Page 14 of Boss from Hell

“I’ll adhere to your… dress code in future,” she said softly.

I grunted bad-temperedly and strode into my office.

For a second, I stood in the middle of my office, angry and resentful. Then I caught myself. Right. Time to begin Operation Get Rid of Ice Queen. I went to my computer and brought up the surveillance feed for the front entrance of the building.

I watched it for a few minutes and what I saw made me smile. I picked up the phone and summoned Lillian in. She came in with her notepad and a file. I noticed she had put on a black jacket and buttoned it. She put the file on the desk. “Here are the finished transcripts.”

I leaned back against my swivel chair and stared at her.

“Were you late to work this morning?”

“No.” Her voice was cool.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m very sure.”

“Are you aware you’re supposed to start work at nine a.m.?”

“Yes, I am. I was in the building by nine.”

I took a deep breath. “Either you’re lying, or the million-dollar, state-of-the-art surveillance system I’ve installed in this building is a total waste of money, and I should fire the firm and find a replacement contract.”

She frowned. “I was here at nine.”

I turned my monitor screen to face her. Then I walked over to stand next to her. I could smell her shampoo. Lemon. It was intoxicating.

“Is that you coming into the building?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Do you see the timestamp?”

“9.02,” she said slowly.

I walked back around the desk and sat down. “In fact, you were two minutes and thirty-seven seconds late.”

“It would seem so.”

“So youwerelying before.”

She pulled her eyes away from the screen, her face blank of all expression. “I wasn’t lying. I made a mistake. I was under the mistaken impression I came in at nine. I didn’t realize it was two minutes thirty-seven seconds past. I’m so sorry. I will make up for the lost time tonight and it will never happen again.”

I stared at her. How the hell did she so effortlessly manage to make me sound like the pettiest guy on earth?

“Make sure it doesn’t,” I muttered grumpily.

“Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Frost?” she asked with unshakeable politeness.

I waved my hand at her with irritation. “No. No. Go back to work.”

She turned to go and I found myself watching her ass. That skirt, long as it was, was way too tight for a workplace.

“Wait,” I heard myself say.

She turned around. “Yes.”

"I need you to go to my house today and pick up some dirty laundry.”