“Branson would tell you I simply don’t listen to advice from anyone.”
“Sounds about right.” Now ravenous, she broke off a piece of bread and dipped it in ground garlic and olive oil, savoring the flavor. “That almost sounds like the old Finn Anderson.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, without an ounce of remorse.
Laurie speared a cherry tomato and pointed it at him. “At least with the real you, I know what to expect. I think it’s easier than having you switch back and forth.”
“I hardly feel sorry for you, Ms. Fields. You give as well as you take.”
Her pride swelled. Though he might despise her in other ways, at least he respected her ability to fight back.
“I can usually hold my own.”
A single eyebrow arched, throwing down the gauntlet. “A decent effort… pretty good, for a woman.”
“How Neanderthal of you. Welcome back, Mr. Anderson.”
“Would you feel more comfortable if I said I had hoped we would hire a man for your position?” He grinned, his eyes twinkling, like deep, sparkling water.
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Her lip twitched, but she forced it back to a straight line.
“What if I said the main reason we hired you was to fulfill our quota for minority and female employees?”
“I’d believe that of you, but not the other three.”
His nostrils flared and his grin vanished. For a brief instant, she thought she saw a hurt expression on his face, but then it was gone. He put down his fork and pushed his plate forward, folding his hands on the table.
“Ms. Fields, I don’t like this situation any more than you. We have a job to do, and I’m trying to make you happy. That seems to be a difficult task.”
“Mr. Anderson, you’re wrong about me. It doesn’t take anything special to make me happy. All I need is to be treated the same as any of your male employees.”
His mouth stretched into a lazy smile, his smoldering eyes half-lidded. “I’d enjoy that very much. We could continue this conversation in the men’s steam room after lunch, without the encumbrance of…”
As his voice trailed off, his gaze left her eyes and dropped down, perusing her form like he could see through the table between them. She felt heat rising in her cheeks as she resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. She swallowed hard, trying not to picture him sitting in a steam room, with only a white towel tucked around his hips.
His seductive eyes perused their way back to lock with hers. His next word was barely above a whisper. “Hunger.”
“Hunger?” Her question came out as a squeak.
“Yes. Hunger.” His gaze dropped, and he pulled his plate back to cut another piece of steak, continuing in a casual voice. “Without the encumbrance of hunger. I think better with a full stomach.”
The spell broken, Laurie discovered her hands were clenched around the wadded-up napkin in her lap. She glared at him. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” His eyes widened as he took another bite of steak.
“You’re trying to make me quit.”
His face blanched. “No, don’t quit!” he said around a full mouth, waving his hand as he chewed and swallowed. He prattled on in a panic. “Please don’t quit. I don’t know why I say these things. I don’t work with women. At least, not attractive ones.”
Did he just call me attractive?
He slammed his palm into his forehead. “I did it again, didn’t I? What’s wrong with me? I guess I really am a Neanderthal. I told them we couldn’t work together. Of course, you want to quit. I don’t know what we’re going to do. Cole and Branson are both busy. I tried to get Cole to come today, but he’s got his stupid one-date rule…” His words turned into mumbling, with something about dropping the LA fundraiser.
“Finn…”
“I know. I know.” With his eyelids closed, his fingers massaged his temples in concentric circles. “I’ll tell Branson we tried, but you can’t work with me. He’ll have to understand. If Jarrett doesn’t come back—”
“Finn!”
He stopped talking and stared at her, blinking like someone had taken a flash picture. “What?”
“We can make it work.”
His head was already shaking back and forth. “I don’t think so. That earlier conversation… that was me trying really hard not to be offensive, and you saw how long it lasted.”
“Yeah, but it’ll be okay.”
“How can you believe that after all the things I said?”
What answer could she give him? She didn’t even understand it herself. She just had the feeling she ought to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“We’ll figure it out. Either we learn to get along, or we cancel the LA Fundraiser. Neither of us wants that to happen.”
“It’s not going to work.”
Laurie watched the muscles working along his jaw, his brow furrowing deeper. His eyes held an emotion she recognized… fear. She took a drink of water and sat back, crossing her arms. “I’ll agree to treat you with respect because you’re my boss, but I’m not going to back down. Any time you make an inappropriate remark, I’ll blast you off your feet.”
“I’m always inappropriate. I’m probably the most inappropriate man you know.”
