The Man to Be Reckoned With Read Online Free PDF Page B

whisper of the cicadas, a hundred different fragrances carried around by the breeze greeted her. The very place she had always found blissfully peaceful was now ruined by the man playing a cat-and-mouse game with her livelihood. And something much worse.
    Grasping the fear that was the only way to puncture her awareness of him, she lashed out. “You couldn’t have given me an evening to brace myself? Let me figure out how and what I’m going to tell my mother, to figure out my future?”
    â€œYou left without a word to anyone. Is this how you run the company?”
    â€œThe very company that you threatened to tear into pieces?” she threw at him. “You asked me to get out. Very clearly.”
    â€œYou were blackmailing me.”
    She bristled at the outrage in his voice. “I was doing no such thing.” And because she couldn’t bear to simply stop thinking of it as her company, she continued. “Even if your plan is to dismantle the company and sell it for bits, you’ll need a skeleton staff to see through the memberships for the rest of the year. I recommend you keep Sam Hawkins on. He’s been there from the beginning and Martha Gomez too. She needs this job and she’ll be invaluable to—”
    All of her panic ground to a halt as his long-limbed stride ate the distance between them.
    â€œI don’t remember firing you. Are you resigning, then?”
    Riya reached behind her and grasped the wooden column. But there was nowhere to go and he was standing too close.
    The lights from around the gazebo cast him in shadows.
    Close enough to realize how many different shades of blue his eyes could turn depending on the light. Close enough for her to see the shape of his mouth, which had a hint of gaiety to it. Close enough for her to breathe and learn the scent of him and realize why he affected her so much.
    She had never before experienced the weird pull in her stomach, the feverish tremble that gripped her, the constant fascination with every aspect of him.
    Fisting her hands by her sides, she clamped down the shaky realization.
    His gaze rested on her mouth for a nanosecond. Only an infinitesimal fragment of time, but her lips tingled. “I didn’t quit. But have you left me a choice?”
    As if the tension became too much even for him, he moved to her side and leaned against the structure. “The staff’s murderous glares after you left would have turned me into dust if I hadn’t told them you were just having a tantrum.”
    Her breath left her in a huge whoosh, the sound amplified in the silence. “Building up their hopes that everything’s okay is just cruel. Does nothing get to you?”
    â€œNo.”
    His response wasn’t threatening or emotional. Scarily, it was honest.
    His watch glinted in the light as he folded his hands. “I’ll give you and your staff one chance. Prove that Travelogue and you are worth taking on as part of RunAway International.”
    Catching the immediate thanks that rose to her lips, she turned toward him. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Whether it was because of how close he was standing or because he was giving her a chance, she had no idea.
    Ruthlessly killing her own hopes, she shook her head. “I don’t want to work for you.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œWhat do you mean
why not
?” She moved away, exasperated by him and her reaction to him. “Because you and I have a history, that’s why. And not a good one. Whatever you think of me, I lied because...”
    He gave her such an arch look that she backpedaled quickly. “Fine. I manipulated Maria and you with good intentions. Whereas you...you are doing this out of some twisted need for
revenge
. That’s it. You want to torture me, guilt me and then—”
    He grinned, and his blue eyes glittered. Her knees wobbled. “Have you always been this prone to drama or is it me that brings it out