Page 9 of In Bed with the Enemy

"Bullshit!" I yelled at him. "Bullshit, bullshit! I heard you! Your entire motivation for coming here was to ruin my chances of getting my invention up off the ground. I could sue you for this, you know."

I was sort of bluffing, but sort of not. I figured his actions would have risen to some sort of illegal level, but I knew that neither I nor my employer would have the funds to fight Standard Energy payroll attorneys.

He barked out a laugh, obviously calling my bluff. "Please, Ms. Reid. Do file that complaint whenever you want. I would love to have my attorneys read it."

I gritted my teeth in frustration, feeling completely trapped. "Why are you such an asshole? Does it come naturally for you or did you have to work at it really hard?"

"Stooping to insults because we don't have anything left of substance to say, hm Ms. Reid?" he asked calmly, turning back around with a tumbler of some type of liquor.

"Between the two of us, I'm the only one with substance here," I shouted back, knowing I was letting my temper get the better of me.

"Perhaps," Ethan replied calmly, taking a seat in one of the leather wingback chairs tucked into the corner. He took a sip of his drink and there was nothing I could do but sit and watch him. He stared into the liquid a bit, swirling it this way and that before shaking his head a bit. "And I do think that your substance was realized. You were offered a job with Standard when you graduated, were you not?"

His question took me completely by surprise. Why would Ethan know anything about that? He was essentially running the company. Whether some lowly engineer did or did not take the company up on a job offer shouldn't have even come across his desk.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I managed to respond.

"Just answer the question, Ms. Reid."

"Yes, I was offered a job," I said slowly.

"And, you turned it down."

I waited, choosing to say nothing because he hadn't phrased it as a question. The silence stretched on between us, his last words hanging thick in the air until finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Yes, that's correct," I finally blurted out.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I snapped.

"Why turn it down?" he asked, still not looking up at me.

"I got a better offer," I retorted.

He laughed softly and shook his head. "Bullshit, Ms. Reid. I call bullshit." He lifted his head then, his green eyes looking straight through me. "Tell me why."

"I don't like your company," I said, squaring my shoulders. If he wanted the truth, who was I to deny it to him?

"Why?"

"You're more interested in money than you are in the world. Your behavior today only proved my point."

"Perhaps," he said, softly. "Or," he mused, "Perhaps you don't know the entire story. Perhaps you are too quick to judge based on history."

"I don't judge people on their history, but I do look at a person's track record," I said, scrunching my face. "And neither yours nor your company's is particularly good."

"Perhaps someone is trying to change that. From the inside."

"Bullshit, Mr. Greene," I said, throwing his word back at him. "I call bullshit."

He lifted his lips in a sad smile. "And, why's that?"

I hesitated because I didn't really have a good answer for him. My heart was beating so fast in my chest and I hated how this man was making me feel things. He shouldn't be making me feel anything. I came here to get my answers, and instead, he was the one asking me questions. Making me pour out my own soul for him.

"It just is what it is," I said to him, brushing off the question. "I'd never work for your company, or for you," I added.

I heard him let out a deep sigh. He moved to stand up and I backed up instinctively.

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