Arrogant Boss

“David outsourced it to me.”

“Because you’re so underworked?”

His eyes glittered with mirth. “Notoriously so. Come on, let’s head out.”

A few people turned heads as we walked down through the corridor. Some eyes touched on me briefly before skating off again, no doubt wondering what I was doing with him, alone.

“Do you often take your employees out for lunch?”

“Yes. I like to make sure I know what’s going on in all departments.” He pressed the elevator button. “I regularly meet up with Rachel and Trent, for example.”

Some of my initial apprehension and nerves settled. Not entirely, because I was still very aware that I was in a confined space with a man who could easily place in the top ten of People magazine’s list of the world’s sexiest men.

Getting used to him would take time.

I honestly didn’t know how others did it. The only way I managed was to pretend he was a nobody, someone that didn’t intimidate me. Someone I could be snarky with.

Julian straightened his suit jacket. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“I thought you already knew my life story, you know, considering my LinkedIn profile was so comprehensive.” People in the lobby gave us a wide berth, their gazes circling back to land on Julian several times. He walked on as if it didn’t bother him.

I supposed he’d grown used to it.

“I know you’re twenty-five and I know you went to City College. I also know that you’re incredibly hard-working. There’s hardly a month unaccounted for in your employment history.” He held the door open for me as we entered the busy lunch restaurant. Without waiting to be seated he directed us to a table along the back, next to tall windows.

“I also suspect that you felt stagnate in your last position. You’d been there for nearly three years and had climbed your way up to become the chief marketing officer and press strategist. But Pet and Co is a small company and you’re a person with big dreams.”

“I am?”

He gazed serenely back, the picture of competent ease.

“You’d written that you won an award for a creative writing class in college and that you graduated summa cum laude.” Julian’s smile turned smug. “Shall we say that like recognizes like?”

I opened the menu. “Seems like you already know all there is to me.”

“Oh no. I have plenty of questions to ask.”

“Professional ones.” I met his green gaze again. It was almost painful to look at him this close, with clear cut cheekbones and thick hair. I didn’t have lunch with men like this. Men like this didn’t have lunch with me.

The waiter arrived to take our order. I chose the first thing I saw on the menu-pasta primavera-and a bottle of still water. How did people relax around him? I didn’t think it was possible. Maybe that was how he was so successful. It was physically impossible for anyone to be lazy when around him. My nerves were on hair-trigger alert, ready to respond to anything and everything he might throw my way.

“Professional questions, yes, but I also want to know other things about you. Like-”

“No, I didn’t have a Julian Hunt poster on my wall growing up.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

His laughter was surprised. “Emily, you’re in danger of becoming my favorite employee.”

“Is that a dangerous thing to be?”

Julian nodded with mock sadness. “Kamal was before you, and look where he ended up. Shipped off to the Old World, never to be seen again.”

“A job he took voluntarily.”

“Tomayto, tomahto.” Julian waved a hand. “Tell me about how your first days have been here at Hunt. I want to hear about the team-building exercises.”

So I told him, trying and failing to relax. He still felt far too intimidating to be around, just by the sheer power surrounding him . His name was on all my documents-it was on my security badge!

Our food arrived and I bent forward to breathe in the scent of parmesan and basil.

Julian watched me. “You’re a foodie?”

“Sure. Who isn’t?”

“There are some really great restaurants in this area.”

“I’m sure there are,” I said. “I haven’t been to that many, but there’s a new Korean place down the block I’ve been wanting to try.”

“Really?” He took a bite of his lasagna. “I imagine a woman like you would spend every other night being asked to dinner.”

I looked down at my food. Did he just give me a compliment?

“Sometimes. Not quite as often as you do, I’d wager, Mr. Hotshot.”

He grinned and looked like he was going to say something witty or sarcastic, I was certain, but I cut him off. This was dangerous territory. “What did you think about the marketing suggestions we brainstormed yesterday? I know Rachel CCed you the email.”

He closed his mouth and watched me with amusement, like he was perfectly aware of what I was doing.

Retreating to safety.

“I liked them. Particularly the one about rebranding Hunt Digital Security as something geared towards the average person. I’ve been playing around with developing a sub-division that deals more with individual consumers and not just the corporate clients, so that could go hand in hand.”

I nodded and took a sip of my water. “I think we could bundle it with some of the other more user-friendly software applications the company has been working on. Make it into a must-have software package when buying a new computer-regardless of the hardware.”

“That’s a really good idea.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I do.” Julian leaned back in his chair and regarded me in silence. His eyes were speculative.

“What are you thinking?”

“Damn. You really, really care about this job, don’t you?”

I felt like a child again at school, called out by a classmate for actually liking a homework assignment.

“Um, yes. I hope I’ve made that clear. I’m committed.”

“Like I feared.” He shook his head and took another bite of his food.