classmates again. “I believe we left off at discussing one’s attitude in unknown lands…leaving the office mentality behind, getting into the headspace of your guest status in another country. Can anyone share if they took away any keywords from our dialogue?”
Rose wasn’t surprised when Ryan jumped on the chance to speak. His tone conveyed the pure purpose of getting in a fresh piss on his territory. “Leadership.”
“Okay,” Mark answered. “Good. You thought about your answer, Mr. Johnson. That’s an outstanding way to phrase it. Who else?”
Christine, one of Aria’s buddies from the Austin office, raised her hand. “Compassion?”
“Excellent, Ms. Daye.” He nodded at the back of the room. “And Ms. Vernon?”
“Humility.” Veronica, who had come from the New Orleans office, said it with conviction. Mark reacted with a hum of praise, which brought another heat front to Rose’s chest. This time the sensation wasn’t so pleasant—and irked deep when she recognized it as a certain green monster of sentiment. And outright rankled when she let it drive her arm up.
She almost regretted the action as Mark cocked his head toward her. His gaze was sharpened by deep topaz flecks. “Ms. Fabian? You’d like to share?”
She floundered. Everything about his posture was casual and relaxed; everything about his stare was incisive and intense.
But damn it, he wasn’t going to crumble her so easily. She lifted her chin, deliberately defiant about the motion. “Brains, Senator. Plain and simple. People don’t use them enough.”
His brows lifted. “It’s all about the head today, is it? What happened to yesterday’s words of the heart?”
She took him up on the brow jump but added a shrug. “Heart still has its place, but not as your mission statement. When you’re in new lands, where you don’t know where you are or what lies ahead in the next hour, you can’t just let everything go to the moment. You do that, and you’re…”
He leaned at her by just an inch. But even that tiny schism of space, filled with his presence, made her stammer back into silence.
“And you’re what, Ms. Fabian?”
Hell.
Confronting his stare now was like standing naked in the summer sun—with all the resulting heat to the layers of her sex. “You’re…overwhelmed.”
A smirk inched back across his lips. “Overwhelmed isn’t bad, Ms. Fabian. Sometimes you can’t, and you won’t, control everything.”
“So what then? You surrender and get yourself killed?”
“Sometimes you surrender in order to survive. Sometimes surrender is your freedom.”
Air was becoming a rare commodity to her lungs. He was so close. Too close. Too strong, hard, golden, and beautiful…and infuriatingly sure of himself.
Especially as she realized, with every instinct in her body, he wasn’t talking about the mission anymore.
Damn him.
She fought his little trick with an irritated snap. “I respectfully disagree.”
He reacted to that with leonine grace, returning to his feet in a couple of smooth steps. But his gaze, hard as stone again, never left her. “Overwhelmed is inevitable.” His voice drilled into her with the same unflinching intent. His words weren’t conjecture. He gave them to her as pure, hard fact. “It. Will. Happen. And the only thing you can do is be prepared, Ms. Fabian—to accept it.”
She parted her lips a little, letting him see her locked teeth. “Accepting dangerous plans isn’t what I do anymore, Senator.”
“Then for the first time, I am worried about your fate on this project, Ms. Fabian.”
Okay, forget the emotional sunburn. He’d just pulled out her spirit, and fried it to a crisp. As Rose blinked from the blow, Kai obliged the class by filling the air with a low whistle. “Oooh! Senator Moore throws down!”
“Shut up, Mr. Thomas.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mark gave her one last look, nearly dismissive in how icy it was, before looking out across the room once more. “All
Rose wasn’t surprised when Ryan jumped on the chance to speak. His tone conveyed the pure purpose of getting in a fresh piss on his territory. “Leadership.”
“Okay,” Mark answered. “Good. You thought about your answer, Mr. Johnson. That’s an outstanding way to phrase it. Who else?”
Christine, one of Aria’s buddies from the Austin office, raised her hand. “Compassion?”
“Excellent, Ms. Daye.” He nodded at the back of the room. “And Ms. Vernon?”
“Humility.” Veronica, who had come from the New Orleans office, said it with conviction. Mark reacted with a hum of praise, which brought another heat front to Rose’s chest. This time the sensation wasn’t so pleasant—and irked deep when she recognized it as a certain green monster of sentiment. And outright rankled when she let it drive her arm up.
She almost regretted the action as Mark cocked his head toward her. His gaze was sharpened by deep topaz flecks. “Ms. Fabian? You’d like to share?”
She floundered. Everything about his posture was casual and relaxed; everything about his stare was incisive and intense.
But damn it, he wasn’t going to crumble her so easily. She lifted her chin, deliberately defiant about the motion. “Brains, Senator. Plain and simple. People don’t use them enough.”
His brows lifted. “It’s all about the head today, is it? What happened to yesterday’s words of the heart?”
She took him up on the brow jump but added a shrug. “Heart still has its place, but not as your mission statement. When you’re in new lands, where you don’t know where you are or what lies ahead in the next hour, you can’t just let everything go to the moment. You do that, and you’re…”
He leaned at her by just an inch. But even that tiny schism of space, filled with his presence, made her stammer back into silence.
“And you’re what, Ms. Fabian?”
Hell.
Confronting his stare now was like standing naked in the summer sun—with all the resulting heat to the layers of her sex. “You’re…overwhelmed.”
A smirk inched back across his lips. “Overwhelmed isn’t bad, Ms. Fabian. Sometimes you can’t, and you won’t, control everything.”
“So what then? You surrender and get yourself killed?”
“Sometimes you surrender in order to survive. Sometimes surrender is your freedom.”
Air was becoming a rare commodity to her lungs. He was so close. Too close. Too strong, hard, golden, and beautiful…and infuriatingly sure of himself.
Especially as she realized, with every instinct in her body, he wasn’t talking about the mission anymore.
Damn him.
She fought his little trick with an irritated snap. “I respectfully disagree.”
He reacted to that with leonine grace, returning to his feet in a couple of smooth steps. But his gaze, hard as stone again, never left her. “Overwhelmed is inevitable.” His voice drilled into her with the same unflinching intent. His words weren’t conjecture. He gave them to her as pure, hard fact. “It. Will. Happen. And the only thing you can do is be prepared, Ms. Fabian—to accept it.”
She parted her lips a little, letting him see her locked teeth. “Accepting dangerous plans isn’t what I do anymore, Senator.”
“Then for the first time, I am worried about your fate on this project, Ms. Fabian.”
Okay, forget the emotional sunburn. He’d just pulled out her spirit, and fried it to a crisp. As Rose blinked from the blow, Kai obliged the class by filling the air with a low whistle. “Oooh! Senator Moore throws down!”
“Shut up, Mr. Thomas.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mark gave her one last look, nearly dismissive in how icy it was, before looking out across the room once more. “All
Similar Books
