Page 13 of Brighter than the Boss
I scrunched up my face. "What?"
He shook his head and kept walking, with me tagging along behind trying to grab my bag back. He moved fast for such a big guy. Usually the beefcakes were so muscle-bound you could run circles around them, but not Cain.
My bag lobbed in the air and landed in the back bed of a gorgeous cherry-red truck. Before I could retrieve it, Cain laid his hand on my arm, spun me around and pinned me against the passenger side door. If I tried to move, I'd have to brush up against his chest and my brain fought that inevitability with all she had.
"You have a problem with authority." His arms crossed over his chest and he looked at me like a naughty child.
My hands went to my hips, no longer worried about accidentally touching him. I was too outraged.
"I do not!" Ugh, great. That wouldn't help me sound like the card-carrying adult I was. I shook my head. "I don't have any problem with bosses, but I do have a problem with you telling me what to do when we're not at work. It's called boundaries."
He hmphed like I was silly. "I don't think that's what this is. You took orders from Shasta and Esa today just fine and they aren't your boss. So why can't you take orders from me?"
I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it. He had a good point, not that I'd ever let him know that. "I have a problem with you giving me orders because you act so smug and condescending when you give me orders. Like I'm beneath you. Like you can't stand me. Like what happened in that locker room was my fault."
Breathing hard, I stopped my tirade, knowing it would do no good. He didn't like me. No need to hear him say it out loud just to confirm.
His eyes narrowed and darkened.
"Get in the truck." Then he walked around to his side.
"See? Rude!" I yanked open the door and slammed it shut, trying to ignore how beautiful the interior of the vintage truck was and what that said about this infuriating man next to me. He was obviously not happy with me, and instead of doing what I did best and placating him, I was poking the bear. I didn't know what was wrong with me lately. It was like Cain brought out the worst side of me.
How did I get here? Everything was going so well. And then my dream job was in jeopardy and I had the hottest boss around who hated me but lit my veins on fire just looking at me.
What. The. Crap.
6
Cain
This girl was irritating the shit out of me.
So why offer to drive her home, you ask? Hell if I knew.
Normally I could figure people out before they'd even opened up their mouth, but this girl had me thoroughly confused. I'd thought she was some floozy Ivan hired to entertain me on my birthday, then she'd turned out to be my new employee. Then I'd pegged her as a Goodie Two-shoes based on the way she didn't curse, followed orders like a grown-up teacher's pet, and she even wore a goddamn helmet when she drove her ridiculous mint-green Vespa. But then she'd shaved half her head and flipped me around on the mats like some sort of Laura Croft badass. Never mind how she was totally not my type, yet I couldn't seem to get my dick to remember that.
Being on top of her on the mats today was straight torture. I knew she could feel me, but there was nothing I could do to stop that appendage from growing. I'd resorted to insulting her to distract myself from those golden-colored eyes drilling into my soul. She hadn't smelled bad at all. In fact, she'd smelled like goddamn sugar cookies straight from the oven. If Shasta hadn't barked at her to throw me off, I would have leaned down and licked her to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
I'm sure that would have gone over well.
I had a feeling that my sweet little Sunshine was a spitfire underneath her Pollyanna exterior. Offering her a ride home was a way to chip away at that exterior to see if my assumption was correct. Nobody could be that sweet, innocent, and naive.
"Turn right here." Her voice cut into my musings, making me realize that we'd been dead silent for several minutes while I drove us north on PCH, running along the water's edge.
Pulling my truck into a new apartment complex, she directed me through the parking lot maze before I pulled into an empty space. She bolted, grabbing her door handle and hopping out before I'd even put the truck in park.
"Hold up." Rolling my eyes, I put it in park, took my seatbelt off and slowly exited the truck, positive she'd follow my order. She may not like following my orders, but I knew she would, if only to save her job. Probably not fair of me, but I was willing to use it to get what I wanted. Up to a point.
I snagged her bag out of the back and rounded to her side. She was waiting, her gaze off in the distance, her jaw locked tight, arms crossed over her chest, propping up her impressive breasts. Most girls would do that to play games, to put their assets on display while they argued with a guy. For some reason, I felt like she didn't have a clue what she was doing and was in no way playing games. Which made her even more dangerous.
My hand found its way to her lower back, steering her up on the sidewalk.
"Which one's yours?" I tried to lighten my tone. Guilt crept in at using my position as her boss to order her around. If she wasn't playing games, I shouldn't either. That was only fair.
She darted forward, escaping my hand, moving to the first-floor apartment right in front of us. I couldn't help but take in the sight of those hips swinging as she ate up the ground in her haste to get away from me. Her legs were a work of wonder. I'd lain between them earlier on the mats and been amazed at how strong she looked. Then those thighs had locked onto my waist and shot me up and over her head in the blink of an eye. They weren't just beautiful to look at, they'd kicked my ass which ratcheted my interest level up into the stratosphere.
The door opened a crack after she'd unlocked it. She put her back to it and reached out her hand. I knew what she wanted, but I wasn't ready for the night to end.
