Page 57 of The Rebel

My body flashed hot and then very cold. My skin became clammy. Damn, the man didn’t mess around. I thought he’d ease into it at least.

I walked in front of him, and I swear I felt his gaze on me. I glanced once over my shoulder as I stepped into his office. Yep, he was looking straight at me. I was back to having hot flashes. Inside, I was rooted to my spot once more.

Behind me, I heard Anthony close the door. I still couldn’t move. Being alone with him in a room transported me right back to the bar.

For a few seconds, the room was completely silent. Then I heard him let go of the doorknob before slowly walking over to me. He crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t smiling. His eyes were intense. Was he mad? I couldn’t tell. I felt just as lost as I did on my first day here.

CHAPTER 14

ANTHONY

I tooka good look at Daisy, trying to read her body language. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or put her on the spot, but I needed to know why she left the competition without saying anything.

“You want to sit down?” I asked her.

She looked over her shoulder at the door, then at the desk. “Sure, why not?”

I held the chair for her. As she sat and crossed her legs, I couldn’t help but notice the way her skirt rolled up. I exhaled sharply, looking away, then took a seat behind my desk and made eye contact.

“Daisy, we need to talk about last night.”

She blushed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I was surprised when I came out from the meeting room and Julian told me you’d left.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, as if she hadn’t expected me to bring this up at all. “I didn’t know what else to do. You were busy with Sal, and you said I was off the clock. Today was a workday, so I didn’t want to get home too late.”

I tilted my head to one side. “Is that the only reason you left?”

She sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair as a lock fell over her left eye. “I thought it might be easier.”

“For whom?”

She swallowed hard. “For both of us? I honestly don’t know.” She bit her lower lip. “I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I truly don’t do this. I’ve never even dated anyone who worked at the same company I did.”

“That’s very smart,” I replied, remembering my own faux pas in the past. But this was different.

She hunched her shoulders—she was closing herself off. I didn’t like that one bit.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.

“Why don’t you start with what’s on yours?” One corner of her mouth lifted.

“Half a smile,” I said. “I’ll take it.”

She flashed me a full smile now. “Honestly, I don’t know how to go about this. What I really want is to do my job without any awkwardness between us.”

“We’re both professionals, Daisy. There’s no place for awkwardness.”

“So, we’re just clearing the air right now?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I want to know why you felt the need to flee.”

She winced and then closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “I did flee, didn’t I? I didn’t even stop to think how that would look from your perspective. I simply… didn’t know how to react. Leaving was easier.”

“Fair enough.”

She shook her head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”