Mr. Personality Read Online Free Page B

door.
    Nicole realized she was trembling as she stood in the room now only occupied by herself and the great Maxwell Tucker. She understood why people called him a bastard. He didn’t pull any punches and had no patience for those he considered insignificant.
    What the heck had him all locked up inside?
    In a flash of realization, she knew she wanted to cross swords with him, wanted to see if she could reach the warm, breathing man walled off in the shell of his cold withdrawal. It was crazy, but she wondered if he needed…rescuing. She knew as well as most other adults who dealt with troubled youth that the bad-ass kids most desperately needed reassurance.
    She also knew that rescuing others could be a really bad idea.
    Not waiting for him to turn around and possibly recognize her as the woman who’d been trying to speak to him several days before, Nicole gambled and took the offensive.
    “Why didn’t you hire the one who sucked up to you?” She kept her voice cool. “At least, she wouldn’t cry when you came in the room.”
    Tucker swung around to face her.
    “ She already believes you don’t have to treat people with common decency. Your genius gives you the right to be heartless whenever you feel like it.”
    Her heart thundering in her ears, she smiled blandly at him. After all, it wasn't like she had much to lose here.
    “Apparently not,” Max commented, after a second, his gaze focusing on her. “She wasn’t so tolerant when I made it clear I had no intention of wasting my time nurturing her brother’s literary posturing.”
    “You don’t know anything about her brother or his writing. He might be good. Maybe as good as you, although that would be unlikely, though, since you are God’s gift to the reading world.”
    “I know who you are.” Recognition at last flashing in his eyes, he interrupted her implied insult as if he hadn’t heard her. “You’re that Cavanaugh fool’s daughter. The guy who plagiarized Bondage . You're the one who’s been standing outside my building the last day or two. What the hell are you doing in here?”
    Well, that was getting to the point with efficiency, she thought, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her gut. This situation could go so bad for her father. What was she doing?
    Tucker stood staring at her with arrogance, his face darkening.
    Apologizing would probably be a good idea right about now. If she threw herself on his mercy and licked his boots— No! Nicole looked up at the tall, dark figure in front of her. She may have already blown any small chance she had of changing this guy’s mind about suing her father, but she couldn’t quite ignore the niggling feeling that Max Tucker was reachable.
    How? How could she get to him? She knew she was good at working with groups of seventeen year-old toughs who had too many hormones and even more bravado, but this guy…. Even she probably couldn’t reach him in the short five minutes it would take the police to come haul her away.
    “I’ll tell you what I’m doing here,” she said, feeling steadied by her decision to throw caution to the wind and take a gamble. “I’m here witnessing some of the poorest management skills ever. Don’t you know you’re supposed to set them at ease in order to ferret out their weaknesses? How many job interviews have you done?”
    There was a startled look in his eyes, as if she’d thrown him an unexpected curve ball. Reveling in that flash, Nicole knew it might be the only good moment to come of a really bad bunch of decisions, starting with her determination to come to New York.
    “Unnecessary!” He recovered his balance quickly as a humorless smile curled a corner of his mouth. “Their weaknesses were obvious.”
    “Well, you’ve got that icy disdain thing down to an art form.” She wished she had pockets in her linen pants. Any place to stuff her hands right now. “I teach teenagers for a living. I’ve seen some pretty good bullies, but you take the cake. Does