Guess Aspen found out the hard way that it isn’t so easy to snag a sucker after ditching me the way she did. She’s too old now to play the it’s-my-first-time game. Emmett made it sound like it was some opportune coincidence that got him to hire her, but I don’t believe that. She must’ve discovered somehow that I’m at GrantEm, and engineered events while I was out of town to get this job. She’s nothing if not persistent and manipulative.

She should know I’m not the fool I used to be.

“Put on something else when you come tomorrow,” I say.

Her eyes narrow. “What’s wrong with my outfit?”

“There’s no need to play at being poor.” I give her a fake smile. “You can put on something better. I won’t treat you any different.”

Her lips thin. “I didn’t see anything in the employee manual that specified I have to wear something expensive to suit you.”

“Things would go a lot better if you just learned to say, ‘Yes, sir.’”

“And I’ll be more than happy to say that—if the request is reasonable,” she says in a dulcet tone.

“I’m your boss, not your friend. When I tell you to do something, it’s not a request.”

“Oh?” She raises an eyebrow. “Would you like me to get on my knees while I’m at it?”

The image of her on her knees before me, while looking up at me and whispering, “Yes, sir,” makes my blood heat.

She continues to regard me with a challenge in her eyes. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “Why not? Getting on your knees might earn you some points.”

“Is that an order, too?”