It was the perfect moment to leave well enough alone, but I couldn’t. I had to address the situation, figure out how to soothe the waters before these two hardheaded people went toe to toe. As much as I wanted to believe otherwise, Addison wouldn’t win.
I followed her into her office and closed the door. When she turned around to face me, the glare in her eyes was hot enough to scorch the sun.
“I’m going to ask again.” I kept my tone even, trying to show her I wasn’t the enemy here. “Is something wrong?”
“And I’ll tell you again,” she hissed. “Go ask him.”
There were three things about this situation that bothered me. One, Addison was taking her anger out on me when, clearly, I wasn’t the target. Two, she was treating me with the utmost disrespect, and because I was her boss, she needed to be considerate with her response. And three, after all that we’d shared, I felt as though I deserved a hell of a lot better than that.
“Just go away,” she said, some of the bristle leaving her tone. “I’m tired of this crap.”
Yeah. I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Come here,” I bit out, unable to hold back the fury in my tone. She might be angry, but she was out of line in so many ways, I needed to bring her back in.
Addison’s blue eyes widened, but she didn’t move.
“Don’t make me tell you again.”
Like a petulant child, she stomped over to me, her arms crossed over her chest. “I need to get to work if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind,” I assured her. “I take offense to the way you’re speaking to me.”
“Too bad,” she countered. “You’re the one who barged in here.”
I held my tongue, taking a deep breath.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m on the clock and unless you have something you need me to do for you—in a business sense—then I’ll kindly ask you to leave me alone.”
There was nothing kind about her request.
I decided to make one last-ditch effort. “Do you want to talk?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m at work and I’d do well to remember that.” Her eyes narrowed. “In fact, when I’m at work, I insist that we only discuss work. Understood?”
So that was how she wanted to play it? In just a few words, she had altered the course of our relationship.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely. You pay me to do a job, not to…do you.”
I nodded, staring at her. “Understood.”
“I mean it,” she added, her chin trembling. “I’m not playing your games.”
Addison had just made herself very clear. Acting as her Dom here in the office was obviously no longer permitted. “I think you’ve made yourself very clear, Miss Hayes.”
Without another word, I turned and walked out of her office. When Addison called out my name, I didn’t look back. Instead, I went right for Mr. Parker’s office, stepping inside and slamming the door behind me.
“What the fuck?” Mr. Parker glared at me. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” I blatantly lied.
Mr. Parker’s head tilted slightly and he regarded me for several seconds. “You lying to me is new. I almost understood why you did it the other night; however, I’m not sure I understand now. Do you care to explain yourself?”
“No.”
His eyes widened in disbelief. “No?”
I didn’t respond.
“Does this have to do with Addison?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the problem?”
“She’s made it abundantly clear that we’re to keep things strictly professional here in the office.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.” And this was where my anger came in. “And I blame you for that.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I am sick and fucking tired of playing this shit.”
Okay, so I knew I was pushing boundaries I probably shouldn’t push, but it seemed appropriate. I was upset and I needed something only Mr. Parker could give me. Rather than ask for it, I was going about it a different way. Truthfully, it wasn’t much different than the stunt Addison had just pulled. The only difference was that Mr. Parker and I had a long-term, stable relationship, one I couldn’t rock with a few hastily spoken words. It didn’t matter that we’d had a falling-out this week. That wouldn’t unravel years of what we’d built.
“And what shit would that be?” he probed.
“Whatever the hell is going on with you. Your need to run away, then taking it out on Addison. You owe her an apology.” It wasn’t true. I had no idea what had taken place between the two of them and I damn sure didn’t have the right to insist he apologize. I could’ve phrased it as a request—probably should have, in fact—but I didn’t.
One blond eyebrow lifted slowly and I saw the spark of anger in his eyes. “Did you just order me to do something?”
I had. On purpose. But I didn’t admit it. Instead, I stood there, my eyes locked on his.
