Synergy: New Adult Romantic Suspense (U-District, #1) (19 page)

“Don’t you patronize me, Bryce Radisson.” Jade put her hands on her hips. “I’ve had enough of you acting like my father.”

Marge closed the door behind her, and Bryce rose. “And I’ve had enough of your childish tantrums. As COO, I have every right to sign contracts and make deals.”

“Not when you’re giving them a forty-percent price reduction without speaking to me about it first.”

“I gave McPherson that deal because he’s concerned that we can’t ship our products to him on time. If he’s happy with the way we turn the deliveries around, it’ll lead to a five hundred unit per month deal, which will gross over one hundred million in sales over the next six years.”

“That’s beside the point.” Heat flushed her cheeks. “Addendum C, financial provision 2.2.f doesn’t say any of that in the contract. Your ‘deal’ for future business is verbal only. You should have consulted me first.”

Bryce walked around the desk. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood with his feet apart. A small vein pulsed in his forehead. “I earned the respect of your grandmother, who was confident in all the decisions I made regarding deals with our customers. Now that I’m COO, I expect to be given the same, if not more authority.”

Jade walked to the door. “That contract, or any other, is not to go to the customer until I’ve signed off on it. You haven’t fully earned
my
respect yet. If you can’t respect my authority as CEO, then you know your way out.” She yanked the door open and motioned for him to leave.

Bryce caught the door and slammed it closed. His arms flanked either side of her. “Are you trying to fire me, Jade? Is that how you handle things when you can’t take the heat? Are you going to fire everyone who disagrees with you or doesn’t run everything past you first?”

“No, of course not.” Jade was pinned to the door. Heat pulsated off his body. Fury emanated from his eyes, fury and… something else. Her heart sped to double time, the air thickened, and she swore it was getting difficult to breathe.

“Dammit. You need to trust the people you work with to do their jobs. We’re not a bunch of incompetent idiots.”

“I didn’t say you were incompetent, I—”

“So you think your grandmother was?”

“No, I—” She needed fresh air. He was too close; she could smell fresh soap and his musky scent.

“Your grandmother handpicked us, and we’ve dedicated our lives to this company.”

“I realize how hard you work.”

“Do you?” Bryce grabbed her by the shoulders. “You don’t seem to care. You just throw people away when the whim suits you.”

Jade pushed against his sculpted chest, which did nothing more than send flutters down her belly.

Bryce reacted by pulling her into him. “Dammit, Jade.”

She barely registered her shock before he crushed his lips to hers and attacked them with an ardor that seared through her. She parted her lips, unable to resist his assault. Instead of pushing him away, she fisted his shirt in her hands and pulled him into her, as if it were possible to get any closer.

His tongue demanded hers, onslaught after onslaught. One hand grabbed a fistful of her hair, causing her to stifle a moan. When he clasped her hips against his body, a fire ignited deep within her.

With a tug at the blouse neatly tucked into her skirt, he exposed her back. Glorious heat radiated from his impatient hands. They were rough, forceful.

He drove his tongue deeper, demanding she give him more. Another moan escaped her lips. She needed this; she wanted this more than anything.

As quickly as he pulled her into him, he shoved her away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

You’re sorry?

Hurt stung her eyes. He thought he could kiss her, then take it back?
I don’t think so.
She gave him the most devious smile she could muster. “I fight back, Bryce, and don’t you ever forget it.” She opened the door. “See you at the meeting tomorrow, eight a.m. sharp.” She walked to her office, not caring who saw her mussed clothes and hair or what they thought about it. That was their problem.

She collapsed into her chair and couldn’t help but laugh at the way Roz’s mouth had dropped open when she’d walked by with her shirt rumpled and her hair out of place. She couldn’t imagine what Roz must be thinking. Would she know Bryce had just kissed her to the far reaches of the world?

Jade ran her fingers along her bruised lips. Bryce had just apologized for kissing her into oblivion.
Didn’t he feel it too?
Of course he did. He’d reacted strongly to her when she’d responded to his kiss. No, he was probably feeling guilty about cheating on his girlfriend. And dammit, he should be. Sure, Jade wanted him in a bad way, but not when he was involved with someone else. It was good that he’d backed off. She sure as heck wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how that kiss made her feel.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Bryce sank into his desk chair and picked up the phone. “Marge, cancel my two o’ clock.”

“I’ve already rescheduled it for tomorrow. If the door slamming wasn’t enough to convince me, your raised voice was.”

“Sorry about that.” Bryce hung up the phone and stared at the ceiling.

What have I done?

The way Jade had responded to him, he’d had to stop, stop before he lost all control. He’d gone too far. When he’d pulled away from her, he knew he’d be sorry. He’d never been so right. Her smoky eyes were full of desire and her red lips were smeared from his assault. She was stunning, he wanted her, and he immediately regretted it. Gloria would be ashamed of him.

Gloria doesn’t play fair.

On the one hand, he was relieved that Jade hadn’t really fired him. He’d poured his sweat and blood into this company, he’d worked late, he’d wooed customers. Gloria had spent a considerable amount of time preparing him for this. He loved this company, and dammit, he deserved this position. When Jade had told him he could walk out the door, when he realized she could fire him, fear took over, quickly replaced by anger. Gloria had set up the contract for his two million shares to come with a price.

