Page 10 of Tamed

I gave her a grateful smile, because that was true friendship, then tried to busy myself until one o’clock rolled around.

When it did and Zara, the lucky bitch, escaped out to the deli, I made my way to the elevator and reluctantly pressed the button that would take me up to his lordship’s office. Again.

Nervousness sat in the pit of my stomach, though I had no idea why since I was sure I hadn’t done anything. I just couldn’t think of what else he wanted to talk to me about if it wasn’t to chew me out over some minor transgression yet again.

I shoved the nervousness aside for something stronger, for anger, because seriously? Up to his office again? During my lunch break?

I stared at the elevator doors, fulminating as I went over his condescending bullshit this morning and getting more and more wound up about it. Which I knew was the wrong approach, and yet I couldn’t stop myself. The whole thing with Dad and then Caleb’s constant nitpicking was driving me crazy, and anger was easier than self-doubt.

So, if I couldn’t shout at my father, I’d shout at Caleb instead.

You’re trying not to get fired, remember? You wanted to impress Dad. Be CEO of Fox, etcetera, etcetera.

Dammit. Why did good sense have to get in the way all the time?

The doors slid open, and I strode out, holding on to a little of my rage, but not too much. Enough to be able to face whatever he was going to say to me with equanimity, but not enough to embarrass myself by shouting childish insults at him as if I was twelve again.

“Miss Fox,” Sally intoned as I went past. “Would you take these in for me, please?”

I was very tempted to ask her what her last slave died of, but I was trying to be an adult, so I bit it back and gave her a cool smile instead. “Of course,” I said regally, and grabbed the stack of papers sitting on her desk before carrying on toward Caleb’s office.

It would have been polite to knock, but since I had no politeness left in me, I didn’t bother. Instead, I tucked the papers under one arm, shoved open one of the doors, and marched in.

Caleb was standing by the windows, talking to someone on his phone. His broad, muscular back was to me, his deep voice a low rumble, and he didn’t turn as I came in.

Fine. If he wanted to be like that, he could.

I went over to his desk and dumped the papers on the desktop next to a half full cup of black coffee, then I stood there, waiting.

He kept on talking, clearly in no hurry, standing at the windows with one hand in the pocket of his pants, his gaze resolutely turned to the city beyond the glass.

Oh, so that’s what he was doing. He was making me wait.

What. An. Asshole.

Well, two could play at that game.

I turned to sit casually in the chair set in front of his desk but as I did so, my hip caught that damn stack of papers and they all slipped, falling against the coffee mug, and pushing it off the desk and on to the floor. Needless to say, coffee went everywhere.

I bit off a silent curse, glancing over at Caleb. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have noticed my epic clumsiness, still talking on the phone.

Thank God.

Continuing the litany of curses in my head, I knelt and began pulling the papers away from the rapidly spreading puddle on the carpet, before casting around for something to clean it up with and hopefully before Caleb noticed. But I had no such luck.

Caleb was a neat freak, and his desk was clean of stuff, so I had to scurry out of his office and into the nearby kitchenette, avoiding Sally’s beady gaze as I grabbed a couple of cloths before scurrying back. Only to find that he’d turned around and was watching me dispassionately even as he continued his conversation.

Goddammit.

There was nothing for it but to ignore him as I went back to his desk and knelt in front of it with my cleaning cloths, dabbing ineffectually at the carpet. It was cream carpet of course, which mean the coffee left an impressive brown stain.

Of all the stupid things to do. Knocking over his coffee mug and staining his carpet. And I hadn’t even done it on purpose, though I’d been mad enough to earlier. He’d be so pissed, especially given his neatness tendencies, and that would be another black mark against my name.

You’re really killing it today.

I growled under my breath, dabbing harder at the stain as a pair of expensive handmade leather shoes slowly came into view.

I froze. He was standing very close. I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck, boring into me, and he must have finished his conversation because I couldn’t hear him talking any more.