Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
At this meeting, she’s been nothing but rude. She tried to interrupt me or contradict me at least a dozen times during the first few minutes. Then she just stopped listening whenever I talked and didn’t even bother to hide it. Obviously, she’s mad at me. Everyone in the room can see it. The question is: Why?
What did I do?
I decide to ask her after the meeting. As her boss, I can’t tolerate this kind of behavior. As someone waiting for her to make up her mind whether she hates me or wants me, I’m concerned. Either way, I have to know the reason for her tantrum.
As soon as the meeting is over, Violet tries to leave ahead of the rest of the people in the room. I stop her before she reaches the door.
“Ms. Cleary?”
Her shoulders sink as she stops in her tracks.
“You and I still have a few things to discuss.”
“Fine,” she mutters.
She stomps back to the table and drops into the chair furthest away from mine, closest to the door. She crosses her arms beneath her breasts. Her lips are glued into a pout. Somehow, she reminds me of a kid who hasn’t been allowed to leave the dinner table to go play because she hasn’t finished her vegetables.
I wait for the other people who were at the meeting to leave the conference room. Then I close the door and lock it. I don’t plan on letting Violet out until I get to the bottom of this newfound resentment, and I don’t want anyone to interrupt us while I’m interrogating her.
I lean against the long table, leaving an empty chair between Violet and me to give her some space. I grip the edge and clear my throat.
“Is this PMS or something else?”
“PMS,” Violet answers.
Yeah right.
“Liar,” I scoff.
“Excuse me? Did you just call me a—?”
“Liar,” I repeat as I look at her. “We both know something’s going on with you.”
Her eyes throw daggers at me. “Yes. You would know, wouldn’t you?”
I wish I did. Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, which I have a feeling is about to turn into a fight.
“Actually, I don’t,” I confess. “I know you’re pissed at me about something, but—”
“Pissed?” Violet interrupts me. “If a man missed his train to work, he’d be pissed. If a student left his homework at home, he’d be pissed. This is more than that.”
“Fine. Enraged. Infuriated. Homicidal. That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know why.”
Violet’s eyebrows go up. “Excuse me?”
I put a hand on my hip as I turn to face her. “What did I do, Violet?”
For a moment, she just looks at me. Then she claps her hands above her head.
“And the Oscar goes to… Asher Hawthorne, ladies and gentlemen!”
My eyebrows furrow. “You think I’m acting?”
She puts down her hands and looks at me.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“No.”
Violet purses her lips and shakes her head.
“Tell me,” I urge her.
“She didn’t tell you? She thought I was too insignificant for her to talk to you about, didn’t she?”
She?
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I tell her.
“Right. Because you have too many women that you can’t keep track of them all. Maybe you should have your own app made just for that.”
Now I don’t know what she’s talking about.
“Anyway, it’s not them I’m mad at. They all probably just got tricked. They got seduced, had dirty things whispered in their ears and were promised all sorts of stuff…”
“I never promised them anything.”
“They got fooled into thinking sex with you was the best thing that could happen to them, that it was something they wanted, needed.” Violet shakes her head. “Well, you can’t fool me.”
So she’s decided not to sleep with me. Pity. I was hoping she’d go the other way. Still, I respect her decision.
I let out a breath. “If you didn’t want to have sex with me, you could have just said so in the first place. There’s no need for all this drama…”
“Drama?” Violet stands up and slams her hands on the table. “You think I’m just trying to put on a show for you?”
I think I can’t take this much longer.
Violet puts her hand on her chest. “You hurt me, Asher. Again. See. This is why I don’t go near you. Because every time I do, each time I give you just a slight opening, you stick a spear into my heart.”
“Again, I don’t understand what you mean. I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who’s rejecting me. You’re the one who just crushed my hopes after raising them.”
“Really? I broke your heart? That’s not possible. You don’t have one.”
“Neither do you,” I tell her.
She wants to be brutally honest? Fine. I’ll be honest with her. And brutal.
Violet points a finger at me. “Don’t you dare put me in the same boat as you. You… you’re a monster.”