There’s no improving on perfection.
He had charmed her and she’d fallen for it. Duped again.
She shouldered her bag and left, wondering why he wanted to see her when it sounded as though he only wanted to dismiss her. He could do that with a memo from HR.
Losing her job was a distressing thought, but she didn’tneedto work the way some did. She had many fallback positions. She liked this job, though. She liked that she was supporting herself,building a relatively ordinary life where she was taken at face value, not seen as riding on nepotism or as a conduit to people who were more wealthy and powerful than she was.
What if he did want to see her for more personal reasons, though? The wicked, misguided trollop inside her gave a slither of glee, but she pushed her firmly back into her mental bedroom.
No. Nothing like that could happen between them. He might not be married, but he was her boss. And he’d walked out on her without a word in San Francisco, leaving her feeling discarded and devalued. She’d spent every day since trying to work out whether she was an idiot who didn’t recognize a player when she met one, or trying to work out what she’d done in those last seconds that had been so horribly wrong he had run away the second she was out the door.
Her scorn carried her the rest of the way home, through the sea of commuters and holiday music.
She was genuinely exhausted as she walked from the station to her building, barely taking note of the festive bower of street decorations and the bustle of Christmas shoppers.
Her weariness made sense. She’d been pushing herself for a long time. She had tutored to support herself in Australia, refusing to live off the nest egg she’d accumulated in her previous life. The day after exams, she flew to London to see her mother. That had been her first stop before she visited her sisters in America while prepping and interviewing for six very different jobs, including two in California.
By the time she returned to Sydney, she had circumnavigated the globe inside of two weeks and hadn’t adjusted to the time zone before she’d been on a plane for her new life here in Madrid. She’d started work the day after landing and still hadn’t finished unpacking.
Maybe she would skip eating and go straight to bed, she decided as she approached the front of her building. More than anything, she needed to catch up on her sleep.
A car arrived at the curb beside her. Joaquin smoothly exited the backseat. He’d changed from his suit into a more casual pair of dark trousers with a pullover and a raincoat that hung open as he slammed the car door.
The charge of masculine energy that came off him was so electric, she felt it like a snap of static grounding through her. She disguised it by nodding at the insulated takeout bag he held.
“Side hustle?”
“Considering what I paid to clear my father’s debts, I need one.” He nodded at the front door. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Chapter Five
She was famished, too, which left little fight in her. Siobhan brought him into the building, vibrating with awareness of him and nearly wilting with hunger when the food aromas filled the elevator.
Inside her flat, he glanced around as he removed his coat and accepted the hanger she offered before she removed her own coat.
It was an older building. The rooms were small, but bright. Both the living room and bedroom had a thin balcony that looked onto an alley and an even more ornate and visually pleasing building across the way. The wall between the bedroom and living room had been partially removed and fitted with a pair of frosted glass doors that she left open to create a more spacious feel.
She was a tidy person. The bed was made and there was only a discarded scarf on it that she had decided not to wear at the last minute this morning. It still felt…intimate, heightening her jumpiness at having him in her personal space.
He doesn’t want you, she reminded herself. She didn’t know why he was here, but it wasn’t that.
She took the food into the kitchen. It was a narrow galley that ended with a door into the minuscule bathroom, but the setup was efficient and it had a good-size pantry along with newish appliances.
Conscious of the impression he was gaining, she clarified, “It came furnished.”
The sofa and chair were upholstered in a floral pattern that was too busy for her taste. She preferred contemporary styles and solid colors.
“I was lucky to find a sublet that I could get into right away. I love the location.”
