Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
I would have run my ass out of there if it weren’t for the letter that told me to come here and find the Kings.
It meant I couldn’t leave yet. That meant damage control.
“Listen, I’m really sorry about Saturday,” I said before he could curse me out again. “I overslept, but I promise it won’t happen again. It was a simple misstep on my part. Please don’t fire me.”
“Please don’t fire me,” he mocked in a high tone.
I balled my hands into fists, and even though I’d never had a problem using them when necessary, I wasn’t that crazy. First impressions were hard to shake, and mine was of him beating a literal giant unconscious with his bare hands. I knew when to pick my battles.
Rowdy’s impassive expression returned when he spoke again. “I thought you said you needed this job.”
“I do.”
“So give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire you.”
My brows lowered. “I’m not sucking your dick if that’s what you mean.”
Rowdy chuckled at that before stroking his facial hair and looking me up and down like he saw all of me and found me lacking. “I’m not trippin’, little girl. You look like all you’d do is lick the tip.”
My jaw dropped, but he didn’t notice as he yanked open his top desk drawer, searched it, slammed it close, and did the same with the others until he found what he was looking for. “Normally, I’d slap you around as a warning, but since I don’t hit females,” he informed me absently, “fill this out.”
“Oh, my gosh! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes, which he missed since he hadn’t bothered to look up from the form. Of course, the insensitive jerk didn’t understand sarcasm. He was always earnest in that psycho way of his.
My boss stood from his chair with all the grace of the lion tattooed into his deep brown skin and slid the form over to me. All of the Kings had a similar tattoo—each in a different place, wearing a different expression.
Well, I assumed all since I still hadn’t met Joren.
I forced my attention to the paper in front of me because it felt like I was ogling Rowdy, and I read the bold writing at the top of the page.
“Are you serious?” I looked up from the employee misconduct form, my astonished gaze meeting his flat green one. “Is this really necessary?”
Rowdy’s brows, which had a shaved gap in each to make his mean ass look even meaner, dipped low like he was genuinely confused. “You want me to slap you around?”
I gaped for a moment, but I didn’t dignify that with a response. I snatched the pen he’d laid on top so I could fill the stupid form out.
In my gut, I knew he was just being petty, and it annoyed me more that it worked.
Rowdy disappeared through the open door of the bathroom just feet away from his desk. Moments later, my pen paused mid-stroke when I heard the unmistakable sound of his piss hitting the toilet water. The freakishly long stream was even louder than it should have been because that unbalanced asshole hadn’t bothered to close the door.
And just like the form, I knew it was purposeful, so I calmly set the pen down before aimlessly looking around. Knowing I had only seconds until he returned, I grabbed the half-empty water jug responsible for his bladder and popped the top.
I considered spitting in it but quickly discarded the idea. I wanted Rowdy to know how much harder he’d have to work if he wanted to break me.
Grabbing the motor oil sitting at the edge of the desk, as if he’d unconsciously carried it up here with him, I started pouring until the mixture was half and half and replaced the top.
The running faucet as Rowdy washed his hands thankfully covered up the sound of me shaking the jug to mix the water and oil. I shook until my arms hurt, knowing it was hopeless—much like Rowdy and me sharing the same space.
In order to live in harmony, one of us would have to break.
Something told me Rowdy would fight just as hard to stay whole, forcing one of us to rise and the other to sink. It was just a matter of discovering which of us was oil, I guess.
Silence emerged from the other side of the bathroom, so I hurriedly popped the top on the jug and emptied the contents onto the wooden floor, each of my targets deliberate. Once that was done, I tiptoed back to the desk and quickly signed my name on the form before rolling it tightly and securing the top edge with a strip of Scotch tape.
I’d just put everything back where I’d found it when he appeared in the bathroom doorway.
Rowdy, unsurprisingly, seemed annoyed to find me still lingering in his office. I was standing where he’d left me but facing the bathroom instead of his desk with my arms dutifully folded behind me.