Unpredicatable, irresistable, you

“I quit.” Teresa strode through the open door of the luxurious corner office, attempting to rein in her anger. “And you can’t force me to take a business trip I've already refused two weeks ago. Others can easily take my place, and I don’t see any of them being pressured.” She tried to maintain a dignified and confident stride on the new 4-inch heels she’d started wearing a few months ago.

Though she loathed ditching her comfortable Converse collection for such unsensible shoes, it was the only way that she, at barely five-foot-five, could have a conversation on an equal footing with the infuriating six-foot-something new CEO, Mark Coelho. Tall, tanned, and boyishly handsome at thirty-five, he’d caused quite the stir with the ladies at work since he’d arrived.

“Good afternoon to you too, Ms. Fernandez,” Mark drawled with a faint teasing smile, leaning back in his comfortable armchair. “We were all waiting for you. Please take a seat so we can start the meeting.” He waved her to the chair opposite him with the charm of a tiger baiting its prey, his grey eyes studying her reaction.

Teresa ignored her accelerated heartbeat, and the butterflies in her stomach, focusing instead on how exasperating and maddening the man really was. After giving the two other men in the room a brief nod of acknowledgment, she straightened her spine, threw her chin up in defiance, and came to stand before Mark’s desk.

“I won’t be staying for the meeting,” she replied cooly, as she threw an envelope on his desk. “Here’s my resignation letter.” The paper slid with a swish across the polished surface of the large mahogany desk, stopping just out of his easy reach, and Teresa hid her smile of satisfaction at her tiny victory. Then she turned toward the two men seated on her right and continued, “I’m glad you guys are here as well. It saves me a trip to your office?” The two men from HR simply stared at her and nodded wordlessly; fingers poised over their laptop keyboards.

“Looks like we’ll need to reschedule this meeting for another day, gentlemen,” Mark said in a voice lined with faint amusement. “Please shut the door behind you when you leave. I have a few things I have to discuss with Ms. Fernandez.”

“For sure Mr. Coelho. Please email us the rescheduled date,” said the senior of the two as they snapped shut their laptops, and stood up. Then he turned to her with a small smile and brief nod, saying, “Good day, Ms. Fernandez.”

Teresa watched the two men leave the office, wondering if they’d already decided who they’d place their bets on in the ‘Teresa and Mark Reality Show’. Her work life had been peaceful as Head of Research and Development, until the day Mark joined as its Director, six months ago. The usually bored and quiet staff at R&D had first witnessed their daily skirmishes with trepidation, then with growing amusement, and now were, according to Teresa’s assistant, accepting secret bets from staff from other departments on who would win which round.

When the men had shut the door behind them with a soft click, she turned back to Mark and said, “I’m giving you the three weeks' notice as required. This should give you enough time to fill my position.”

“You can’t quit.” Mark’s voice was calm, bored, and matter-of-fact.

“What do you mean I can’t,” she snapped, glaring at him. “We’re not in the Middle Ages, Mr. Coelho. And these are not the dark times.”

“No, we’re not. But one still has to pay off their debts, even in these modern times.” He leaned forward and lazily shoved the envelope back across the desk, where it hit his gold-plated nameplate and stopped.

“Debts?” She narrowed her eyes. “What debts?”

“Your tuition fees and housing loan.” Mark placed both his elbows on the table and made a steeple with his fingers, his smirk widening a little. “You have a contract to fulfill.” He placed his chin on the tips of his steepled fingers, his challenging grey eyes meeting her shocked ones.

“That was a contract I signed privately with your mother, not with the company,” she shot back, her heart sinking, and anxiety rushing through her.

“And now she’s retired, and as present CEO, I’ve inherited not only the company, but any contracts made by her as well,” he stated in a calm voice, his eyes never leaving her face.

“But I vow to pay her back every cent, even if I leave the company.” She placed her palms on his desk and leaned on them to steady herself, her heart hammering in her chest.

“And that would’ve probably been okay with her, because of your close personal and professional relationship. But you see, we do not share the same rapport. You’ve taken more than a dozen business trips with my mother, but yet you turn down any event or trip I ask you to accompany me on. So you can’t blame me for having trust issues about you.” Then he leaned back in his chair and gave a fake exaggerated sigh of disappointment, before saying, “So either you pay, or you stay.”

The mirth dancing in Mark’s eyes told her he was playing the old cat-and-mouse game again. He was pushing every button he knew, and enjoying it immensely. It’d been fine when he’d been Director of R&D, and it’d been just a battle of wills. But now that he was CEO the stakes were high. They were close to two million dollars high.

Teresa closed her eyes briefly, took a deep steadying breath, and pushed down her anger. Then harnessing the last remaining bits of her patience, she said in an even voice, “I don’t want to go on business trips with you. I don’t want to attend business lunches with you. I don’t want to go to company events with you. In fact, I don’t even want to work for you.”

“And that’s all fine. You don’t have to.” He gave a casual shrug. “Pay the debt off, and you can leave.”

“You know I cannot pay off such a large amount in such a short time?” she hissed, holding her arms firmly at her sides to keep herself from slapping the annoying smile off his arrogant face.

“So, you’re staying then?” He cocked his head slightly to one side and raised an eyebrow. “That’s good.” He gave a patronizing nod of approval. “Good choice.”