Just one price.

Under no circumstance could he agree to side with the board to terminate Jade. A few minutes ago, he’d understood for the first time that her shares didn’t come with the same guarantee. That changed things. He would have to tread more carefully.

But that didn’t really matter right now. What mattered was how he’d treated her. He’d never been so rough before. Shame seeped deep into his bones, down to his very soul. He loved women, respected them.

How could I grab a woman, barely out of girlhood, and force myself on her?

It was something he was sure neither of them could forgive.

JADE FINISHED STEWING
in her chair. It had been four hours since the kiss. She needed to talk to someone about Bryce, and there was only one person she could call. Aleks was totally going to freak out.

Jade picked up the phone and dialed.

“Jade? What’s wrong?” Aleks asked.

“Why do you think there’s something wrong?”
Of course there is.

“Well, you’re calling me in the middle of the day. Don’t you have to work?”

“Yeah, I’m at work right now.”

“So, what is it?”

“Bryce kissed me.” Saying it aloud sent a guilty thrill through her.

“I
told
you. Didn’t I tell you? I saw the way he looked at you at the picnic.”

“I know. I totally didn’t believe you.” And how wrong she was. “But he has a girlfriend, and it’s not right for him to kiss me.”

“Maybe he broke up with her.”

Her belly fluttered. “I—I didn’t think about that. But then why would he be avoiding me? He left the contracts with Roz, won’t pick up his phone, didn’t show up to our meeting, and his emails since then have been so short they almost aren’t answers. I can’t get my work done like this.”

“Maybe he feels guilty because you’re his boss.”

“So how do I make it right between us again?”

“Try talking to him.”

“He won’t give me the time of day.” Jade twisted the cap on her pen.

“Well… maybe you should do something unprofessional back.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Grab his tight ass at your next meeting.”

Jade laughed. “I can’t do that in front of other people.”

“Then do something else.”

“Why?”

“So you’re as guilty as he is.”

Hmm.
Jade liked the idea. “It would put us on level ground.”

“Exactly. If he still has a girlfriend, you can rub it in his dirty rotten face. If it’s because he feels guilty for being unprofessional, then you’re even. Hey, I gotta go. Class is starting.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know what happens.” Jade hung up and placed her fingers to her lips where they’d been assaulted by Bryce’s glorious mouth. She’d never felt such passion in a kiss before. And there was no way he could deny that he’d felt it to. His hazel eyes had darkened and he’d been breathing heavily when he’d pulled away from her.

What would it be like if Bryce let go and lost all control?

There was nothing in this world she wanted more, as long as it was over with his girlfriend. And if he had ended his relationship, she liked the idea of putting them both on a level playing field. He’d acted unprofessionally, so she would too. She was pretty darn sure the disagreements they had were unprofessional, but that didn’t seem to stop him or make him feel guilty. No… this had to go a step further, something like…
Oh yeah
.

Her lips spread into a wide grin.
That would be bad, so, so bad
.

BRYCE THRASHED AGAINST THE SHEETS
. Jade had just fired him. Now, his lips were on hers. She tried pushing him away, but he was stronger.

“No, get off me!” she screamed, fueling his anger.

The more she pushed him away, the more he wanted her. Somewhere deep in his mind, he was aware he shouldn’t be doing this; it was wrong, but he couldn’t stop. He yanked the pins from her hair, letting that sterile bun fall in sensuous waves below her shoulders. He took his mouth on a journey down her slender neck. The scent of strawberries flooded his senses.

She struggled to get away from him, his body pinning hers to the door.

He needed her. Didn’t she know how much he needed her? He wouldn’t let her get rid of him. His mouth found hers again, and this time she succumbed. What his mouth asked for, she gave. A burning ache spread through him. He wanted more. No, he needed more.

His hands found the lapels of her blouse, and he yanked, ripping her shirt open, pulling it down, pinning her arms behind her back. His mouth trailed to her breasts, one slow kiss at a time.

A noise behind him caught his attention. He turned to look… Gloria was sitting at his desk pointing her finger at him. “This isn’t the way it was meant to be, Bryce.”

No!

Bryce bolted upright in bed. Sweat covered his entire body.

Guilt overwhelmed him. The shame of forcing himself on Jade, of having vile dreams about her.

Am I capable of doing that to her?

It scared the hell out of him. After what he’d done to Jade today, would he take it further if she made him angry again? She knew how to push his buttons, how to make him mad, mad enough that he couldn’t stop his anger. He needed to get control, distance himself from her, not let her fuel his temper. Bryce headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Kenzie had just gotten home from the night shift. “You’re up early. Do you want—hey, you okay?” She wrapped an arm around him.

“Yeah, just a bad dream.”

“Want to watch some TV with me?”

He knew her routine, how she needed to unwind from a long shift. “I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. Since I’m up, I’ll just go in.”

“Okay, you eat my breakfast, and I’ll make more after I watch my show.” Kenzie finished buttering a piece of toast and placed it on a plate full of scrambled eggs. “Eat before you go, promise?”