He was quiet as he watched her.Intense.Her goose bumps pulled tighter, and her pulse pounded in her ears.She was more vulnerable than the others.She knew it, and so did he.
Would her father stand up for her?
She pushed back from the desk, and her chair rolled off-kilter.She stood before it could fall over, but her ankles tilted inside her unstrapped shoes.The sharp pain made her wince, and she kicked them off.Not caring what he thought of her, she walked barefoot towards the bank of windows.The darkness outside played tricks with her depth perception.The view was pretty, in the way fire was pretty.She couldn’t forget how far one could fall.
It was impossible to think.She turned back.Then spun to face the windows again and raked a hand through her hair.The blinking lights outside burned her corneas.
It didn’t make sense.Cameron Rowe was nationally known as a restructuring specialist, and he wasn’t afraid to do the dirty work.He went from one company to the next, slicing and dicing.If companies survived, they came out stronger.
But if they didn’t…
“Why?”This wasn’t what needed to be done.She wasn’t the weakest link here.
Was she?
He stood.“It’s not good for a company to have one person carrying all the weight.”
“So you get rid of that person?”
He walked towards her, his heavy footsteps silenced by the plush carpeting.The wolf was coming in for the kill.“Have you ever thought about going somewhere else?Striking out on your own?”
She rubbed her bare arms.“Of course I have.”
But never seriously.
“Then why do you immerse yourself in the middle of all this chaos?You could get a job anywhere.Why do you stay?”
“Why?”she said incredulously.“Because they’re myfamily.”
“But you’re—”
“I’m what?”she fired back.“Adopted?Don’t you think I know that?Don’t you think thateveryoneknows that?”
She spun away, her fingernails biting into her palms.It was the story of her life.She was forever the square peg trying to fit into the round hole.She didn’t look like the rest of her family, and she didn’t act like them.In personality, she might as well have been from another species, yet the Underhills were hers.As disparate as they were, they were the only family she’d ever known.She loved them.She was loyal to them.
But it always came back to those differences, didn’t it?Her nails cut so deep into her skin, they nearly drew blood.
Enough.She’d had enough.“I’m going home.”
She darted towards her desk, but Rowe followed hot on her heels.
“That’s not what I meant,” he growled.
He moved with such fluidity, it made her wonder if her wolf comparison was that far off.He certainly was a predator.
Shaking, she picked up one of her shoes and lifted her foot behind her to slip it on.She gasped when he caught her hand before she could tug the elastic strap over the back of her heel.
His dark eyes were hot as he looked down at her.“If you’d let me finish, I was trying to say thatyou’re wasted here.”
She glared up at him, not believing him, but found him closer than she expected.Too close.
She froze.
His size wasn’t as big as his reputation portended, but he was a presence.His shoulders were wide and his body was muscled.He didn’t tower over her, but he had a good six inches on her.It put her on eye level with his hard lips.
Lips that suddenly didn’t seem so hard after all.
As she watched, a soft expulsion of air left his mouth, and he went stock-still.
