Now Royce sat at his desk over an hour later. His screen had gone black and the pen he’d been holding had stained the blotter beneath it. He had to toss away four sheets of otherwise blank paper to hide what he’d done while he’d been deep in thought. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone before he changed his mind and dialed her cell phone.
“Kasey, it’s Royce Hunter. Please don’t hang up. I’d like to talk to you please.”
~~~
She closed her eyes. She didn’t think he knew how to simply talk. Bark, give commands, but not talk.
“All right,” she answered him finally. “But you piss me off again and I’m hanging up.”
“Okay, I understand. I wanted…I want…shit, Kasey, I’m an ass and I’m sorry. For everything.”
Kasey looked at the phone then put it back to her ear. “Okay, who is this and what have you done with Royce, the real Royce Hunter? You know, the one who snaps orders and demands results.” She was only half kidding, but he apparently took her seriously. She could hear the shame in his voice.
“I deserved that. And more. I’ve been a royal pain in the ass since I met you. My secretary is barely civil to me, my brothers have threatened to have me murdered, and my own mother is ready to have me kidnapped and taken to another country never to be heard from again.”
That pissed her off. “And I suppose that’s my fault too. Look, if you called me up so you could make nice with your friends and family, that is so not my problem. I have—”
“Christ, will you take it down a notch? I didn’t say it was your fault, damn it. I was just telling you that… Hell, I don’t know. I just wanted you to know you’re not the only one I’ve made mad lately.”
She nearly laughed at his beaten tone. But she wasn’t ready to forgive and forget just yet. If she ever would be ready. “Why did you have sex with me that night?” The question was out before she could sensor it. He was quiet for so long she didn’t think he’d answer. But when he did, she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I wanted you. When you stopped me in the lobby that morning I thought you’d be fun—someone to have some dinner with and maybe, if I was lucky, a good lay.”
“Gee thanks. I’m trying to do my job and you’re only impressed with my bust size and a piece of my ass.”
“You know, I just realized I’ve never even seen your breasts. Never touched my mouth to your lovely flesh. I want to do that right now, Kasey, very much so.”
The silence was profound. Kasey wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or brain him. “Perhaps we should move on to something else,” she said to him. “I don’t even know why you called.”
He didn’t say anything for several seconds and she was sure he was going to go back to the subject of her breasts, but he didn’t. She listened to him as he told her the rules she was going to have to follow and she had no idea why she thought he’d written them down. She decided to test her theory.
“What was number four again?” Like she cared, but it was the last one she’d written down when he started reciting them.
“Number four? Oh, let’s see…oh, you’re going to have a checking account that I will provide—”
“You did write them out. What did you do, sit at your desk all morning and make up this list of things you wanted to dictate to me and thought that I’d just simply do them?”
“Yes. And why wouldn’t I? It’s just as much my responsibility as it is yours. And that being said—”
“Yes,” she snapped at him. “That being said, I’m not your responsibility. You’ll either back off or I swear I’ll bean you the next time I—don’t you have anything else to do other than drive me crazy? Some old peoples’ home to foreclose on or something?”
“I do not foreclose on things, especially not retirement homes. Why won’t you ever let me finish a sentence? You are forever cutting me off when I’m trying to—”
“You never try to do anything. You simply put out your demands then sit back while other people hop to it. And if you said anything that I wanted to hear, then maybe I’d listen to you.” She sat up straighter in her chair before continuing. “If and when hell were to freeze over then maybe, just maybe, I’d come to you for help. But until then…fuck the hell off.” She closed her phone up and laid it on the table. She was so tempted to throw it at the wall and watch with great satisfaction when it shattered, but knew that she’d be the one to clean it up and then she’d have to replace it. She picked up her mug. The temptation to destroy it was nearly overwhelming. Instead, she put it down and burst into tears. She was contemplating screaming when her house phone rang.