Chapter 3 #2
"Sir," Veda interrupted, and I almost lost it immediately.
My eyes snapped to her confident expression so fast, it made heads spin. I must've looked like a fire-breathing dragon. "The adjusted growth is eleven point four… Fourteen point one was the preliminary figure before the supplier rebate posted."
For the second time this morning, I found myself so utterly shocked, I nearly detonated.
Clayton sat snickering while a few other board members stared at Veda.
All I knew was it didn't matter who was listening at that point.
I opened my mouth and let loose.
"Did I ask you to speak?” My voice carried across the table before I could stop it. Veda’s chin lifted a fraction, but she stayed where she was. “Christ, Porter."
Clayton settled back in his chair, looking delighted.
The rest of the board looked anywhere but at me.
Heads dipped, voices mumbled, and I exploded like a cannon.
“I don’t need an intern correcting me mid-sentence.” I shoved the folder aside, and the pages fanned out in front of me like evidence of my own incompetence. “You don’t interrupt me in this room. You don’t jump in because you think you know better."
Veda sat with her chin held high and a calm expression on her face, not cowering like I expected her to, and that made it so much worse.
“This is a board meeting,” I said, my voice sharp enough to sting. “Not whatever game you think you’re playing. You speak when you’re spoken to. Not before. Do you understand?
"I’m struggling to understand why an intern thinks she has the authority to correct the CEO in a board meeting. You don’t jump in while I’m presenting, you don’t cut me off, and you sure as hell don’t act like you’re here to save the day.
"You fetch documents and you take notes, Porter." My voice rose with every sentence and she didn’t shrink, not even an inch. "That’s your job. You don’t improvise, you don’t insert yourself, and you don’t decide you know better than the person running this company.
If you ever—ever—interrupt me like that again, you won’t make it through the rest of the hour, let alone the day. "
"Are you going to scream at me more, or are you ready to hold the meeting now?" Veda asked with such a confident tone, I'd have sworn she was challenging me.
Oh, but Clayton was having a heyday.
He was laughing outright now, watching like it was a circus act as the rest of the board squirmed uneasily.
I snapped my gaze to his face, so angry I could punch him, and said, "Get out."
His chuckles slowed, and he sighed deeply and then spread his hands out in innocence.
Like he didn't know what he was doing to tick me off.
"I said, get out!" I pointed toward the door while looking at my younger brother, but I meant everyone. "The meeting is over. We'll reschedule for tomorrow. I want everyone out of this room."
I was seething, so mad I could feel the blood in my veins boiling as one by one, the board members stood and moved toward the door.
Robert Lang was the last to leave, passing a glance at Veda, then me, before he walked out and shut the door behind him, and I took the remote and shuttered the windows before I turned on her again, ready to tear into her more.
"I can't believe the nerve!" My body shook with rage as I crammed a hand through my hair and turned, already searching for the hidden bottle of whiskey I kept in the cupboard in here for special occasions.
But Veda was on her feet, clicking along the floor behind me, and when I uncorked it, she snatched it out of my hand and nodded at the table.
"Mr. Locke, you need coffee, not whiskey."
"What the—"
"Asher," she said bluntly, and it felt like a slap to the face to be called my given name by an employee.
I'm so enraged I didn't even know what to say. "Please…" Her tone lowered to a calm, almost nurturing level. "I can see you're struggling, like really struggling. Let me help you."
"What do you know?" I snapped, trying to take the bottle, but she corked it and held it behind her back.
"I know I’m not just an intern. I know because Penny told me that you need someone to help you with things. More than just work stuff. That Clayton wants a babysitter and I'm the woman for the job. So sit down and tell me why you're so angry." Her face was taut with concern.
Her eyes searched me while I stood there dumbfounded yet again today, and the surge of anger inside me shifted to that crazy hot attraction I felt yesterday.
Except this time, I wasn't drunk.
Veda set the whiskey down out of reach and picked up my coffee, turning to hand it out to me, but all I could see were warm brown eyes that expressed concern and compassion.
She didn't back down, even when I confronted her right in front of my entire board.
She stood her ground, made me a fool, called me out, and now she was trying to help me?
"I…" I muttered, physically incapable at that point of forming words.
"It's okay, Mr. Locke… I just don't think drinking is what you need right now."
When I didn’t take the coffee, she set it down, but I knew what I wanted. And my body decided I needed it too.
In two strides, I was standing so close, our bodies almost touched and my hand was curled around her neck, pulling her toward myself.
No woman in this world had ever stood up to me like that and stuck around to find out why it wasn't a good idea.
Veda Porter had done it twice in one day.
And I let myself unravel.
My lips hit hers so fiercely she mumbled, a little off balance, before grabbing my lapels and kissing me back.
This was bad.
This was very bad.