by Harper West
But, the second I felt myself sobering up all I wanted was to get home.
“Hey, you okay?” Brit asked.
I gathered my things. “I just need to get home.”
“Wha—is it something I said?”
I shook my head as I slipped off the stool. “Not one bit. I just have to take this ‘playing hookie’ thing a step at a time.”
She giggled. “Not a rule-breaker, huh?”
I smirked. “Not in the slightest.”
She leaned into my ear. “Well, if you do decide to break more rules, I suggest you break one with Mr. Ryker. I think he could bring some spice to your life.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
She rubbed my back. “I got this, don’t worry about it.”
I peeked up at her. “Are you sure? My wallet’s just at the bottom of my purse.”
She waved her hand around in the air. “You can get us next time, because there’s going to be a next time.”
I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. “I’m looking forward to it.”
As I walked out of the bar I took in a deep breath of fresh air. I cracked my neck before I started toward my car as birds flew over my head. The last thing I needed was to even think about JoJo wanting anything to do with me, because every time I thought about willingly being in his presence my body showed me just how sick in the head I had really become. I rubbed my tits and booked it toward the driver’s side. I rolled my shoulders before I dropped down into my seat, preparing myself to blaze a trail home.
But, when I looked up, I saw a very familiar figure leaning against the brick façade of the bar.
“JoJo?” I asked breathlessly.
I narrowed my eyes to try and see better, but I wasn’t sure if it was him. The man in the black suit smoked a cigarette as if he were oblivious to the rest of the world. I cranked the engine of my car and it caught his attention, but his eyes passed over me as he scanned the parking lot. He looked so unbothered, as if he didn’t give a shit that the world was passing him by. It made him look strong, and resilient, which only served to make my panties wetter as I pulled out of the parking space.
“I really gotta find a hobby,” I whispered to myself.
Then, I pulled onto the main road and headed home.
And I hated myself for looking in my rearview mirror just so I could have one last glimpse of him before I left.
13
Rebecca
The days passed in a blur and the more I worked, the more hours I spent in my office during the evenings.
I swear, the work was never-ending, and with Brit’s insinuations rushing through my head I wondered if this was all on purpose.
You know, to somehow punish me for what Maggie did to him.
But I shook the thoughts from my mind. JoJo had always been an angry and rebellious kid. Sure, maybe I reminded him of her and that didn’t do our working relationship any favors, but so what? That was old news. My ten-year high school reunion had come and gone, so old grudges should’ve had enough time to flourish, burn, and die off in the thunderstorm that was adulthood.
The smallest part of me couldn’t shake it, though.
Just go upstairs and ask him.
As the sun set behind me, I resisted the urge to storm into his office and demand an answer as to why he thought paying me overtime was enough for taking up the small amount of free time I set aside for my private life. I mean, it didn’t matter that my private life consisted of pajama pants, sci-fi marathons, and endless snacks. The point was that I no longer had time to wind down from anything. It was either work, sleep, or eat.
And he had no right to my private time.
“Knock, knock,” Brit said.
I sighed. “You’re still here, too?”
She peeked her head in. “Just seeing if you were done.”
I nodded to a stack of files off to my right. “You see those?”
She shook her head. “Are you sure you don’t want help? Two people are always better than one.”
But, I couldn’t allow myself to pass off work to her. After all, it was my job and my work. “No, I’m okay.”
Her eyes filled with pity. “Want me to go get you some dinner and bring it back?”
I sighed with relief. “Is that too much to ask?”
“Pssh! Hell, no. What would you like? It gives me an excuse to pick up something for myself, anyway.”
I dug out my wallet. “Here, take some cash and let me pay for things this time.”
She walked over to me and took the forty bucks. “I won’t fight you on it this time since you look exhausted.”
I giggled bitterly. “Maybe get me a coffee, too? And a soda. I’m going to need a hell of a lot of caffeine to get through all of this.”
“And he won’t let you take it home at all?”
I scoffed. “He bitched me out for doing it on the day we ditched. I’m not making that same mistake.”
“Hmm, you know he never approached me with the fact that I ditched with you.”
“He said he didn’t have an issue with ditching, he only had an issue with sensitive financial documents making their way out of the building.”
She groaned. “What a fucking tool. Whatever you want for dinner, it’s yours.”
