Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,37

me a few minutes to check if the guys are decent enough to be in the presence of a lady.” He jabbed his elbow into my arm and added, “Well, to see if they’re dressed anyway, as guys don’t have to worry about decency in the locker room. It’s what makes it so great.”

Hardy-har-har. I refused to muster up a fake laugh for a joke that wasn’t funny, even if it lost me the account. The instant Scott entered the locker room, I spun to face Archer. “Why didn’t you CC me on your email exchange with him about meeting the players?”

Archer casually shrugged off his gray suit coat, revealing more of the baby blue button up that brought out his eyes. “Why would I? Copying you on our emails is like saying I need a babysitter along for the discussion. Besides, you had a chance to get to know our clients previously. Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because we’re supposed to be a team.”

“This is me being a team.” Archer yanked the knot out of his tie, and I hated that I noticed his long fingers and how deftly they undid the silky strip of fabric. “How can I design the perfect complex if you tie my hands whenever I attempt to do my job?”

“Tie your hands? Really? You should be so lucky.” Oops that burst right out, and his resulting raised eyebrows and smirk rubbed in the fact that I’d lost my cool. Since I couldn’t rewind time, I stuck with denial and a change in subject. “What I meant was that you’d love an excuse for why you’re going to lose to me, wouldn’t you? As for your first question, ever hear of Google?”

“Fortunately, I have, since I needed to use Google Maps to find my way to your point.”

The lid blew right off my anger, my fists clenching so tightly that I’d surely have crescent shaped imprints in my palms.

“But yeah, I get your drift,” he calmly continued. “What can I say? I’m just better with interpersonal skills. There’s a lot you can’t find out about someone through an internet search. For instance, if I did one on you, it’d fail to sufficiently warn me how infuriatingly stubborn you are. Or that you’d rather us both fail than give me a shot to impress our client.”

“That’s not what this is, and you know it. Back in the meeting you talked about schmoozing, and it’s something you obviously take full advantage of yourself.”

Archer dipped his head, frustration wafting off of him and refueling mine. “Don’t act like that party trick where you guessed the type of cars Mario and Scott drove wasn’t the same thing. You wanted to prove you can read them better without even giving me a chance to get to know them. You want to lord over every interaction. Newsflash, Penny, that’s not the kind of teammate anyone wants.”

Hurt radiated from the center of my chest, my pride as stung as my feelings. “I don’t lord over you. It’s called giving input and taking initiative.”

“Well, I don’t need you bossing me around.”

Tears stung my eyes; the “bossy” insult was hardly new, yet coming from him it hurt worse than it had before.

Nevertheless, she persisted. “Big surprise, you think that, as a man, you shouldn’t have to listen to me, a female. Did it make you feel good last week to literally sweep me off my feet and act all chivalrous so you could check off that box and claim to be a gentleman?”

Decent or not, this gal was storming the locker room. I yanked open the door, pissed that it was heavier than expected, and jerked at my shoulder. But I kept my poker face in place, the same way I would do with Archer York from this moment on. “You certainly talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, it reeks of misogyny.”

14

Archer

Annoyance agitated my insides, a washing machine set to tarnish instead of clean. I stormed into the locker room after Penelope, no care that Scott hadn’t given us the green light. How dare she accuse me of misogyny. She was just a control freak who wanted to blame all her problems on men. I’d gone into debt for a degree and worked hard to get to where I was. I drew up blueprints that wowed and closed deals. If Penelope could’ve done that herself, then Doug wouldn’t have brought me in.

A tiny sliver of doubt arose and niggled at me.

So far