Page 44 of The Powerful Boss She Craves

‘I went to see Samuel Dobson, and he and I hammered out an agreement in principle. I’ve arranged for Thadie and Anna to meet me there tomorrow morning and, if you can make it, I’d love you to be there too.’

Micah stood up slowly and placed his hands on his desk, his expression thunderous. ‘You went to see him? On your own?’

Ella’s temper started to heat. ‘I was doing my job, Micah. The job you hired me to do.’

‘I ordered you not to go there!’ Micah shouted.

He’d ordered her?What?When they’d discussed Samuel, he’d been talking as her lover, not her boss.

‘I cannot believe that you would be so stupid, after everything you’ve been through, to meet him on your own. What if he did something to you, what if he tried something?’ Micah yelled, every syllable rising in volume. He caught something on her face and his expression—summer-thunderstorm-intense—darkened. ‘What did he do? He did something, didn’t he?’

‘He asked me out,’ Ella reluctantly admitted. ‘I said no.’

‘What else?’

Samuel had been pretty persistent, telling her that she needn’t be loyal to Micah, because he’d never been loyal to a woman in his life. Micah didn’t make commitments, he said, and didn’t believe in monogamy. After steering the conversation back to business three times after the fourth time Dobson had raised the subject, she lost it and told him to shut the hell up. She’d then gone on to give him a loud and exhaustive lecture on consent and persistence. She’d also made it clear that she wasn’t a toy to be fought over.

Janie, who had waited in the car and listened in via the call Ella had started before going inside, had told her that it was a masterful put-down. And, kudos to her, Janie continued, that she’d still managed to seal the deal to hire Cathcart House. Ella was convinced it was mainly down to the fact that Dobson was hurting for money and not because he was contrite.

She didn’t want to fight with Micah so she pulled the conversation back to business. ‘So, do you think you can meet us tomorrow?’

‘I’m not done talking about the fact that you went there alone!’ Micah snapped. Right, he was determined to pick a fight with her. Why?

‘Well, I am!’

‘After what you went through, why would you take that chance?’ He walked around the desk and cupped her face in his hands, looking at her intently. His face softened and his thumbs skated over her cheekbones. ‘Are you okay? You know, mentally? Did it bring up any bad memories? Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Micah, I’mfine.’

They turned at a sharp rap on the door and Ella spun round to see Jago standing in the doorway. He sent Ella a distracted smile and focused on his twin. ‘Sorry, I only just managed to wrap up my meetings now. Micah, are you okay? What did Kate Pearson want? Is Brianna...?’

Micah shook his head. ‘No, she’s alive.’ Micah kept his eyes on Jago, waves of emotion rolling through his eyes. ‘I was coming to see you, to talk it out with you, but then Ella arrived unexpectedly. I’ll be with you in five, ten minutes.’

So, she wasn’t welcome to stay. And it was obvious he had no intention of telling her about his out-of-the-blue conversation with Brianna’s mother. It was also obvious that Kate’s visit had blown up Micah’s day, but he wanted to talk to his twin, not to her.

When his world fell apart, she wasn’t the person to whom he could turn.

Jago left and Ella gripped the back of the nearest chair, using it to help support her wobbly legs and keep her body upright. Micah wanted her physically, and might even enjoy her company, but she wasn’t good enough or important enough to help him deal with the big things, the important things.

Micah looked back at her. ‘Sorry about that. Are you sure you’re okay? What can I do for you, El? What do you need? And, sorry, I still don’t understand why you went over there without me!’

Why was he trying to fix something that wasn’t broken? Ella stepped away from the chair, frowning. What was going on here? Ella touched her top lip with the tip of her tongue. Was he angry at her for going to Dobson alone, or mad because she hadn’t allowed him the chance to play the Great Protector? Because that was what Micah did, he protected and fixed, rearranged his world to patch people and situations back together. Making things right was what he did, who he was...

He couldn’t fix Brianna but he could fix her. Was she just another one of his projects?

She thought that she just might be. And when he deemed her to be fixed, having knocked out her dings and dents, he’d send her back out into the world.

But that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted him to love her with her dings and dents, scratches and knocks. She wanted to be able to be exactly who she was at every minute of the day. She might feel confident, then scared, unsure and then powerful, and she wanted him to ride those waves with her, let her fly down them when she was feeling assured and to catch her when the wave swept her off her feet.

But Micah only wanted smooth waters or to control the tides.

And it was obvious to Ella that when the storms built up in his life he wasn’t going to turn to her for help, comfort or advice.

Ella felt tears burning the back of her eyes. ‘I can’t be who you need me to be, Micah.’

‘What the hell do you mean by that?’

‘Because of what happened to Brianna, you need to be the one in control of the situation, looking around to see who you can help, who you can fix. Because you can’t fix her.’ Ella bit down hard on her bottom lip, tasting blood.

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