Taking a step closer and looking me dead in the eye, she asks, “You don’t think I can find another one? Maybe I want to leave with Caleb. He’s spent more time with me than you have tonight.”

Her words spark a white-hot flame of fury deep in my core. Grabbing both her arms and jerking her close, I tell her lowly, “You’re not going anywhere with Caleb.”

Rather than shrink away at my roughness, she leans closer. The rich scent of her perfume wafts up and reaches my nostrils. “I will go wherever the hell I want to go. I will do whatever—and whomever—I want, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

My grip on her wrist tightens, even though she didn’t try to get away this time. “Wanna bet?”

She’s all I can see, all I can smell, all I can think about in this moment. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen her tonight, but seeing her with another eligible suitor chafes more than knowing she’s going on some dead-end date. Her skin is flushed from the alcohol and her anger, her perfect lips are pursed in annoyance, her emerald eyes glinting angrily. The dress I picked out for her is liquid sin wrapped around her perfect curves. Her auburn hair is piled in a sexy updo with a few tendrils strategically left down and curled, but all I can think about is messing it up—taking those locks in an iron grip and letting her know just what I think about her challenging me.

Her pert little lips challenge me to do just that, and dammit, I want to. I don’t know why I bought her this dress. It’s hard enough to keep my hands off her at the office, but here, right in my face, dressed like temptation and smelling like heaven?

She’s exquisite.

Why didn’t I tell her that?

I yearn to slide my fingers through her silky locks, to caress her cheek with the pad of my thumb and pull her close, but she’s so damn angry at me.

“You’re not the boss of me,” she says.

I crack a smile. “Actually, I am.”

Her eyes narrow to slits. “We’re off the clock, Mr. Holden.”

“This is a work event, Miss McGowan.”

That seems to aggravate her more. Jerking one hand free and using it to claw at the other, she finally breaks my grip and mutters, “Didn’t look like you were working when you had your hands all over that woman on the dance floor.”

“We were dancing,” I say flatly.

“Mm-hmm,” she murmurs as if disinterested, turning away and looking back at Caleb. “I feel like dancing,” she tells him. “Will you dance with me?”