Free Who's on Top? by Karen Kendall Page A

more complex than he has imagined. Et cetera, et cetera. I remain calm and do not lose my temper or fling accusations at anyone.”
    Jane nodded. “Okay, good. Next scenario.” She hesitated for the briefest of moments, then took a deep breath. “I am an employee who is coming on to you. How do you respond?”
    Dominic raised a brow. “Well, that depends,” he said with a grin. “Is she cute?”
    â€œHow do you know the employee is female?” Jane shot back.
    â€œUh. Good point. I just assumed…. Anyway, I was again kidding. In a case like that, I’d certainly refuse to acknowledge the overtures. I’d pretend they weren’t there. I’d make sure to never be with that employee in my office with the door closed or alonewith the employee after hours. And if the behavior continued, I’d alert HR and make every effort to have the person transferred to a different department.”
    Jane made some more dutiful notes, and though he was doing his best to take her seriously—really he was—several more fantasy scenarios popped into his head. Jane as harem girl (his harem, of course); Jane as cheerleader; Jane as cave woman, clad only in shreds of tiger skin. The possibilities for fantasies about Jane seemed endless…and this was without him even trying!
    Jane as fire woman, handling his lengthy hose. Jane as police woman, cuffing him, telling him gruffly to “spread ’em” and throwing him into her squad car. Jane as defense attorney, visiting him in his cell and, er, debriefing him against the bars.
    She was speaking again. He had to focus, damn it. He was getting irritated with himself. It wasn’t like him to not be able to control his thoughts, but something about Jane rubbed him—and not the wrong way.
    Dom felt suddenly trapped behind his desk, unable to get away from her and this disturbing power she seemed to have over him. Not that he was sure he wanted to get away from her…an idea that made him even angrier.
    There she sat, making notes about him as if he were a lab rat, and all he could think about was her naked? Jane and her prim suit and pink mouth and clipboard, wielding the power to get him fired. Why in the hell was he putting up with this? Why didn’the just slap his resignation on Arianna’s desk and show her one of his best features—his ass?
    The answer was simple: he refused to let her win. She wanted him out; therefore he’d stay in. And somehow, some way, he’d teach her that backstabbing, lying and cheating were not good ways to get ahead.
    Jane was speaking again, sketching out another stupid vignette.
    â€œWhat?” he snapped. “I didn’t catch that.”
    She stood up and slapped her clipboard on his desk, placing her palms on either side of it and glowering down at him. “You didn’t catch that because you weren’t paying attention. And I don’t know what I’ve done to create the hostility that’s pouring off of you in waves, but a, I’m tired of it and b, it’s not doing you any favors with me. First you find ways to turn my questions into jokes, then you get angry and finally you’re not paying any attention at all. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this behavior? Should I write up my evaluation this second? Because you’re sure doing your best to look guilty as charged.”
    Dom glowered at her and fought the insane urge to pull her right onto his desk and show her who was boss here. Man to woman.
    Except the next image that popped into his head was of Jane straddling him . Who’d show whom? Christ. He rubbed a hand over his face and pushed back from the desk.
    â€œI don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he muttered. He looked up, met her eyes and still saw, with something akin to astonishment, understanding there.
    â€œLook, Jane. I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m being hostile. But I feel that