I blink again. “I beg your pardon.”
Colin cuts his eyes downward at a different stack of paperwork. He draws his tapered fingers over the length of it while his opposite hand absently slides down the length of his tie in a subconscious gesture that strikes me as completelymale. “You weren’t the least bit qualified for this job, but what you lack in experience, you’ve made up for with professionalism and dedication. I think you’ve learned a lot from working with Celia. I was sure you were going to quit long before now, and the fact that you haven’t speaks well of you.”
The fact that Colin is actuallycomplimentingme is so unbelievable I nearly fall out of my chair. But he makes up for that subtlenicenessby refusing to look at me while saying such things, which pretty much evens everything out again.
“Thanks,” I deadpan. It’s a little disorienting to be one-hundred-percent mentally prepared for being fired only for that to not happen, and I gotta be honest. I’m a little disappointed that I don’t get to go home early to my chocolate hazelnut spread and cheesy movies. I was also looking forward to never having to see him again, but whatever. I’ll still have a paycheck—ashittypaycheck—and that’s something.
Colin finally looks up at me, his elbow on the desk as his chin rests on the pad of his thumb. His index finger half covers his stubbled upper lip while he levels his blue gaze on me with such focus that I have to slide my eyes to the window behind his head.
“Elle.”
He hasn’t called me by my first name since that shitty first day, and it immediately piques my attention.
I flick my eyes back to his. “Yes?”
He pulls his lips between his teeth for a microsecond, almost as though he’snervousabout what he’s going to say, and now I’ve seeneverything.“I have something I need you to help me with.”
My chin slowly juts forward as if I’m straining to hear him more clearly, and my brows crawl up my forehead. “Okay?”
“It’s a little…unorthodox. But it’ll give you the opportunity to get out of the office and into the field with nailing down an actual major account. It’ll bemyaccount, but for this potential sale, I’m willing to let you assist me with acquiring it, and I’ll split the commission with you.”
I don’t like the way he saysunorthodox, and I believe him about splittinganythingwith me about as far as I can throw him.
“What about being capped atfive percent?” I clip, the words exiting my mouth with a tiny hiss.
Colin’s muscled forearm is resting on the edge of the desk, and he lifts his fingers in a brief, dismissive gesture. “If you agree to work with me on this, I’ll remove the cap.”
I’m still skeptical, and I sit back in my chair. “So what is it?”
There’s a beat of silence as though he’s weighing his words. “Are you familiar with United Media Group?”
I can’t restrain my sarcasm because I still hate him, and I drop my head sideways as I curl a strand of my hair around my index finger. “Noo-oo,” I sing-song with the inflection of a vacant-minded ditz, “The second largest media conglomerate in the US?” I drop my hair to daintily place my fingertips on my cheeks like Shirley Temple. “Who are they?”
Colin sits back in his chair, hand absently grazing down his tie again to smooth it against the flat slope of what I knowhasto be a lean, chiseled torso. His piercing blue gaze settles into a deadpan stare as he rests his elbow on the arm of the chair, hand hovering in a loose fist at the level of his face. “Facetiousness isn’t necessary, Kissinger.”
I fold my hands in my lap and sit up taller. “Well, you’re convinced that I’m stupid. I’m just trying to exceed your expectations,sir.”
His bottom lip discreetly catches between his teeth for a second just like it did on the day I met him in the coffee shop when he was totally checking me out. It’s a neon-sign reminder that if he hadn’t ended up being my dickish boss, we would’ve likely already slept together and possibly even dated months ago. Colin has all the disdain in the world for me, but Iknowthat if, given the chance thatnobodywould find out about it, he’d fuck me right here on his large mahogany desk if I let him. I have six months of experience as his subordinate to know he’s a piece of shit like that.
I’m not good enough to be an official member of his sales team, but I’m good enough to be a casual lay.
Whatever.
“I told you to stop calling me that,” Colin clips, rubbing his index finger against the pad of his thumb while his hand is still suspended at the level of his face. “I also don’t think you’re stupid. I think you’re inexperienced with aviation sales and chartering planes. But I’m trying to offer you the opportunity to rectify that.”
I wave my hand flippantly before setting it back on my lap, fully aware that my give-a-fucks about whatever he thinks of me have dissolved. “Go on then.”
A muscle in his jaw pulses as his broad shoulders do a subtle rise-and-fall as if I’m frustrating him. I can’t help silently reveling in the fact that I’ve got aslightupper hand right now. After all, he said he needs my help,andI had already resigned to the fact that he was going to fire me, only to be mistaken.
“Their president and CEO is a man named Ernesto Reyes,” Colin continues, his eyes drifting to his monitor, which he reaches to angle slightly toward me. On the flat screen is a write-up from a Manhattan society periodical that declares news of the engagement between an ebony-haired young woman and a foreign head-of-state or member of some small European country’s royal family. The text is too small for me to read many of the details, and I couldn’t care less anyway. “I grew up with his kids, and I’m an old friend of their family. His daughter—”
I can’t stop the brisk, sardonic laugh that bursts out of me. “Ofcourseyou are,” I blurt out, which probably isn’t the best idea, but my give-a-fucks are still gone with the wind. “I should’ve known that you’rethoroughlysaturated with male privilege.” I tilt my head placidly. “Must be how you got this job in the first place.” I offer an imaginary hat tip. “Nepotism at its finest, amiright, ol’ chap?”
Colin’s jaw ticks again, and he pitches forward across the desk. “Can I finish, or should we just go ahead with me canning your smug ass?”
Hedidn’tfire me immediately, which suggests I still have a slight upper-hand, and now I’m on a roll that I can’t stop.
“Actually,” I say, and I love having the opportunity toactuallyhim, “if the past six months have proved anything, it’s that only one person in this office issmug. And it’s not me. Also, I believe you just mentioned that youneedmy help. To the point that you’re willing to split a major commission with me. Which means that there’s also only one person in this office who isdesperate. Andthat’salso not me.” I roll my chair back just enough to cross my legs and fold my arms across my chest. “So by all means,Colin. Please continue.”
