Page 74 of Thick

Even though I’d been working with Perry only a short time, I’d grown tired of his attitude, his sense of superiority, and his unwarranted arrogance. I met his gaze and gave him a deadpan response. “Oh. Him. No, this is one of the other guy’s books.”

“Who?”

“The other guy.”

“What other guy?”

I glanced at my Kindle. “The guy that’s none of your business.”

He released the keys and spun around. “Excuse me?”

I didn’t bother responding.

He pressed his hands to his hips. “I asked you a question,” he seethed.

“It was rhetorical.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

He sounded like a five-year-old who was trying to settle an argument. I looked up and rolled my eyes. “You said, ‘excuse me’, indicating that you either didn’t hear me, or that you couldn’t believe my gall. Did you hear me? When I said, ‘the guy that’s none of your business’?”

He stared at me blankly for a moment while he processed what I asked. Upon understanding my explanation, he huffed out his response. “Yes.”

I sighed. “Then it was rhetoric.”

“You realize if you fraternize with him that you’re going to be fired? Lose your pension?”

I chuckled. “All thirty-five bucks that I’ve got in there?”

“So, you are seeing him?” He coughed out an ‘I told you so’ laugh. “I knew you would. I could tell. I’ve got a sixth sense.”

A sixth sense, six strands of hair, and six chins.

His attitude was grinding on my last nerve. I’d only had one official ‘date’ with Tate, but losing him due to a regulation at work wasn’t something I wanted to think about.

Or listen to.

“Who I see and what I’m reading is none of your business.”

He did the hands on the hips thing again. “It is if you’re not complying with rules and reg’s.”

“I’m reading on my lunch break. You’re not paying me for this hour, so you can’t control what I do. In fact, you’ve taken fifteen minutes of my time and made it yours. Is stealing mentioned in the rules and reg’s?” I asked, my tone sarcastic.

He nodded toward my Kindle. “Is that pornography? Pornography is prohibited in all forms.”

“It’s a romance novel. And, you didn’t answer my question regarding theft.”

“It’s smut,” he barked.

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

“Maybe we should get the warden to decide.”

For the last four months, I’d given him all the respect I could manage. I was done. Done listening to him, done dealing with him, and done having him tell me what I could and couldn’t do.

“Maybe we should,” I snapped back.

He stomped to his desk, picked up the phone, and pounded his finger against the buttons. He pressed the receiver to his ear, cocked his head to the side, and shot me a glare.