I rattled off my gigantic order from a wonderful sushi place down the road and Brit left my office. I turned around in my chair and gazed out over the skyline of Los Angeles and for a brief moment, I imagined myself by the water’s edge. I saw myself in a new one-piece with a sarong wrapped around my waist. A wide-brimmed hat donned my head as I sat myself up in a chair with my feet digging their way into the sand. And as I munched on chips and sipped my ice water, I pulled a book out of my purse and started reading it.
Before sirens off in the distance pulled me from my daydream.
“So much for beach time,” I whispered to myself.
As much as I hated to admit it, JoJo had a point. If the wrong person had gotten their hands on the documents I took home his entire business would’ve been in jeopardy. So, I guess in some ways I didn’t pawn off the work because I felt that I deserved it.
I had fucked up, and not even I could deny that.
“Rebecca!?”
A shrieking woman’s voice sounded down the hallway and I furrowed my brow.
“Rebecca!? Where the hell are you?”
I got up and rushed to my office door before I ripped it open. “Yes? I’m Rebecca.”
An older woman looked me dead in my eyes. “Get over here.”
I rushed toward the foreign woman. “Is there something I can help you with?”
She clicked her tongue. “Do you know who I am?”
I blinked. “No, ma’am.”
She rolled her eyes. “Figures. I’m Bonnie, Joseph Ryker’s head accountant.”
I furrowed my brow. “I thought your name was--.”
She cut me off. “He never remembers anyone’s names. It’s a miracle he can remember his own. What I want to know is why the hell I don’t have the work he told me you’d have to me by tonight so that I can do my own damn job.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The stack of folders? That ring a bell?”
Fucking hell, seriously? “I’m just supposed to double-check some numbers. That’s all.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And?”
“And… those files didn’t hit my desk until four this afternoon.”
“So, did you drop what you were doing and tend to them since they’re emergent?”
“I didn’t know they were emergent.”
She scoffed. “Always hiring idiots with issues.”
I furrowed my brow. “You might want to walk your attitude back a bit, because while I get you’re upset, you’re certainly not my boss. And if I’m supposed to be double-checking numbers before they get to you, it’s probably because he doesn’t trust your calculations at face value. I’d be more worried about that
than where your files are.”
She gnashed her teeth together. “You do answer to me, actually.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what my contract says, and I’d be happy to show you if you’d like. I report to Mr. Ryker, and no one else.”
Her glare raked down my body. “And he takes his hiring cues from me. So, if you’d like me to not submit a request to have you terminated, I suggest you give me a plausible reason as to why your work is always fucking late and why you can never get caught up, which causes the rest of us to stay late in the process.”
And just before I rage-flipped that bitch out a window, JoJo stepped into my office. “Probably because I’ve been testing her, Bonnie.”
I clasped my hands behind my back. “Guess he remembers your name.”
“Can it, Becca,” he said flatly.
The woman grinned before she turned around. “Testing her for what?”
JoJo walked over to me and placed his hand on my lower back. “The two of us knew one another as young adults and I wasn’t sure she was capable enough to take on this job. She was a bit of a slacker in high school.”
I clicked my tongue as his hand burned against my clothing. “I didn’t do well in English.”
JoJo rattled off my sins as an adult. “Or Science. Or A.P. Psychology. I wanted to make sure she was capable of the workload despite being the young woman I used to know.”
Bonnie’s eyes volleyed between us. “I’m sure that’s what it is.”
JoJo’s voice grew hardened. “Is there anything else you’d like to question? Or do you not remember when I told you a week ago, to bring your grievances to me and leave Miss Rebecca out of it?”
She threw her hands into the air. “What the hell am I supposed to do if all of her work is always late? I’m missing the life of my grandchildren for this job, and it never used to be that way. Not until you hired the likes of her.”
JoJo chuckled. “And if you aren’t careful, she’ll have your job.”
Bonnie rolled her shoulders back. “As your accountant, make sure her work gets done accurately and is in on time. You already owe thousands of dollars in late back taxes because she doesn’t know how to pick up the pace.”
“And if you recall, Miss Bonnie, I had to hire someone to help pick up the slack because you couldn’t deal with it.”
“Because you kept giving me work that is beneath me!”
JoJo stepped in front of me and clasped his hands behind his back. “You’d do well to remember who you’re talking to.”
Bonnie bucked up to him. “And you’d do well to remember that we can’t have every woman you hire folding in this office because of the slightest amount of pressure. Either she’s up for the job, or she isn’t. But, hiring weak-willed and weak-minded women only makes the rest of us women look just as bad.”
