Free Siren Song by A. C. Warneke Page B

they had that Moment? “Would you like to share anything else or can we continue with the meeting?”
    He was so not how she expected he would be should they ever meet again. Of course, in the many scenarios she imagined, this was never, ever one of them. The room was still silent and she looked up to see everyone watching her. Rolling her hand in the air, she murmured, “Sure, we can continue.”
    “ Thank you,” he said. “Now, as I was saying, I plan on working closely with you over the next several weeks to get the feel for the dynamics of this magazine and to determine which writers will be staying and which ones will not.” And as those words left his mouth, he looked directly at Lexi, sending a familiar fire through her bones. But he was talking about firing her. That would explain that fire analogy. Damn, this was not how she imagined their reunion would be. Perhaps it was that idiosyncrasy that was making her mouth speak without the benefit of thinking first.
    With a frown, she met his gaze, “Are you suggesting that I am one of the writers who will be released?”
    “ Why are you interrupting me?” Duncan asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest and making her mouth water just a little bit. Reality, Lexi; this is reality. No warm caresses or heart-melting kisses or a simple hello. Just imminent dismissal. Reality sucked.
    “ You looked at me,” she explained. She really needed to separate fantasy from reality because in real life, this guy obviously didn’t experience the same earth-shattering connection on Friday night. Or he was furious that she bailed on him after passing out before they ever even had sex. Unfortunately, her body was responding as if he were seducing her with hot words and hotter caresses. “I presume you are going to fire me.”
    “ I haven’t made that decision yet,” he said, shifting slightly in his seat as he glanced around the room before meeting her gaze once more. If she looked close enough, she could almost make out a flare of desire in his eyes but it was banked beneath opaque silver.
    Her eyes narrowed as she studied his straight-faced expression; not a muscle ticked and his jaw was perfectly relaxed as if she didn’t affect him at all and it kind of pissed her off because her hormones were fighting one another to get closer to the stoic bastard. Her eyes dropped to the hand that rested on the table and as she watched, he squeezed his fingers into a fist and then relaxed them and she smiled to herself. He wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended. “If I sleep with you it won’t be just to keep my job.”
    A few gasps filtered into her rebellious brain but she held Duncan’s silver gaze, watching with fascination as it became molten. He spoke through clenched teeth as he bit out, “I don’t sleep with my employees.”
    Her lips tilted upwards in an amused smile, “So you’ll fire me just to have the pleasure?”
    “ I’m not going to fire you,” he bit out, his nostrils flaring as he continued to glare at her.
    Ignoring the sound of someone, probably her old boss Jeffrey, clearing his throat, her eyes sparkled, “Then eventually you will be sleeping with an employee; it’s only a matter of time.”
    “ Lexi,” Jeffrey murmured next to her. “Stop talking.”
    She shrugged her shoulders as she continued to hold his silver gaze through lowered lashes, “Forgive me, Duncan; I just never expected to see you again and to have you show up here as my new boss is a somewhat disconcerting.”
    “ You have no idea,” he grumbled, exhibiting the first crack in his smooth exterior. Heaving a sigh, the mask slid back into place and he resumed glaring at her. “Everything – everyone – is going to be given one month, even your… fluff.”
    “ Fluff?” she squeaked, offended on behalf of all of the subjects of her articles. Thrusting her shoulders back, prepared to do battle, she asked, “Have you read even one of my articles?”
    Working his jaw, he silver