I ignore his jab and lift my chin just enough to make it clear I’m not playing his game.
“Mr. Hayes. I’m here for the interview, so if we could keep this civil and on schedule, I’d appreciate it.”
“Oh, we’ll get to your interview.” His gaze sweeps over me and lingers with deliberate slowness. “But you and I both know ‘civil’ was never really my thing, at least not when it came to you.”
Fucking asshole.
“I’m just waiting for my crew,” I say, fixing him with the look I save for difficult interviewees who think the world stops spinning without them.
He gives a careless shrug. “They’ve left.”
My mouth falls open, and I blink, convinced I misheard him. A few seconds pass before my brows knit together. “Left?”
He nods. “Mm-hmm.”
“Why the hell would they leave? Give me a second, I think there must be some miscommunication. Let me call and check. I’ll get this sorted.” I ramble the words out in a rush as I start dialing on my phone.
“There’s no miscommunication,” he says calmly, like he’s discussing the weather. “They came on time, but I sent them away.”
My eyes widen and I blink at him, slower this time. “You didwhat?”
“It’s just you and me for the interview.”
He says it so casually like he’s offering me a cup of coffee, like it isn’t an outrageous breach of every professional boundary in existence.
I take a step back until my spine bumps against my car, needing the physical space to process this insanity. “You can’t just—”
“I can.” His mouth curves into that infuriating half-smile. “You want the interview, Anna. And now you’ve got all of me, uninterrupted.”
A disbelieving laugh slips out of me. “That’s not how this works, Mr. Hayes.”
“It does. In here, I call the shots. My house, my way.”
I shake my head, heat crawling up my spine. “Noted, Mr. Hayes. But as almighty as you might be, this is utterly unprofessional and, honestly, downright insane.”
“Insane… unprofessional… call it whatever you want. Doesn’t matter. I want all of your attention. Without any interruptions.” His mouth twitches, and he leans in slightly as he continues. “And I’ll make damn sure I get exactly what I want.”
Staying calm around him without getting provoked is like trying to steer water uphill. Completely pointless.
“Do you even hear yourself?” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes blazing. “Let me make one thing very clear, Mr. Hayes. Don’t mistake my professionalism for anything else. I’m here for the interviewyouinsisted on, and nothing more. So keep your games out of it, or I walk away.”
He tilts his head, his eyes scanning my face like he’s cataloguing every twitch, every flicker of irritation.
“I like this professional attitude. It’s a damn turn-on when you’re all business, Anna. Definitely a side I didn’t see back then. But, sweetheart, with all our history, do you really think you can flip that switch and stay professional?” He smirks, clearly enjoying the effect he’s having on me.
I ball my fists so tight at my sides that it feels like my fingers might cut into my palms.
“Icanstay professional. And sorry to bruise your oversized ego, but you’re not as unforgettable as you think. I’m so over you. And at this point,” I glare at him, “I don’t think it’s worth going ahead with this interview… not with you acting like a complete jerk.”
“So you’re saying you don’t want the interview because I’m being a jerk?” He gives a short, mocking laugh. “Figures. I knew you’d find an excuse to back out and not go through with this.”
“I’m not finding excuses,” I shoot back, annoyed.
“Aren’t you?” His eyes locking onto mine like he’s daring me to break.
I feel my jaw tighten. “No, I’m not. I came here, didn’t I?”
His gaze softens in a way that is somehow worse than his smirk, because it makes my stomach knot. “You sure did agree. But now that you’re face-to-face with me, it must be pretty hard to follow through.”
