“Lunch hour’s almost over.” She was glad to hear her voice was steady. “People will be returning to the floor soon.”
His mouth sketched a smile. “You think you know everything. There’s a banking convention in town. The keynote speech should be under way. No one wanted to miss it. I’m supposed to be there, with other senior staff. However, I volunteered to hold down the fort today. So for at least another hour, it’s just you and me.”
That shark grin. She felt the ground shifting beneath her feet. But he mustn’t know how rattled she was.
“What do you want?” She stared right back at him until he looked away.
“Have a seat, Shay. You’re always in a hurry. Except when it counts.” He was staring at her with a strange look of triumph that tugged at his mouth.
“I’ll stand.” She moved to put more of the length of the expensive mahogany inlaid board table between them. Behind the table, the skyline of Raleigh stretched out like an IMAX theater screen. The long wall of glass was a little dizzying for anyone afraid of heights. She wasn’t. She scooted to the far side of the table.
Eric moved more slowly, slipping out of his suit coat and hanging it on a chair back. His fingers slipped over either shoulder, smoothing out phantom wrinkles.
“You said this was about that call and following bank policy. That’s what I did.”
He waved off her words with a hand. “What am I to do about you, Shay Appleton? You no longer answer my calls or show any respect for my feelings.” He slanted a dark look her way. “You prefer your new blue-collar boyfriend. What should I do about that?”
“Forget about me. You have someone else.” For once, Shay swallowed the defiant words that flowed through her thoughts. Maybe if she pandered to his ego, he’d be satisfied. “You’re going to marry a senator’s daughter. You’re handsome, wealthy. Any woman—” She ground to a halt, choking on the insincere words.
“Any woman but you? That wasn’t always true. There was a time when all I had to do was call and you came trotting after me like the little bitch you are.”
Shay lifted her chin. “Open the door, Eric. You’ve made your point. I’ll leave Halifax Bank today and you’ll never see me again.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what you’re going to do. But not until we settle up.”
He was moving toward her and she was backing up. Nowhere to go, of course. The only way out was through locked doors. The more she backpedaled the more frightened she became. Mouse in a maze.
“I’ve tried to reason with you. Tried to be nice and charming. Tried to please you. But there’s no pleasing some bitches.”
Shay moved to a corner of the window and glanced out, not knowing what she expected to see. There was no escape that way.
“There’s only one thing I want from you. One last fuck. You can relax and enjoy it, or you can just take it. It’s up to you.”
Shay stopped. His words didn’t shock her. They focused her. “Is that what this is about? You want to get in my pants one more time. Not. Going. To happen.”
She didn’t move away as he came toward her. She let all her anger burn through the fear. When he touched her face, she knocked his hand away. With an expletive, he grabbed her breast and twisted it painfully.
Gasping in pain, she turned into him and brought her knee up quick and hard.
She heard him grunt in agony but she was jerking free of his grasp and racing to where he’d left his jacket hanging. She’d seen him drop the key into a pocket. She snagged it, searching madly for it as she headed for the door.
She was shocked that he staggered up as she stuck the key in the lock. He grasped her by the hair and pulled so hard she saw stars. But the key had turned. She was almost free.
She shoved an elbow into his ribs but he caught her and spun her around, twisting his hand in her hair.
She gasped from the pain but made herself look up and hold his gaze. “I will fight you, Eric. I never did that before but I will now. I swear I’ll scratch and bloody you, make you bruise and bloody me. And then I’ll go downstairs and stand in the middle of the lobby and scream the place down around your ears. Rape. Rape!” She shouted the word the second time, loud and harsh.
His expression turned so ugly she thought for a second he was going to hurt her anyway. Then he suddenly swung away, freeing her.
He leaned back against the wall, his tie askew and his face mottled with rage. “You won’t win, you little bitch. I still have many ways of ruining you. So run along. Back to your temporary life. I’m going to make it perfectly clear to your boss that, due to your ill-handling of certain matters today, Halifax Banking Corporation and all of its subsidiaries will no longer hire Logital Solutions employees in any capacity in the future.”
Shay swung around. “I did nothing wrong.”
“Are you sure your employer will believe that when we’ve pulled our business?”
His threat didn’t shock her. It focused her. Get away. Then fight back.