“Do tell,” he invited silkily, just a hint of his southern accent escaping as he spoke.
She slapped one palm against his solid desk. “Listen up, Romeo! One of these days, one of your Juliets is gonna stab me in the heart with my letter opener because you are too much of a wuss to face them once you break their hearts! You know what I want? I want a life insurance policy added to my employee benefit package! While you hide in here in your safe little haven, I’m out there on the frontlines under enemy fire!” she yelled, jerking her thumb toward the door.
Choking on his coffee as her metaphor bounced off the walls of his office, Devil quickly dropped the mug back on his desk. “Glad to see you’re as colorful as always, Mols. I hardly think the lobby qualifies as a war zone, however.”
“Says you,” Molly yelped indignantly. “I’m not kidding, Devil.” She tapped her toe against the thick carpet under her feet. “This time it was only tears that the opposing ground forces unleashed. But that Cleopatra wannabe from last month came real close to clawing my eyes out.”
“No woman I’ve ever been involved with would dare touch you,” Devil dismissed her with a shrug, his wide shoulders easily shifting beneath his designer suit jacket. “They all know there’d be hell to pay.” Every woman he dated was aware of how special Molly was to him. Not only was she a valued assistant that worked long hours to ensure that his business ran smoothly, but she and her family were also longtime friends. He’d watched her grow up, for God’s sake. And for the moment, he was studiously trying to ignore exactly how grown up she was. The point was...Molly was off limits and everyone knew it.
“Yeah,” Molly snorted, ignoring his darkened gaze. “And they resent me for it! Not that I blame them. Calling me from Cleo’s bed at one in the morning last month wasn’t exactly conducive to building a trusting relationship.”
Barely sparing her a look, Devil shrugged. “We work closely together. Besides, I promised your brother that I’d keep an eye on you while he and Karen were on vacation in Hawaii. You had a date that night; I was merely making sure that you’d made it home safely.” He didn’t bother adding that he hadn’t been in bed with Cleo, but rather dumping the sleek brunette’s drunk ass on the mattress. That was one woman that had been a valuable waste of his energy. She’d been more interested in his power and position than in actually getting to know him. It wasn’t really all that unusual since all the woman he dated were interested in what he could give them, but that one had been entirely too obvious about it. There was such a thing as tact, after all.
Bending her neck, Molly shook her head. There was really no reasoning with him. Maybe it was time to shock him into sensibility. Pulling herself up to her full height, all five feet and three inches of it, she said, “Well, at least Carolyn didn’t cast dispersions on my character when you gave her the boot. Cleopatra assumed that you cut her loose because I sucked your swinging dick like a Hoover, you know.”
Jerking his gaze up to Molly, Devil’s mouth fell open. Had his Molly just used the word dick and swinging? Together?
“There it is!” Molly chortled, pointing at him with no small amount of satisfaction. “That’s the reaction I was looking for!” Take that, Mr. Misogynistic!
Clamping his jaw closed as he attempted to overcome his suddenly rampant thoughts, Devil inhaled deeply through his sudden, fierce anger. “I’m so glad I could accommodate you, Molly, but you’d better be kidding,” he said in a lethally quiet voice.
Leaning forward, Molly dropped her hands again to his gleaming desk. “I. Am. Not. Cleo thought I was more paid whore than paid assistant.”
“Well,” he said tightly, redirecting his gaze back to his computer, “Won’t it be unfortunate when her company gets bought out in a very sudden takeover, and she loses her coveted position?” Destroying that vicious woman would be his pleasure.
Sighing, Molly rolled her eyes as she straightened. She had no doubt Devil would do exactly as he said. He had a mean streak a mile wide when those that he cared about were threatened. However, she felt duty bound to object. “You can’t put a hundred innocent employees out of a job because she insulted me, Dev.”
“I could, but I won’t. I’ll only be eliminating one position. Hers,” he returned, unconcerned as his fingers tapped against his keyboard. “Are we done yet?” he asked a few minutes later when he realized she hadn’t moved an inch.
“No, Devil. We aren’t. This has to stop. I liked Carolyn.”