Why did she dress like she wants to be invisible? It was like she had no respect for herself or her beauty. Beauty I had seen firsthand. All of it. In its bare, brazen glory. Not only had I seen it, but I’d kissed it. Tasted it. Consumed it. Now, seeing her like this, it just pissed me off even more.
“D-did I do something wrong?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
She looked scared. So scared, I had to avert my gaze from her wide green eyes that searched for answers from me. I knew I was no saint. I knew I was the big, bad Mr. Mason. But she’d beenworking with me for a week. I thought she would be used to it by now. Seeing how she uncrossed and recrossed her legs, I could see her unease around me. I didn’t like it. To be the cause of such unease did something foreign to my chest and what beat inside of it.
Did she think I was really that terrible? I knew I hadn’t made her life easy working for me, but that was just the nature of the job. I couldn’t feel bad for it. I was the CEO. I wasn’t here to make anyone comfortable. My business ventures thrived off of fear. I reminded myself of that as I forced myself to look at her, ignoring the hairline crack in my chest. I tried to ignore the way she nervously fiddled with her fingers in her lap.
“Why are you late?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and folding my hands on my desk.
“L-late?” she asked, looking around the room for a clock. Her eyes found one to the right of her, sitting on the large bookshelf against the wall. “It’s eight-thirty-two…”
I followed her gaze to the clock and looked sharply back at her. It grated me that she was no longer trying to impress me like she was last week by coming in the early morning hours. From what I had gathered from security, she had shown up at seven a few times last week. Maybe she had grown comfortable with underperforming. Had I been too soft on her? I would have to remind her exactly who I was.
“From now on, I want you here at eight a.m. Not a minute later. Understood?” I asked sharply.
She bit her lip, a nervous and distracting habit. I let my eyes dip momentarily before snapping them back up to hers. It looked like she wanted to say something. God. Did I have to coax every little thing out of her? I looked at her, impatience clearly etched on my face.
“Since I’ll be coming in an hour early, does that mean I get to go home at four?” she asked, her voice meek.
I let out a laugh. She had to be messing with me. Since when did this woman ask for anything? And since when did anyone ask for anything of me? Her face remained neutral, awaiting an answer from me. I stopped laughing when I realized she wasn’t joking.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“I am.”
I let out a breath through my nose and narrowed my eyes, feeling my face begin to heat.
“You know, this is why you’ve never been promoted.”
“And why is that, exactly?”
“Because you’re looking for shortcuts.”
“That’s not true,” she blurted out, her hands curling into fists.
I struck a nerve. Something I was used to doing by now. Each time I did, I learned something new about her. It was like a game, seeing how far I could push her.
“Isn’t it?” I cocked my head. “Tell me, whyhaven’tyou been promoted? I looked at your file. You’ve never so much as gotten a raise in the five years you’ve worked here.”
“Maybe it’s because, based on what I overheard between you and the managers last week, anyone with a shred of power in this place is an arrogant asshole,” she said, her voice raised.
“Excuse me?” I asked coolly, trying to hide the fact that I was both impressed and turned on. With the way she was talking to me, I was ready to leave another handprint on her ass.
“Andyou…” she continued.
“What about me?”
“You and your impossible standards. If you expect someone to go above and beyond for you, then you should pay a wage that matches their efforts.”
I sat back and let her words absorb. She hadn’t exactly asked me for a raise, but may as well have. And according to her file, she was due for one. More than one. This was probably the first time she had ever brought it up. I hardly knew anything about her, but this felt like a first for her. I wasn’t about to shoot her down.
“Fine,” I growled. “You get a raise starting today. Twenty-five percent.”
She looked taken aback before gathering her wits.
I leaned forward, placing the palms of my hands on the desk and narrowing my gaze. “But it means I’m going to work you harder. And if you drop the ball, it’s immediate termination. You want more money, you earn it.”
She stared back at me, her expression unreadable now, but then a heat rose in her eyes. A seething fire danced against the emerald green. There was anger there. White-hot anger. Seeing her like this sent a thrilled shiver up my spine, and I was thankful for the desk that stood between us as my pants grew tighter.
