“Whoa,” he said, adjusting his black frames.
I laughed. Well, that’s a good sign. As far as professionalism went, Colin was the one person who bested even Julian. I was positive that following the rules was his number one turn-on, so for him to check me out was pretty big.
“You look… very wow,” he said, blushing as he eyed my little blue shorts and flowy white top. But with a nervous glance up the stairs, he cleared his throat. “Oh Christ, he’s gonna fire me now,” he laughed under his breath before flashing a tight-lipped smile and hurrying off.
I chewed the corner of my mouth, well aware that I was going to turn around to find Julian at the top of the steps. Still, when I did, my heart thumped. His authority was unquestionable from this angle, and his voice practically echoed in the empty office.
“Sara. A word.”
There it is. I’d expected some kind of reaction, so with a nod, I started up the stairs. But he stopped me halfway up.
“I need you to change out of that first.”
I paused. “Excuse me?”
“That’s not workplace appropriate. Put on what you were wearing before,” Julian said before disappearing into his office.
Completely stunned, I stared up the steps, physically unable to blink.
Are you fucking serious?
I had expected a reaction, but definitely not this. This took the fun out of it pretty much immediately.
Already furious, I trudged back into the women’s room to violently shimmy out of my shorts and yank off my shirt, my heartbeat rising as I buttoned myself back into my top and zipped myself back into my skirt. Out of pure defiance, I opted out of the belt I’d had on. It was my pathetic little form of rebellion before marching up the steps and into Julian’s office.
He was just getting seated behind his desk as I walked in.
“Was that really necessary?” I demanded upfront.
He glanced up at me while adjusting his tie. “You can’t dress like that here,” he said casually before turning his eyes to his computer screen. My jaw tightened.
“Everyone changed after work today. Not just me.”
“Everyone changed into something casual, like a summer dress, or a polo and shorts.” Julian slid his gaze to me and let it dip. “Denim panties weren’t what I had in mind when I sent that memo.”
“Well, I apologize,” I said as evenly as I could through clenched teeth. “But I do feel the need to point out that several other women in this office left in dresses that were the same length as my shorts, with no sleeves, and you didn’t call them in to reprimand them.”
“You’re right. I didn’t,” he said.
There was no follow-up.
Asshole. Standing before Julian’s desk, I fumed, thoroughly ticked off by how relaxed he was as he sat back, his jacket draped over the back of his chair and his sleeves pushed up to his elbows. I ripped my eyes off the deep lines of his forearms to arch an expectant eyebrow at him.
“So, I don’t get an explanation for that inconsistency?”
Julian took his time to switch his gaze from his screen to me.
“No,” he finally said.
Disbelief hissed from my lips.
“That hardly seems fair, and again, I can’t help but suspect you’re treating me differently than the rest of the office,” I said hotly. “Actually, you are treating me differently than the rest of the office. The fact of the matter is, I know why you’re singling me out. We both do. And for you to use that as a reason to make my life difficult today is completely unfair given your problem is something you alone created.”
Shit.
I was breathless. I didn’t know how it happened, but I’d just let it all out. I’d given my office-appropriate version of “if you want to fuck me, then fuck me” and suddenly, it was Julian’s turn to raise his eyebrows.
“And for what reason do you think I’m singling you out?” he asked.