I have a feeling Ethan will beat her to it, but I don’t say anything.
Once Iris and I part ways, I head to my office. I don’t expect Layla to be in yet, so when I open the door to find the lights turned on in my office, I frown. Entering my office, I see Ethansitting on my couch, one arm sprawled over the back, his legs extended casually as he looks at a piece of paper in his hand.
“What are you doing in my office?” I demand, setting down my bag with more force than necessary.
“Well, I called you?—”
“I’m only available via email during non-working hours. I turn off my office cell phone,” I inform him tightly.
“Then give me your private number,” Ethan replies shamelessly.
I give him a cool smile. “Mr. Wilder, you should consider investing in hearing aids. I just said I don’t answer the phone during non-working hours. That would mean I don’t like being contacted on my private cell phone either.”
“Considering I’m your boss?—”
“I don’t give my private number to just anybody.”
His eyes flash, his voice dropping to a soft whisper that sends an unwanted shiver down my spine. “Since when did I become ‘just anybody?’”
I give him a withering look. “You’re my boss during office hours. Outside of them, you are nobody to me.”
He doesn’t get angry. Instead, he returns his attention back to the paper in his hand. “I like my employees to be available to me around the clock.”
“I didn’t realize I signed a slave contract.” I take a seat behind my desk, grateful for the barrier it provides. Folding my hands, I lean forward, analyzing him. “Mr. Wilder, in the hours that have passed since I left work and came back, did the office catch fire?”
Ethan bends his arm, leaning his temple against his forefinger and middle finger, observing me with that intense gaze that still makes my heart race. “No.”
“Did your business empire collapse?”
The corner of his lips tilts upward in amusement. “No.”
“Did Thalvyn Maritime fall apart?”
“No,” he replies, clearly entertained by my line of questioning.
My voice hardens as I continue. “Then why did you feel the need to break into my office when a simple email would have sufficed?”
“I’m the CEO.” Ethan stretches his long legs before him, crossing them at the ankles, a half-smile playing on his lips now. “I can enter any office I want, including yours.”
Irritation flickers within me like a struck match. “So much for any expectation of privacy. So what can I help you with? I’m sure you have a good reason to bother me so early in the morning.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
His sudden question startles me. “Excuse me?”
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“I don’t eat breakfast.”
“Good.” He gets to his feet with fluid grace. “Follow me.”
I remain seated, crossing my arms. “Where?”
“We’re going to get breakfast.”
It’s not easy to keep my frustration in check when this man refuses to acknowledge the existence of any boundary I attempt to set. “Sorry. I would rather not go anywhere with you. If you have something to discuss, you can do it here, in my office. Or we can go to your office. But that is it.”
“I don’t remember giving you an option, Natalie.”
