Page 15 of Elevating Eve

“I don’t think you should hire either of them. They both suck.”

A range of emotions crossed Jonathan’s face one after the other—shock, confusion, anger, frustration. At last, he looked over at Aiden, seemingly at a loss for words.

Aiden’s eyebrows lifted slightly, and one corner of his mouth twitched. “Be careful what you wish for.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Jonathan demanded.

The other man only shrugged.

He rounded on Eve again. “You’re just saying that to irritate me.”

“No, I refused to tell you my opinion to irritate you.” She resisted the urge to smirk. That wouldn’t help her case. “Now I’m just doing what you asked me to do.”

“But why wouldn’t I hire one of them?” The muscles in his jaw ticked. “They’re both well-known, established companies with hundreds of positive testimonials. I liked both of their presentations. They?—”

“Of course you liked their presentations,” Eve said, rolling her eyes. “You had your ass kissed for a solid four hours today. Who wouldn’t like that?”

Jonathan’s mouth dropped open. In all the months she’d known him, she’d never seen him look so uncomposed. This new side of him fascinated her.

Taking a step back, he pulled on the ends of his sleeves and the bottom hem of his jacket almost absently, as if he didn’t realize he was doing it. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, trying to sound calm and in control again.

Arching her brows as high as she could, she crossed her arms and gave him a sardonic look. “I’m sure you don’t. People have been kissing your ass for so long, you don’t even know how to recognize it anymore.”

Jonathan couldn’t have looked more stunned if she spontaneously donned an ostrich feather tail and started doing the cancan.

Across the room, Aiden made a garbled choking noise and hurried over to the side table full of booze. His shoulders shook ever so slightly as he poured himself a drink.

“See?” Eve tilted her head in Aiden’s direction. “He knows what I’m talking about.”

“Hey, leave me out of this,” Aiden said, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. “I need to go get ready for my guest. Good luck.” A deep amber liquid sloshed in his tumbler as he sauntered out of the room, throwing a fleeting smile over his shoulder when he shut the door.

They stared at each other, the tension in the room so heavy, the air felt too thick to breathe. It sent a thrill down her spine that she hadn’t felt in decades.

“You’re used to people doing what you tell them to do.” She didn’t bother phrasing it as a question.

He snorted. “Of course I am. I’m a professional Dom. That’s literally my job.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Eve said, shaking her head. “I’m not talking about your guests. I’m talking about everyone else.”

Jonathan frowned, but he didn’t answer.

“Everyone here defers to you,” she said, tilting her head toward the door Aiden just exited. “Even your business partners. I noticed it the first day I met you all.”

She could tell he wanted to deny it, but the truth was written all over his face.

“No one really challenges you anymore, do they?” Standing, shereached out a tentative hand, her fingertips brushing against his sleeve. “Doesn’t that get boring?”

“You never challenged Talley at all,” he shot back. “Didn’tthatget boring?”

Eve let her hand fall back to her side. “Boring isn’t the word I’d use to describe it,” she said softly.

Shame washed over his face, settling in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I stopped trying to stand up to Frank because everything always went to shit when I did.” She didn’t know why she felt a burning need to explain, but the words continued to pour out of her. “I couldn’t leave. So I made things as easy for myself as I could.”

“Why couldn’t you leave?” It wasn’t an accusation this time—just an honest question.

She looked down at her hands as she began fiddling with the heavy gold ring. “DHFT was all I had left of my dad. If I ended things with Frank...if I lost that job...”