better against it. There was always a dangerous glint in his dark, steely eyes. They could focus on you like a laser, pin you in place, and direct so much intensity at you that your personal space felt invaded.
Even after four years of working for him, I was not immune to that unflinching, relentless, apex-predator stare. Not at all. It was like being watched by a jungle cat. A big, badass jungle cat who wondered what an insignificant little thing like you was doing in its domain.
“Anyone can perfect a stare like that if they try hard enough,” I said.
Hanna squinted, and her mouth curled into a smile. “You know something? I think you like him.”
In all honesty, I’d had a harmless crush on my boss for years now. I didn’t give myself a hard time about it. There was no way to remain unaffected by Dane Davenport. “Good-looking” was too tame a term for him. Tall, dark, and supremely male, he exuded a raw sex appeal that could shake any girl’s equilibrium.
It wasn’t just his appearance that made him so lethally seductive. It was the entire package—his powerful personality, innate aura of authority, unshakable self-assuredness, and the untamed air about him that spoke of danger.
He was effortlessly desirable, and he was very much aware of it. He didn’t flaunt it, though. He did, however, make no bones of exploiting the impact he had on the female gender. He flitted from woman to woman, never taking the time to romance them. For Dane, nothing and no one came before work. He’d built a life that seemed designed to keep people out.
Sometimes, I couldn’t help but feel that he had an empty spot inside him. One he tried so hard to fill with work but never quite succeeded.
Despite being offhand and rude at times, he’d secured himself a vast network of clients, partners, and allies. He had a sort of … cold charisma. A powerful, masculine, irresistible presence that wasn’t tempered by warmth but still drew you into his orbit like a magnet. And I, sadly, was not at all immune to it.
I didn’t pine for him, though, for two reasons. First, I was a realist. I knew there would never be anything between us, and that surety enabled me to box the whole thing into my mental fantasy drawer. A drawer I only ever opened when I was spending quality time with my vibrator.
Second, even if he wasn’t too much of a workaholic to be fully invested in a relationship, he’d be too difficult a partner. In business, things were never good enough for Dane—he was always moving the marker, always driven to have “more,” always finding imperfections. I suspected he’d be the same way with his partner; that he’d never feel truly satisfied. That kind of relationship did not appeal to me.
Really, Dane was far too professional to get involved with one of his employees anyway. Would I ever consider a one-night stand if he gave me any indication that he’d be up for it? No. I valued my job too much to lose it over an “indiscretion.”
“You do have a thing for him, don’t you?” pushed Hanna.
Like I’d share that with Hanna, who couldn’t hold in her own pee. “It’s not that, it’s just … he gave me an opportunity that not a lot of people would have.”
Understanding flashed across Hanna’s face. “And so you’d feel disloyal saying anything negative about him, I get it.”
Well, it would be disloyal. When I’d first come to work at o-Verve Pro Technologies, I’d been hired as a secretary for one of the low-level staff. Clint was an arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic chauvinist who was prone to throw tantrums and believed that everyone was out to sabotage him.
I’d been nothing short of mortified when I realized that the CEO had overheard me telling Clint to “Stop being a precious little man-child and quit with the drama before you give yourself an ulcer. Oh, and don’t think I’m going to clean up that mess—you swiped the stuff off the desk, you can put it all back.”
It was not a great way to speak to your boss, no, but I’d found that Clint responded well to my teacher-addressing-an-unruly-student tone. It always snapped him right out of his tirades.
When I’d gotten called into Dane’s office later that day, I’d been sure he meant to fire me. Instead, he’d informed me that he’d be moving me to another department within the building. Namely, his …