Page 3 of Inarticulate

“Think of it as an opportunity.” He eyed her, his lips twitching. “You can let your uptight hair down and start dating new people without me hovering over your shoulder. That’s what you claim to want, right?”

“It’s not a claim, Spencer.” She shoved to her feet, glaring. And she wasn’t uptight. She was a hard worker. The most efficient and forward thinker they’d ever had. Being with him had tainted the facts. New employees considered her merely a skirt that clung to Spencer’s coattails. They didn’t realize it was the other way around. “And I could start dating right here, right now, I just don’t have time.”

“It’s not time that you lack, sweetheart. It’s enthusiasm.” He grinned at her. “You know we’re meant for each other. You’ll quit being stubborn and forgive me soon enough, and when you do, I’ll be here waiting.”

“Spencer…” She sighed.

He needed to understand they would never ever get back together. Unless the powers of vodka and wine teamed up to create an undefeatable army against her resolve, she would forever be committed to keeping her thighs closed in his presence. The only problem was that she didn’t know how he would react when the information finally sank past his impenetrable ego.

“You need to move on.”

He inclined his head. “But that’s impossible when I see you all day, every day.”

Was that the first hint that her job was in jeopardy?

“You say you can live without me, so prove it. Go to Seattle,” he continued. “I promise you’ll be missing me within days.”

She held back the cloying need to roll her eyes into the back of her head and let them hibernate there until summer. “Fine.” It was a small price to pay. “I’ll take care of the settlement.” She didn’t have a choice anyway. “And when I return, everything between us will be laid to rest.”

“Okay.” He leaned back in his chair, the sparkle in his eyes gleaming at her. “If you last until settlement without needing me, I’ll pretend like we never happened.”

Her chest loosened with unmistakable relief. “Great.”

“Perfect,” he purred.

Christ. So much for the reprieve. He was far too confident of her failure. He practically stripped her and took inventory with his eyes. “While I’m gone, why don’t you take Rebecca out on a date?”

She was going to hell for throwing her assistant under the bus, but tough times and all that… “She thinks you’re gorgeous.” It wasn’t a lie. Rebecca remarked on his physical appeal all the time, she just always backed up the compliment with a comment on how much of an ass he was.

“Been there, done that.”

Her mouth gaped. “Are you kidding?”

“That’s why I know the two of us are perfect together. I’ve played the entire field. From the single mom in accounting, to your assistant, and any welcoming bed I’ve come across when I do the yearly reviews on each of our hotels. No one compares to you, babe.”

“You’re disgusting.”

He chuckled. “You didn’t have a problem with me for all the months we were together.”

She whimpered. She didn’t have the patience to reiterate her perspective. They’d been over it more than once. He thought they were a match made in heaven because she didn’t hound him. She hadn’t questioned his fidelity. There were no conversations about the future, or whispers of love and commitment. They shared meals and sex and spoke about business tactics whenever words were necessary.

That was it.

He considered it a perfect relationship. A ball and chain, without the ball and chain.

She considered it enjoyable sex without emotional connection.

End of story.

“This has to stop,” she muttered and turned for the door. “I’m not going to put up with the bullshit once I return.”

“You know where the door is, Savannah. I’m pretty sure you know where the unemployment line is, too.”

And there it was, the unmistakable threat.Asshole.

“Oh, and one last thing,” he called.

She stopped in the hall, refusing to face him.

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