Page 7 of Love is Fake

“‘No’, you don’t believe I am who I say I am, or ‘no’ you don’t want to work with me?”

“Find someone else.” Lennox directs the order to Declan, ignoring me as if I haven’t even spoken.

“Mr. Gray, you’ll find I’m more than capable.” I take a step towards him when it looks as if he’s going to walk off. That step only gets me so far, though. In the blink of an eye, I’ve stopped in my tracks, trying to ward off the daggers shooting out of his eyes.

“Cut the Mr. Gray shit. You’re the same girl who called me an ‘asshole’ a half an hour ago.” I cringe at the memory but try to channel Kiara’s cool aloofness to get me through the car crash that is this conversation.

I continue with my sentence as if he didn’t interrupt me. “I’m excellent at my job, but if you would rather wait until Michael’s available again or call someone else, I’ll show myself out. No hard feelings.” That last part might be me lying through my teeth. I’m projecting a confidence I don’t feel and hoping like hell Kiara doesn’t kill me for losing this damn contract.

My eyes meet Lennox’s dark gaze and it takes everything I have not to look away. The man is the epitome of dominanceand despite how annoyed I am at being in this situation, it’s hard to deny that there’s something mesmerizing about him. His posture. His scowl. The way his eyebrow kicks up just so.

Inch by inch, he moves toward me, leaning down so that his face is no more than an inch away from mine. “That performance would be a whole lot more convincing if you didn’t look like a deer caught in headlights. Don’t poke the bear, when you look good enough to eat, darlin’.”

His expression is pure male smugness, as if he knows the effect of him being so close will inevitably have on most women. But that’s just it, I’m notmostwomen. Sure, he’s handsome as hell, but I have enough self-respect not to lose my senses over the most boorish man I’ve ever met.

“Un-freakin’-believable.” I mutter the word under my breath, shaking my head in disbelief at the man in front of me. “You know what? You win.” I throw my hands up and turn on my heel, more than ready to leave. Pretty as Lennox might be, it’s not enough to make me okay with being treated like an idiot.

“Wait a second, Anabella.” Declan holds his hand up and the only way I know who he’s talking to is because he’s looking right at me.

“It’sIsabella.” But whatever, at this point, correcting my name seems like a pointless exercise. It’s not like I’m going to be hanging around here long enough for him to remember it.

“Isabella, right.” Declan waves his hand impatiently as if to say I’m telling him something he already knows and then he turns his attention to his athlete, who’s still standing there glowering at me. “Nox, you need a PT asap, you know it, I know it, your surgeon sure as shit knows it. Michael isn’t available and if we go through the whole process of trying to find someone else who actually happens to beavailable, we’re just going to be wasting time. Time we don’t have, I might add.”

He gives Lennox a pointed look as the other man clamps his mouth shut so tightly I’m surprised he doesn’t break a tooth.

“This isn’t up for fucking discussion, Dec. Find me someone else. I’m not working with her.” He points towards me as if there could be any kind of misunderstanding over who he was talking about, before stalking towards the bench at the far end of the room. I don’t miss the way he favors one leg over the other or the grimace of pain when he sits on the workout bench and starts pressing what I can only assume is the weight of a small truck. His focus doesn’t flick back to us, making it clear as day that he’s done with this conversation.

I work not to gape at his rudeness. He’d probably misinterpret my look anyway and figure I was ogling him. Sure, he’s an impressive male specimen, but he’s also the front-runner for the prize for the most arrogant man in existence.

“Give us a minute, will you?” Declan smiles at me charmingly before narrowing his eyes at Kai and jerking his head towards the door. I’m still rooted to the spot, surprised at the visceral reaction I’ve somehow provoked in Lennox.

I feel Kai’s presence next to me. His hand grazes my elbow and I let him gently lead me out of the gym, not that I had much of a choice.

Once we’re out of the door there’s an unmistakable sound of weights being thrown against a hard surface and then the raised voices reach us.

“Hell to the fucking no, Dec!” Lennox doesn’t just sound mad, he sounds furious.

Declan’s voice is calmer but almost as loud. “I know how you feel about this, Nox -,”

“No, you fucking don’t, Dec. If you did then you’d already be looking for someone else and we wouldn’t be having this damn argument!”

My eyes are probably taking up most of my head at this point and I don’t think they could get any wider as I listen to the chaos breaking out on the other side of the door.

“Are you thirsty?” Kai speaks louder as if he can cover up the yelling his boss is doing. “How about we head to the kitchen and get a drink?”

I nod hurriedly because the last thing I want to do is stand here any longer and listen to Lennox assassinate my character.

Kai and I head past what I’m guessing is the front door and my feet slow as I cast a longing look at my escape route.

“You know what, maybe I should just go. Clearly, I’ve stepped into the middle of something.” I wave vaguely in the direction of the gym, wondering again what I could have done to make a man I haven’t seen since we were teenagers, a man who doesn’t evenrememberme, hate me so much.

My shoulders slump a little in defeat but after what I’ve just overheard there’s no chance I’m going to get this job and – to be honest – I’m pretty sure I don’t even want it anymore. There’s high maintenance and then there’sthat, whateverthatis.

Kai looks at me with a sympathetic expression, cementing my opinion that he’s the only decent guy in this entire place.

“It’s not about you, Isabella. Lennox doesn’t have any chicks on staff,” Kai explains blandly as if it totally makes sense.

“Just Izzy is fine,” I smile at him. “The only person who calls me Isabella is my dentist,” I joke, “and I don’t like him all that much.”

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