Paying His Debt Read online

  “I’m sure,” I said, a little uncertain. Liam wasn’t trying to avoid staring at me the way John and most of the other male employees did. The directness was unnerving.

  I left for the records room before he could say anything else to me, masking the uncomfortable beating of my heart by humming softly while I located the correct shelves for the files.

  “That one doesn’t go there,” Liam said from the doorway.

  I jumped in fright. “Sneaking up on people is rude,” I complained.

  “Would you prefer if I left and came back in making far more noise to alert you to my presence?”

  “Why don’t you just do your job instead? I know what I’m doing in here.”

  “Clearly not; like I said, that file doesn’t go there.”

  “Yes it does.”

  Liam walked over to me and held out his hand. “Give it here.”

  Not allowing myself to doubt my decision, I dutifully handed it over. “I know I’m not wrong. You are.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Awfully cocky of you.”

  “I just know what I’m doing.”

  “Says the girl who’s worked here all of five minutes.”

  “Don’t—I’m not a girl. This is the workplace. Please use more appropriate language.”

  Liam chuckled at that. “Point taken, Miss Davis. And look here,” he said, gesturing for me to read a paragraph of the open file in his hands. “Here it says September eighth. You were putting it in November.”

  The smirk on his face infuriated me. He was so convinced he was right.

  Well, at least I knew he was wrong.

  “If you turn to page eleven you’ll see that the information in the file has since been updated. Most of the stuff from September eighth has been redacted; the update on November fourteenth is what I’m using to organize it.”

  To my satisfaction, Liam seemed impressed. He replaced the file on the shelf where I’d originally put it. “I stand corrected,” he said, “though I do have to question the way you talked back to me in the process.”

  My temple twitched. This job was supposed to be easy. I couldn’t deal with having some know-it-all guy trying to put me in my place just because I proved that he was wrong. “If my tone came across as aggressive I apologize, but I did know what I was doing. I’d appreciate it if you’d respect that next time.”

  “You’re only an assistant manager; I rank higher than you. You shouldn’t have spoken to me the way you did.”

  “But you were wrong! And I’m basically doing the same job as the floor managers, anyway.”

  “Yes, but I’m not a floor manager.”

  I hesitated. “But you said—”

  “I said I was something like that,” Liam grinned, clearly thoroughly enjoying my discomfort. “I’m your boss.”

  “…Fred Johnson is my boss. He manages Rush Recruitment—”

  “And who do you think owns the company?”

  “Is that a trick question? It’s Jonathan Rush, isn’t it?”

  Liam’s eyes flashed. “Bingo. Though Jonathan was my father; I prefer to go by Liam.”

  I clapped hands to my cheeks. If only the ground would swallow me up. “I—oh god—I’m sorry I spoke back,” she bit out, horrified. “I didn’t know—I thought—and you were wrong so…and you—”

  To my surprise, my boss laughed. “Even now you’re still so obstinate, Miss Davis.”

  Staring at the floor, I swallowed my pride before looking back at Liam. “Please don’t fire me. I need this job.”

  “Oh, I don’t think you’re suited to this environment at all. It’s only a matter of time before you clash with someone else—and they won’t take it quite as well as I did.”

  “No—please don’t do this!” I begged, taking a step toward Liam in desperation. For some inexplicable reason I had to fight the urge to get down on my knees to beg properly. “I really need the money. It’s going to be so difficult finding a new—”

  “I merely said you weren’t suited for this environment,” Liam cut in, the same smirk from earlier sliding across his face, “not that I was firing you.”

  I blinked. “You’re not? But then…what are you wanting me to do?”

  “How would you feel working directly for me?”

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