Page 91 of Illicit Education
The truth of the matter was that Ihadshown up early. Ihadshown up before he’d asked me to and then had the audacity to walk right into his office like I owned the place.
And how would that look from an outsider’s perspective? How did it look to the man Cabot was meeting with?
I, a lowly intern, strolling into the chief executive officer’s office and interrupting a meeting?
Ah shit.
There were certain rules that had to be followed, protocols to be respected.
Sure, he’d been a dick, but I was also guilty–
“Ms. Blake.”
My head snapped up at the sound of his voice.
“Sleeping on the job again?”
I ran my tongue over my teeth. I couldn’t tell if heactuallythought I was sleeping or if he was trying to lighten the mood. I rose to my feet without saying a word. He’d hear from me, just not out here with Stella’s smug smirk anywhere within my line of vision. Squaring my shoulders, I strode past him without looking at either of them. When I reached his office, I set my stuff down and turned to face the door, leaning my hips against his desk and crossing my arms over my chest.
He stepped inside, paused when he registered the look on my face, then closed the door and faced me.
We stood in silent battle for some time, then he finally said, “If this is going to work, you have to tell me what’s on your mind.”
I scoffed.
He didn’t say anything more, which just made my mouth drop open further.
Reed’s eyebrows rose in silent challenge.
He locked the door.
With a deep breath, I tried to ignore the way the scent of him affected my body, then pushed off the desk. “If this is going towork,” I said, my voice low and far more dangerous than I’d ever heard it before as I stalked toward him, “you can never speak to me like that again.”
“You interrupted a meeting.”
“So?”
His eyes twitched. “I can’t promise I won’t speak to you that way again.”
I stopped just a foot away from him. “Why not?”
“If you piss me off…” He took a step forward, closing the distance.
“If I piss you off,what?”
His hand snaked around my neck and my lips parted as he tilted my head back. “You’re going to piss me off again, aren’t you?’
“Yeah. You can probably bet on that.”
His eyes darkened. His breathing picked up. “Did you make a decision?”
I swallowed, and with the way my head was tilted back, the sound was audible.
He licked his lips.
Ihadmade a decision. And, earlier, Ihadbeen excited to share it with him.
But, in an absolutelynotshocking turn of events, he’d acted like a pompous asshole, and now I wanted to punish him.