Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
And right on cue I’m hard again, imagining all the filthy things I plan to do to my sweet, seductive sex kitten as soon as we’re off company property. Her every touch, every smile, every kiss makes the long days worth it. I don’t know how this will work after she wraps up her story and is no longer a fixture at S&H, but I have no doubt we will find a way.
Like so many things in life, there are no guarantees. But for the first time in my mine, I’ve found a risk my heart is willing to take.
The chime dings again, and a smile spreads across my face as I glance down at my messages…
My dick instantly shrivels.
The messages aren’t from Ellie. They’re from Blair.
We need to talk. It’s urgent. Followed by, I’m on my way over.
Shit.
I text a quick response—Already heading out for the night—but before I can tap send, I hear the clip-clop of her heels and then a sharp knock on the door.
I briefly consider hiding under the desk, Ellie-style, but Blair’s already letting herself in.
Schooling my features into something slightly less murderous, I nod a terse acknowledgment. “Make it quick, Blair. I have a dinner meeting with Eric, and I’m already running late.”
In a small, watery voice that’s so unfamiliar I do a double take to check that it’s still my tough-as-nails hiring manager standing there, she says, “You may want to cancel that dinner.”
“No can do.” I have no idea what’s going on here, but the last thing I’m interested in is wasting valuable putting-my-mouth-on-Ellie time by playing guess-what’s-bothering-me with Blair. “Eric and I need to wrap up our recommendations for the Dunn account by Monday morning, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. So, if you don’t mind, I—”
“Actually, Jack, I do mind.” She closes her eyes and presses her fingers to her lips. After another beat, she looks at me again and says, “Eric is the reason I’m here.”
Oh, shit. Please don’t tell me she found Ellie snooping through the database…
“Is there a problem?” I ask.
“That’s an understatement.” Blair closes the door with a laugh that cuts off sharply as her face crumples. She looks a hot second away from bursting into tears.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Jesus, is she crying? I’ve never seen her so emotional. Hell, some of my guys shed tears every time the Dow breaks a record, but I can’t recall spotting a single crack in Blair’s friendly, all-business facade.
Handing over my box of tissues as Blair settles into the chair in front of my desk, I ask, “Are you all right?”
“No. Not really.” She blots her nose, then takes a shuddering breath. “I hate this, Jack. I debated all morning about whether to say anything at all. I’m sure it was a misunderstanding, but… Oh, man, this is so hard!”
“It’s okay, Blair. Take a deep breath, then tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s just the more I think about it…” Her throat works as she shakes her head. “I know I can’t stay silent.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out.” My mind is rapid-firing excuses—I’ve got Eric on research duty; he signed an NDA; I’m thinking of making some structural changes and asked him to pull performance files…
“The thing is,” Blair says, “I really don’t want to involve legal. I came to you first because I know you’re a man of integrity, and if there were ever anything…untoward going on, you would know how to handle it.”
I sit back in my chair, thrown. “Untoward? About Eric?”
“I was as surprised as you are, believe me.” She holds my gaze, shredding the tissue in her hands. “But truly, Jack, I’m hoping we can handle this quietly. As much as he hurt me, I don’t want to make trouble.”
“Wait. Eric hurt you?” The room is spinning as I try to keep up with Blair’s story. None of this makes any sense. Could she be mistaking someone else for Eric?
“He…” Blair touches the ragged tissue to her nose again. “Last night, I came back to finish up some work, and he was… He was waiting for me in my office.”
My jaw clenches tight. “All right. And what happened then?”
She meets my eyes across the desk, tears streaming down her cheeks. I ball my hands into fists, trying my damn hardest to brace myself for whatever bomb she’s about to drop.
“He asked me to shut the door. I was a little thrown, but I wasn’t really alarmed, so I did it. I assumed he had an HR issue to address—we’d been talking about some of the gaps in his qualifications, so I thought maybe he wanted to revisit that.”
“But that’s not what happened.”
“No, he… I…” She clears her throat, then smooths her skirt, her eyes still glassy with emotion.