“This is blackmail,” she said through gritted teeth, fists clenched into tight balls. She was thankful for the nails digging into her palms that stopped her from leaning over and choking the smug man.

“This is business,” Mark replied in an even voice, his smirk disappearing as he stood up slowly and picked up her resignation letter. “I’m aware of the job offer you’ve accepted, which, unfortunately, you’d have to turn down.” His eyes locked with hers in a steady gaze, as he came around his desk to stand beside her, and held out the envelope.

“Why?” Teresa frowned at his statement. “You know you can easily find a dozen applicants qualified enough to replace me.” She struggled to resist his magnetic pull. The man could wreak havoc with her emotions just by standing beside her. She had to quit this job—and fast.

“R&D cannot lose me, its Director, and you, its Head of Department, both in the same month. It’ll collapse,” he said simply, his face void of all expression. “We have the soft launch next month, and the final launch the following month. A new person coming in would need time to settle in.”

“So then I’ll leave after the final launch,” Teresa’s voice bordered on the edge of pleading. “This way I train the new person you hire, and then leave.” She ignored the envelope he held out to her, and focused on keeping her reasoning mind clear. Mark’s proximity always tampered with her ability to think straight.

“You’d still have the debt remaining,” he replied, not retracting the envelope, and his voice now severe.

“Which I will still continue to pay with my new job.” she frowned, the pleading edge in her voice, now turning into placating. “So why do you insist I stay?”

“And why do you insist on leaving?” Mark’s voice took a harsh edge, the envelope crumpling under his tightening grip. “When you can pay it off with your job here as well.”

Because, though it’d rip her heart in two to leave the workplace she’d come to love, Teresa had to put as much distance as she could between her, and Mark Coelho. She was falling hard and fast for this man, and that would only result in heartbreak and sadness.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, her eyebrows meeting in a puzzled frown. “It’s very obvious that we both don’t get along, and that you can’t stand me.”

“Is that what you truly believe?” Mark asked softly, raising his eyebrows a little in surprise, and tossing the envelope carelessly on his desk. “You really think I can’t stand you?” His voice turned husky as he came forward to stop just a hairsbreadth from her, forcing her to look up at his face, his eyes searching hers.

“Well… I… I don’t know what else it could be?” She stammered; her puzzled frown deepening into a confused one. “We’re always either arguing, fighting or one step short of killing each other.” With him standing this close, her coherent thoughts muddled together, her pulse quickened, and her heart galloped, just like it always did.

“And yet I want you to accompany me on every business trip, every business lunch, and every company event.” He lowered his head until his lips were hovering over hers, his warm minty breath fanning her face. “The meeting with HR was to offer you the position of Director of R&D so that I can keep you closer. Why would I do that if I can’t stand you.”

“So you get to torment me better? Payback for me standing up to you?” Teresa swallowed the nervousness in her throat and pushed away what she thought she understood from his words. Mark Coelho could get any girl he wanted, so why in God’s name would he want a broke, orphan, nobody like her.

“What am I going to do with you, Ms. Fernandez?” He gave a small smile and shook his head in disbelief.

“Let me go?” She replied quickly, trying her luck once again to escape him, and his hold on her.

“But if I did that, it would torment me,” he said softly, his smile turning a little sad.

His words made Teresa sway towards him, as if hypnotized, and in a trance. Her legs felt like jelly, threatening to buckle under her, and she grabbed his shirt at his chest to hold herself up.

“I… I’m sorry,” her voice sounded breathless in her ears, and her hands registered his heart galloping in rhythm with her own. The heat from his body radiated to hers, and she found her own responding to it of its own volition.

“I’m not sorry though,” he whispered, his voice thick with withheld emotion, but his lips still not closing the sliver of distance to kiss hers. “Maybe now you will have irrefutable proof of how much, I can’t stand you.”

“Mark… I…” She clutched his shirt harder as she fought the craving to bury her fingers in his hair and pull him down to claim his lips.

“Teresa,” he whispered, cutting her off. “My desire to clear my desk, seat you on it, kiss you senseless and do unspeakable things to you, is hanging by a thread. But before I know I even have the permission to do that, we do need to talk about a few important things first.”

Teresa’s breath hitched at the vivid description, and she watched in fascination as his eyes darkened with passion at that sound. A thrill ran through her at the knowledge that she could elicit such carnal responses from him, and her body heated at the thought of his touch.

“Could we reverse the order?” she chided, her lips curving into a sensuous teasing smile.

“What do you mean?” He asked, voice gruff with restrained craving, and forehead creased in a puzzled frown.

“I don’t think I have as much self-control as you do.” Her hands slid from his hard chest up either side of his face, and into his hair, as she pressed her body to his. “Could you first clear your desk, seat me on it, kiss me senseless, and do unspeakable things to me, and then we can talk about the important things?” At Mark’s sharp inhale of breath, and wide-eyed shock, she bit her lower lip lightly to hold back the teasing laughter bubbling up inside her.

After staring at her in shocked surprise for a few heartbeats, Mark recovered, and his face broke into a huge grin. “I certainly didn’t see this one coming,” he teased, as he gathered her tenderly in his arms, placed her gently on his desk, and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re quite the little minx under that cool reserved exterior, Ms. Fernandez. There’s no way you’re getting out of next week's business trip now.”