Page 26 of The Stranger

I mean, why? I don’t get it. He seemed so into me. The way he’d kissed me, the way he touched me. The noises he made as he buried his tongue in my⁠—

No, brain. Cease and desist! We’re not thinking about any of that. The man is now my enemy, and he shall pay!

I growl—no, really, clenched fists and everything—because there is no way I’ll allow him to drag Em into this. She doesn’t deserve to be fired just because… because what? Because he’s embarrassed about last night? Because he doesn’t want anyone to know he was there. Because I said the wrong thing, because I’m inexperienced.

Because he wanted a woman, just not me.

I push out a deep breath. What the hell gives him the right to decide I’m not unworthy of an explanation? Oh, that’s right. He’s just another rich arsehole who thinks his piles of cash put him closer to God.

My brother is rich—he started his own bank. I mean, he doesn’t have a Picasso hanging in his home office, but he is extremely wealthy. And he’s still human. Sort of.

I could get Em a job with a way nicer employer, but I’m aware that needs to be her choice. Meanwhile, she entrusted me with her livelihood, and I’m not going to let anything ruin it.

I mean, I’m not going to do anything else to ruin it.

Screw him for giving me the best orgasm of my life. Screw him for pushing me into the alley like yesterday’s trash. And screw him for continuing to treat me in the same vein!

Also, let’s not actually screw him.

Even he did make my skin feel alive when he loomed over me.

What’s wrong with me? I think with a frown. He called me a wallflower. He’s not wrong, but he didn’t mean it as a compliment!

“I hope he gets a crick in his dick,” I mutter as I stomp along the hallway. I turn the corner and—“Oh!” Startled, I almost drop my towel.

“Whoa, there.”

I nod and press my cotton-filled fist over my hammering heart as the ogre’s assistant, Jacques, steadies me by my upper arms.

“Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I give a quick smile, hoping he didn’t hear the curse aimed at his esteemed employer. Or my stomping feet. Lavender says when I’m in a strop, my troll-style steps that can be heard streets away.

“You okay?”

Just a bit flustered and still a little prickly. “I’m fine,” I say, forcing my shoulders to lower. “Though I might be a teeny bit lost.”

I wish I had the cover of a cardigan right now, which is weird considering I didn’t feel the need to cover up in the ogre’s office. I’d even thought about dropping my towel. Sort of like you could’ve had all this, but you blew it. Door, smelly back alley, blah, blah, blah.

“Where were you looking to go?” His carefully neutral face makes me want to laugh.

“Well, I haven’t been fired, if that’s what you’re asking.” I also haven’t not been fired. Just because I say I’m not leaving doesn’t mean he won’t actually make me. Mr. Arrogant DickHead might yet sic his security team on me. My pulse doesn’t exactly like that thought.

“That’s good. He’s already fired me at least twice today.”

“Really?”

The man shrugs. “It happens. Usually only a couple of times a month, but today I am overachieving.” He grins.

“I haven’t had sex in over a year.” Did I really tell him that? I might as well have said, Hey, if I was going to blackmail you, I’d do it for your body, not your wallet. You know, because I’m desperate.

Shoot me now. Or push me down the stairs—over the edge of a cliff. Something.

“You wanna let me in on what happened between the two of you?”

I scrunch my nose as I assume a confused expression. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’ve known Luc for a lot of years, and I thought I’d seen him angry before. But…” He gives his head a slow shake.

No way. He so doesn’t look like a Luke. Luke’s are Labrador retrievers in human form, not one of the devil’s hell hounds.