Page 9 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

He sat next to me and spun his chair to face me. “You walked into a door?” His words and expression were tight, his usual teasing tone gone.

I’d never have thought he possessed the capacity for so much anger. It wasn’t sexy anger like I’d seen from him the day before, it was molten rage barely contained. That anger got to me, because it was on my behalf. He was so mad, because he genuinely cared. That touched me and, at the same time, scared the stuffing out of me.

“Something like that.” I didn’t want to get into it when my staff would be there any minute.

He glared, waiting, a muscle near his jaw ticking.

I straightened my spine and folded my hands in my lap, meeting his fiery glare with my icy one.

My new-found resolve to batten down my emotions wavered. The smart, logical thing would be to tell him what had happened and move on, but I hated the way he thought he could glare at me and get what he wanted.

A staff member, Ellie Lawson, pushed through the door, a grin on her face. “Get out,” Alex roared at her. “The meeting will be rescheduled.”

Ellie winced and hurried back through the door.

“It’s amazing you aren’t a more popular boss,” I said. If I had a reputation as an ice queen, he had one as a beast.

His jaw ticked one more time and then something softened in his expression. “Please, Jill. Tell me what happened.”

It wasn’t the please, it was the honest distress in his voice. If I’d been a different person, my heart would have fluttered and I’d have melted, but I hated looking weak in front of him. “An entitled bastard thought he could buy my attention. Sound familiar?”

Shock registered in his eyes, but he didn’t back down. “What happened?”

“I told him no. He didn’t like that, so I had to use a self-defense technique to convince him. He sucker punched me before the bouncer got him on the ground. The police came, and I pressed charges. I’ve also been to the hospital and been declared fine to work.”

His hands curled into fists and his jaw was clenched so hard, I was worried he’d break his teeth. “You get the guy’s name?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“What are you going to do? Blackball him from the country club?”

“What. Is. His. Name?”

I sighed. “It’s fine, Alex. I pressed charges, and he’s going to pay for what he did.”

“I’m going to ask you one more time. What is his name?”

I clenched my own hands into fists. “I told you it’s been handled. Trust me to have handled it.”

His anger receded a hair. “I’m not suggesting you didn’t handle it. I want to make sure the prick doesn’t hire some high-powered lawyer and get out of this with a slap on the wrist.”

“Standford Jennings, the fifth.” I told him because the prick did deserve more than a slap on the wrist, but also because I didn’t want Standford thinking he could go around doing what he did to me to other women. Or, more likely, far worse than what he’d done to me.

Alex tapped something into his phone. “You’re taking the rest of the week off.” He pushed to his feet. “I’ll see you Monday.”

I stood next to him, beyond annoyed. “I don’t need time off.”

Maybe he saw something in my eyes, or maybe he understood what it was like to sit around an empty condo and count the minutes until he could get back to work. “Take today, at least. You look like you haven’t slept at all and I don’t want the numbers to be screwed up because you have a foggy brain.”

I really was exhausted, and if there was one thing I took pride in, it was doing a good job. “Fine. One day isn’t an unreasonable request.”

“Don’t put it in as vacation or a personal day. You shouldn’t have to lose out on your time off because of that asshole.”

I tended to agree, since Alex was insisting I go home, but I barely managed to use all my time off as it was. “It’s fine. I have plenty of time saved up, and I don’t want to set a bad example for the staff.”

He nodded and started toward the door, but turned at the last minute. “For the record. I’m nothing like that douche bag. If you did me the honor of gracing me with your time or attention, I’d be fucking grateful for everything you were willing to give. I know I’m entitled to nothing. I offered you the stock because I’d like a chance. If you bought the stock and chose not to give me that chance, I’d never be angry with you or make your life difficult. I just wanted the chance.”

He turned and left before I could say anything, which was good because I was too shocked to have any clue what to say.

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