Shaking my shoulders, I look him in the eye and answer, “I’m looking for you.”
He narrows his eyes, and a small, yet powerful shiver, moves through me. He doesn’t intend for the look to be sexy in any way. I know that. I can see the anger in those hazel lenses, yet somehow, that sentiment isn’t being relayed to my warming body.
“For what?” he asks through gritted teeth.
At that, I almost roll my eyes but catch myself. It’s better not to piss him off any more than he always is.
“For work.”
“Anything you need to tell me about work can be relayed through email or Suzette.”
“That’s not possible, and you know it. As good as she is, Suzette doesn’t know the ins and outs of this merger the way I assume you do.”
“Youassume.” He gives me a measured look.
Swallowing, I nod. “Yes. A man like Aaron Townsend wouldn’t have made you head of this merger if you weren’t well versed in all its particulars.”
“I’m not the head of this merger. He is.”
That time I do roll my eyes because I’m finding this conversation frustrating.
“You know what I mean. He put you in charge of all the major communications and essentially has made you the project manager. You report directly to him. You know your stuff, and I need to work directly with you.”
“Which we’ll do via email.” He turns back toward the door.
I run ahead of him, stopping just between him and the front door. “You know that won’t work. It hasn’t been working well, and we’re only three days in.”
“Move.”
My body tenses at the menacing undertone of his voice. I step aside to give him space to vacate the door.
Somehow, I find the strength to shake off the fear that overcomes me and follow him out the door. The sight of him rolling away from me causes my heart to sink.
“When did you become so unbendable?” I demand, running to get in front of him again.
He stops abruptly, and the storm clouds gathering in his eyes tell me that was precisely the wrong choice of words.
“Probably the day I woke up in that fucking hospital.”
My stomach clenches at the depth of emotion in those words. I press my hands against it to keep myself from falling to my knees.
“Mark, I-I’m sorry.”
“Save it. Save yourI’m sorrysor whatever the fuck else you were about to say. I don’t need it. Not sixteen years later.”
He’s right. It’s more than a decade and a half too late. And the truth is, it’s just as dangerous for me to be this close to Mark now as it was sixteen years ago. Yet my job hinges on it.
“No apologies,” I say, shaking my head. “But you need this job as much as I do.”
He angles his head to the side.
“In that meeting, Townsend mentioned something about you wanting more responsibility. I’m betting a job done well here leads to career advancement for you. I’m new to Cypress and need to prove my value, so they’ll keep me on once this merger goes through.”
He works his jaw as he stares at me for a minute. “Why the hell would I care about your career?”
“You shouldn’t. I’m not asking you to. But you care about your career. Don’t let your anger at me get in the way of your dreams.”
He blinks, looking baffled, but he recovers quickly. He glares for another minute as if his mind were volleying between the different possibilities.
