That caused me to rip away from him. “What the fuck?”
He chuckled as he held his arms out. “Looks like you’re not actually ready for it.”
My face burned with anger. My fists balled up at my sides. I wanted to slap that cheeky little grin right off his face, and for the longest time I actually debated it. I debated on whether or not to quit right then and there before punching him directly in his eye socket. I hated him for how he made me feel before reducing me to nothing.
“I should’ve stayed on my date last night,” I hissed.
And that dropped the cheekiness right to the floor. “What the hell did you just say?”
I stormed toward his office door. “Unless you actually have an issue with my performance, Mr. Ryker, don’t you dare call me up to your office because of it. And if you do it again, I’ll be the one reporting you to H.R. Not one of my friends.”
“Get back here right now and talk to me about--.”
I ripped his door open. “Have a nice day, Mr. Ryker.”
I stormed toward the elevator without a second thought. What an absolute fucktard. How the hell I could have ever thought that my sexual awakening might change things between us showed me the true power of mango and tequila. I jammed my hand into the elevator button. I didn’t even bother peering over my shoulder as I stepped into the metallic confines.
And as the doors slid closed, I slumped against the wall in defeat.
Because as much as I hated him, my body still yearned for his touch.
10
Rebecca
It didn’t takeme long for me to correct the error of my ways. That night, after clocking out thirty minutes early just to fuck with Joseph, I took the smallest bit of my work home and opened up the dating app. I shot him a message asking if I could have a second chance at a decent first impression, and he was all too keen to take me up on my offer. We made plans for Friday night after work, so I relegated myself to a few later evenings to make sure I had everything squared away.
But I should have known that JoJo was right around the corner, ready to ruin my prospects while he tortured me.
“Miss Loren,” he said as he knocked on my door.
“Come in,” I said flatly.
He cracked my door. “I wanted to peek in and make sure you got my email?”
I didn’t bother looking up at him. “I’ll check it on my lunch break.”
“That’s fine. My accountant is out sick today, so you’ll be taking over her work as well as yours for the weekend.”
I whipped my head up. “What?”
He stepped into my office, but didn’t close the door. “Nothing I can do about it. There are things she was working on that I need done before Monday morning, and she’s in the hospital.”
I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him. “I’ll take the work home with me.”
“You can’t. Sensitive information and all.”
“Then, it won’t get done.”
“Then, you’ll be fired.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Then, fire me.”
He nodded. “All right, you’re fired. Pack up your desk and--.”
I leapt to my feet. “I have plans tonight, Joseph, and you can’t just dump work on me--.”
“This is my company, right?”
