tilting her chin that little higher. Refusing to be intimidated.
âWhere have you been these last few days?â Assertive, that was how sheâd be.
âOverseas.â
âHow convenient for youâout of the country while the temp gets the boot and then canât find another job in the whole city.â
âWhat do you want me to do?â
âGive me my job back.â
He shook his head. âImpossible.â
âHow so?â
âYou think you could sit there knowing theyâve all watched me kiss you like that?â
Kiss you. The words seemed to whisper over her skin, teasing her into greater awareness. She shifted in her seat, resettling her limbs in an attempt to stay in charge of themâand the whole nightmare. âIt was only a kiss, Mr Carlisle. It was nothing.â She shrugged.
His brows lifted for a second. âYouâre not going back out there.â
Damn it, she needed this job. âIt was a moment. Thatâs all it was. So some geek with nothing better to do made a mini movie with it. Not my fault.â
âYou are not working on that floor again.â
âYouâre not understanding me. I need this job.â
âAnd Iâm saying itâs not going to happen.â
âDo you know what this is? Unfair dismissal. Sexual harassment.â
âThat was not sexual harassment.â He pointed at the screen. âYou kissed me back. You wrapped your legs around me all by yourself.â
âBut because of that video, I lost my job and I need my job. Because of that video, I canât get another. The world of recruitment agencies is really small here in Auckland, do you know that? The agents all know each other, all swap from company to company. And they send each other emails . Would you believe that?â Dani inhaled. âThat stupid kiss has cost me everything and I canât let it. How come you get to sit here in your fancy office and suffer none of the consequences while my life gets totalled?â She stood. âItâs not happening. This is unfair and Iâll prove itâs unfair. Iâm going to a lawyerâsee if you can say âimpossibleâ to a court!â
She whirled and marched. She had no idea where to find a lawyer, whether she really did have a case, and she certainly didnât have the money to pay for it but she was bloody well going to find it somehow.
She opened the door but it was slammed shut againâhis big hand spread wide on the wood above her head and firmly holding it in place.
âYou donât shout at me and walk out without giving me a chance to respond.â
âWatch me.â She pulled on the door handle with all her strength. It didnât move.
âThis is what happens. We talk. We negotiate. Youâre not leaving until youâve let me think of an alternative.â
She turned to glare at him and discovered he was way too close. Right beside her, so all she could see was his bodyâthe jacket of his suit pulled wide by the way his arm was stretched out, revealing the breadth of his chest in the crisp white cotton beneath. His physicality was so potent, all she could feel was the warmth of him reaching out to her. The temptation to step closer was almost cripplingâand totally wrong, wrong, wrong.
âWhat kind of alternative?â The woolly feeling was seeping into her head. She lifted her chin to be able to look into his face and the brain lethargy only worsened. His eyes were looking very green.
âSit back down and Iâll explain. If you want we can get my HR manager to sit in on the meeting.â
Reality returned with acute vividness. That cow? âThat wonât be necessary.â
His lips twitched. âMy PA, then.â
Nope, not the boarding-school matron, either. âLook, you and I both know that if you lay a hand on me, Iâll be screaming the place down.â
His face suddenly lit up like a
Louis - Hopalong 0 L'amour