No, Connor would be worse.
He just didn’t care because they weren’t in a relationship. If they were, she’d no doubt be expected to quit her job and devote herself to sucking his cock.
“I don’t think having lunch with the secretaries would make the guys take me any more seriously.”
“What?”
The look Connor gave her made her want to reach over and slap it right off.
“Don’t look at me like that. You have no idea what it’s like to be thought of as less-capable because you have a vagina.”
Connor shut his laptop and skewered her with his gaze. “No, Charlize, your capability is diminished by your own vaginal hang-up. If you stopped being obsessed with everyone else’s impressions of you and just got on with it, everyone else would too.” His words hung in the air followed by a deadly silence.
Charlize’s blood pounded in her ears and she clutched the arms of her chair to keep herself seated. “Get out of my office right now.”
“Charlize—” He dared shoot her a warning look.
“Get out now, Connor, or I swear to god I’m sacking you.”
He inched out of his chair, his posture leaving no doubt he was doing only as he chose. “I was about to make a phone call anyway. I’ll be right outside—for now. You should eat something. It’s been seven hours since you ate.”
Now he was timing her meals?
“Get out.” The pitch of her voice rose.
Connor gave her one last look before strolling out of her office.
Connor stepped outside and sat behind the empty reception desk. Some time to cool off wouldn’t do her any harm. Maybe he’d pushed her too hard but she needed to hear some hard truths. Not to mention he’d about reached his limit when it came to playing it cool under the constant heat of her saucy little glances.
This game of hers was murder on his cock. As if he’d been transported back in time to when he was the horniest and most frustrated sixteen-year-old boy on the planet. But then something about Charlize gave him that feeling. That obsessive, crazy, youthful yearning. The magic people normally lost as they got older and reality intruded, turning fantasy to dust.
He should just cave in and fuck her—get it out of his system. It’d been too long since he’d been with a woman, at least with one he could remember. Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket and selected a number from his address book.
“Hey, buddy.” Mark’s familiar voice came over the line.
“Hey,” Connor replied, “I haven’t heard from you, what’s going on?”
The phone remained silent for a few seconds. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated, my ass. Give it to me, Mark.”
“He’s cleared out his accounts and taken off.”
Connor rubbed his chin. “Shit. Well where are you looking? Have you tried—?”
“Connor, you’re not on this case. You’re just gonna have to trust I’m doing my job.”
He didn’t want to piss off Mark—he was one of the good guys. He’d always done his best. “All right. So how much cash does he have, how long’s he gonna be able to run for and how well can he hide?”
Mark whistled. “You’re not gonna like it—he had some serious cash. More than he should have…”
“What?” Connor growled.
“I’m gonna look into this guy—look at everything. Just trust me. When I have something I’ll let you know.”
Connor stared at Charlize’s closed office door. “Okay, thanks, partner.”
He hung up and unhooked the small radio clipped to his belt. Jason, his number one security guard, on duty downstairs, answered immediately.
“Yes, boss?”
“I need you to cover upstairs. I’m going to check out a few things.”
“I’m on my way,” Jason answered.
Connor clipped his radio back onto his belt. Something told him his she-cat was in more trouble than she realized. If she was, he was going to find out—even if he had to tear this joint apart.
* * * * *
Connor strolled back into Charlize’s office about the same time most staff members were heading home. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it. She continued with her phone conversation, as useless as it was.
“Well I’ve been trying to get him all day. There are sections missing from these audits.”
Charlize’s lips compressed as she listened to the voice at the other end. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers. Somehow Frank managed to dodge her all day. She’d wasted an entire day sifting through the incomplete paperwork she’d taken from Gregory’s office.
Her skin prickled. Gregory. Memories of the darkened parking lot flashed through her mind and the knotting in her stomach twisted into a sickening cramp. “Tell Frank I expect to see him in my office at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, no excuses.” She slammed the phone down then picked it up and slammed it again for good measure.