sister, but held my tongue. Parker wasn’t reacting at all like I’d expected him to.
Parker gazed at me, his expression sober. Shrugging off the bag’s strap, he set the laptop case back on the table and took a step closer to me. His hands closed on my arms, surprising me. I would have instinctively taken a step back, away from his touch, but he held me firm.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I need you to do your job. I know you feel bad for this girl, but you can’t get involved. We can’t get involved.”
“But—”
“You’re not listening, Sage,” he said more forcefully. “Forget the girl and just focus on your job. That’s all I ask. No, forget that. I’m not asking, I’m telling. Do your job, Sage. Leave the rest to me.”
Anger flared and my eyes narrowed. “Do my job?” I repeated. “When have I ever not done my job?”
“I’m not saying you haven’t,” Parker said.
“So because I tell you something scary, something I’ve never seen before, suddenly I’m not doing my job?” I didn’t think there was anything Parker could have said that would have made me angrier.
“First, I am always doing my job,” I spat, furious. “Whether it’s a phone call at ten o’clock at night on a weekend or the request to come in early on a Monday morning. I put my job before everything else in my life. Second, I’ve always considered you an honorable man, someone who did the right thing, but the money involved in this deal has blinded you. I never thought I’d see the day when I lost respect for you.” I took a breath. “And last but certainly not least: take your hands off me.”
Parker and I were locked in a battle of wills and his eyes flashed blue fire, but I stood my ground. After a moment, he released me.
Turning on my heel, I walked out, so mad I thought surely steam had to be coming out of my ears. But as angry as I was, duty called, so I stopped at the front desk to arrange for the boxes left in the conference room to be shipped.
“Also, I didn’t receive any messages about my room being ready,” I said. “I’d really like my own room tonight.”
“Of course, let me just check.” After hitting some keys on the keyboard, he frowned. “Um, I’m sorry; there must be a misunderstanding. We were notified to cancel that request this morning.”
“What? You’re kidding!” I couldn’t believe it. “I didn’t do that. I need that other room. Do you have one available?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t,” he said.
I buried my face in my hands. God help me, this had to be the worst trip to New York, ever.
“Miss?”
I stood up, dropped my hands, and took a deep breath. I would remain cool. I would remain calm.
“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll just…make do.” My smile was through gritted teeth. Another night with Parker. Ugh. Last night I’d been afraid I’d jump his bones; tonight I just might smother him with a pillow.
The clerk was looking at the computer screen again. “It looks like Mr. Anderson canceled the request,” he said.
And just like that, my “cool and calm” went out the flippin’ window.
“I’m going to kill him,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
“Excuse me?” The clerk looked at me with eyebrows raised.
“Nothing. I’m fine. Thank you.” I smiled again and the clerk gave me a weak smile back. He probably thought I was close to losing it, and he would have been correct. “Can you please have this put in my room?” I handed him my laptop case, which he readily took.
I had to get out of there. I absolutely could not face Parker right now, not when I was so angry with him. And so…disappointed in him. It hurt in my gut when I thought about it, so I pushed the thought away, switched off my phone, and headed out the door.
Chapter Nine
I walked until I wasn’t mad anymore, which was quite a ways. By the time I really looked to see where I was, night had fallen and my stomach was complaining quite loudly that it was past dinnertime.
There were restaurants and bars everywhere and I chose one that looked slightly upscale. Heading inside, I saw I’d picked a place where a lot of people must come after work¸ as they all seemed to be professionals about my age or slightly older.
I made my way to the bar and snagged an empty stool. The