Page 52 of The Owner's Temptation

No.

No. No.No.

Not him.

Anyone but him.

I take one slow step inside, heart pounding like war drums in my ears. My eyes flick over him instinctively—black suit, dark shirt, the collar open just enough to feel indecent, his sleeves rolled back to reveal tattooed forearms.

He doesn’t speak.

Just watches.

Waiting.

The silence stretches until it strangles me, a knot twisting tight in my chest.

He knew.

HeknewI was sitting in that room, watching every other girl walk out with a folder and a smile while I convinced myself I was about to be fired.

And this bastard saidnothing.

Heat floods through me—rage, humiliation, disbelief—all colliding like lightning in my chest. My hands curl into fists at my sides.

“You—” I exhale, sharp and venomous. “Are youfuckingkidding me?”

His brow lifts. Just slightly. Unimpressed. Unbothered.

“Careful.”

One word. Cool and smooth like poured ice.

Oh, I see how this is going to be.

He looks at me like I’m just a piece in his game. Like none of it mattered—the waiting, the anxiety, the sheer panic that made me questioneverything.

And now I’m supposed to what? Smile? Thank him?

Fuck. That.

“You let me sit there,” I spit. “Alone. While every other girl walked out with her folder like a damn graduation ceremony—thinking I failed. That no one wanted me. That I wasn’tgood enough.”

He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t move. Just watches.

My voice shakes with the force of it. “Was that fun for you? Was itsatisfyingto sit up here while I practically had a heart attack downstairs?”

His head tilts, expression still unreadable. “It was necessary.”

“Oh,necessary,” I echo with a bitter laugh, pacing a short line in front of his desk. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You’ll find I’m a lot of things,” he says simply, “but unbelievable isn’t one of them.”

God, he’s infuriating.

And the worst part?

He’s still the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.

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