Her Tender Tyrant Page 0,48

hadn’t had an answer so maybe that’s what Juliette was doing to him now. Maybe he was just getting what karma was thinking he was owed for the callous way he treated women in his past.

Although he’d never just up and left them like Juliette had. He’d always been very up front about where each relationship would go – which was nowhere. So if the women in his past had thought or hoped for something more, that was their fault.

Juliette had been different. There had been no discussion up front. Only fights and arguments used to mask a simmering, steaming hot attraction for each other.

Would he do anything differently?

Hell yes. He would have demanded an explanation. That last night, when she was sitting so primly on her bed, looking sad and alone…

He stopped pacing, staring into space as he went through those words again. Why did he think that? Of all the adjectives that could have popped into his mind, why those two?

But nothing came to mind except her soft, brown eyes and those full, amazing breasts that had distracted him so completely that night.

Damn, he didn’t know anything now.

And he wasn’t concentrating on work. The past week had been profitable but only because he’d driven his staff at a killing pace, the only way he could get Juliette out of his mind. And even that hadn’t worked out the way he’d hoped.

A sudden thought occurred to him.

“Linda, call up the university and find out if Juliette has gotten a job yet.”

Ten minutes later, Linda came back in with a piece of paper. “So far, she remains on the unemployed side of the labor equation,” she joked, not realizing how much her comment stabbed at her boss. “But I found this.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Her resume.” Linda leaned in, her breast “accidentally” brushing against his arm and he moved away. “Not very full,” she commented.

Marcus’ eyes skimmed through the material. “Call HR and have someone contact her for a job.”

Linda’s eyes flashed a moment before she could hide the anger. “Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked.

Marcus couldn’t believe that Linda was actually questioning him. She’d never have dared to do that in the past.

She must have caught on to his fury because she actually backed up a step. “Hear me out,” she urged, raising her hands defensively. Linda thought quickly, not sure how she could keep the little twit out of Marcus’ headquarters. The man had been going more than a little crazy over the past week but Linda refused to attribute his current insanity to his missing tart. But she knew to tread lightly, just in case.

“If you offer her a job here at your headquarters, first of all, what would she do? We aren’t really set up to assist psychology majors with no experience.” She saw Marcus’ eyes narrow and knew the ice had thinned significantly under hear feet so she continued on quickly. “And secondly, she might become offended, thinking that the job offer was a handout. That you pity her because you don’t think she could get a real job somewhere.” She waited, holding her breath to see if her argument took hold in his agile brain.

Marcus sighed, leaning his hands down on top of his desk. “You’re right. So what do you suggest?”

Linda breathed a bit easier now. “If you want to give her a job somewhere, why not call up one of your subsidiaries and tell them to create a position. You could keep track of her, make sure she gets on her feet. And when she’s more established, and better able to fill out a resume with more sparkle to it,” she tried to keep the sneer out of her tone, “then call up one of your buddies and get her a job with a different company.”

Marcus thought about it for a long moment. “You’re right,” he told her. “I’ll figure out something but get her in here for an interview with HR. Get the ball rolling.”

Linda watched with growing consternation as he lifted the discarded thesis paper. “I’m out of here for the day,” he told her.

Without another word, he walked out of the office, leaving Linda to stare after him in astonishment. Marcus Alfieri never took time off from work. Even when he was on vacation, he worked! So what was going on now? Why was he acting like this? Surely, it wasn’t because of that nit wit! Linda refused to believe that all of her hard work