Page 63 of Beautiful Liar

I actually gasp in shock at the unexpected question. “I…no, I don’t.”

He nods, as if we’re discussing the price of Kobe beef. “That’s fortunate because I don’t know either, save to admit that every time I hear you speak, every time you look at me, I want to reach for that cheap garment that has the audacity to lay against your perfect skin, rip it off your body and spend a considerable amount of time doing terrible things to you. So I’m most relieved to learn you’re not delicate.”

The latent power behind his words, the fierce focus propels me back a step. My hip bumps the dining table. “You can’t.”

He strides forward, his gaze merciless. “Mr. Blackwood most definitely can. Quinn undeniably wants to. But he’s prepared to listen to pleading arguments.”

“Do you often think of and refer to yourself as separate entities?”

A whisper of a smile threatens to transform his face, but a stronger force, a frightening force, devours it before it can live. “My shrink probably thinks I am. She finds me…challenging. In fact, she may have had a hand in this little vignette.”

My eyes widen. “She told you to tell me what you want to do to me?”

“She advocates laying one’s card on the table. The only card I’m interested in right now is the I-want-to-fuck-you-blind card. And since you’re not running screaming out the door, perhaps her idea has merit, after all?”

Blood rushes through me at the speed of lightning. My tongue is so thick in my mouth I have to maneuver my jaw before I can speak. And each word I’m about to utter feels like it’s riveted with spikes. “Mr.…Quinn, I’m sorry, but today’s my last day.”

He doesn’t blink. “Your last day.”

I swallow hard and nod. “Yes, I handed in my notice this morning.”

“Why?”

My teeth worry the inside of my lip while I fight to maintain eye contact. Looking away will rat me out. “My position was never permanent and I…I need to take some time off for personal reasons.”

“So, let me get this straight. You resigned this morning?”

Thoughts of being fucked by Mr. Quinn Blackwood recede a bit as panic flares. “Yes.”

“I see.”

He relieves me of the napkin I forgot I was holding and places it on the table. When his fingers wrap around mine, that flare unleashes harder but this time with a whole heap of lust. He escorts me to his desk and pushes me into the seat before it. He remains at my side as he hits a number on his phone.

“Mr. Blackwood, how may I help you?” a nauseatingly responsive female voice enquires.

“Nancy, can you tell me if this company has abandoned the notice period before employment termination clause?”

My breath slams out and stays out.

“No, Mr. Blackwood. The handbook clearly states the minimum of two weeks for junior employees and a sliding scale upward for senior employees.”

“Illuminating as always, Nancy. Thanks.”

He disconnects and leans against the desk, ankles crossed, thick arms folded as he stares at me. “Someone has dropped the ball downstairs. Would you care to enlighten me as to who that person is?”

Ice and lust and panic and the urge to kick my own ass, hard, fight for supremacy. I shake my head, both to dispel the forces, and to buy myself some time. There’s no way I’m throwing Sully under the bus, but all it’ll take is a simple phone call for Quinn to find out who hired me.

“I…don’t want to get anyone into trouble.”

“I feel as if we’ve had a variation of this conversation. Very recently.”

I purse my lips but silence won’t do me any favors right now. “Please, Mr. Blackwood.”

Heat flares in his eyes. He remains silent for a full minute, before he stands. “Come.”

He leads me to the dining table. The special containers holding sushi and the tuna on ice have done their job in not ruining lunch on top of everything else. Quinn doesn’t seat me at the opposite end of the dining table this time. He sets one place at the head of the table and motions me to sit.

Wracked in trepidation, I take a seat. He takes the seat next to me and picks up the delicate fork, heaps up a mouthful of caviar-topped tuna and presents it to me. This room, this man, even the food has an insane effect on me. I open my mouth and take the morsel. Heavenly flavors burst on my tongue and I want to close my eyes and die at the bombardment of sensations inside and out.

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