And just as I stepped out from behind him to defend myself, JoJo nodded his head. “Of course. You make very good points.”
I balked. “What!?”
JoJo nodded toward Bonnie. “Give us a moment.”
She looked over at me before she scoffed. “Useless.”
And the second she stormed out of my office, JoJo whipped around on me with eyes glowing with anger.
“Why in the world are you angry at me!?” I yelped.
JoJo gripped my arm and pushed me against my desk. “The hell were you thinking, attempting to sass my accountant like that?”
I ripped away from his grip. “Touch me again like that and I’ll report you the way I should’ve reported Tommy.”
He winked. “If you didn’t report him, you certainly won’t report me.”
I hated that I liked his attention. “I’m not weak and I’m sure as hell not stupid. So, if you’re honestly testing me and you still want me working here? I suggest you cut it out.”
“And if I don’t?”
I shrugged. “Then, I quit, and you don’t get your revenge on my sister.”
His face paled. “What?”
I shook my head. “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out?”
It took him a second to process what I had said, but when it registered, he gripped my arm again. He pulled me into a corner of my room where no one could see us before he jammed my back against the windows that lined the back wall of my office.
And his growling voice caused the hairs on the nape of my neck to stand on end.
“You really think me that petty and obtuse?”
I shook my head quickly. “I don’t know what to think right now.”
His face came closer. “I’m trying to save you from making a gargantuan mistake. Miss Bonnie is the head of my entire financial department as well as my personal accountant. You piss her off and she’ll annoy the absolute fuck out of me until I transfer you or fire you altogether.”
I giggled. “Sounds like you’ve got a crush.”
His hand moved from my arm to my neck. “You want to try that statement again?”
I swallowed hard as I felt his fingertips closing against my skin, and all at once I lost my voice. Heat slithered up my spine, causing my knees to weaken as his steel gray eyes danced between my own. His touch was searing hot, which made my heart stop in my chest. My breathing switched to manual, and I had to remind myself to breathe in and out like a normal fucking person.
And when I didn’t answer, he chuckled. “Good girl.”
I could have collapsed then and there. “What?”
His hand released my neck a bit. “I want you to be the quiet little worker you’ve been up until this point. I want you to suffer the way Maggie made me suffer and I want you to make sure she knows it. I want you to make sure she knows that her whorish actions have consequences that neither her nor you could have ever seen coming.”
My eyes watered over. “So, it’s true?”
He jammed his knee between my legs. “Awww, does it hurt your feelings that the big, bad boss doesn’t like you?”
I blinked them back because he sure as hell didn’t deserve them. “I quit.”
He released my neck and tapped my cheek with his hand. “Well, I don’t accept it. So, sit down, shut up, and get your fucking work done.”
He moved away from me before he turned his back and I swear to fuck, I finally understood why murderers had such a bloodlust.
“And be thankful that I’m paying you for your time!” he exclaimed.
Before he slammed my office door closed behind him.
I closed my eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. I slid to the floor before my knees dropped out from beneath me and I curled them as close to my chest as I could. Then, I buried my face into my chest as my tits rested on the tops of my knees and sobbed.
And I cried until Brit knocked on my door again.
“Becca? You okay?”
I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. “Yeah, just releasing some stress before I get back to work.”
She eased my door open. “I bring food, soda, and coffee.”
I snickered as I stood up. “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
She slipped into my office. “Would you like some company while you eat?”
I nodded. “Actually, I really would.”
But, even conversation with the one friend I had made in this company did nothing to cleanse my mind. As I sat there, mindlessly eating my sushi, all I thought about was the way his massive hand wrapped around my neck. The way his breath felt pulsing against my face. Hell, the way his knee felt brushing so close to my pussy lips.
And as I reached for my coffee, I wondered how in the world I could get him to do it again.
14
Rebecca
Work had worn me down so much that I actually put in for time off.
I expected JoJo to kick back with it, saying that I hadn’t been working long enough at the company to justify a long weekend to go visit my batshit crazy family. But, after I submitted the paperwork and put the time on my calendar, all he did was sign off on it.
So, I packed my sh
it up and went home for a few days.
Granted, I hated going home. There was a reason why I crossed essentially the entire country to get away from them. I grew up with narcissists. People who manipulated and thought the world revolved around them and their spineless little issues. Like my sister and her broken nails, or my mother and her bad dye jobs, or my father and his car restorations where he threw massive temper tantrums because a junkyard didn’t have the part he was looking for.
But it was better than dealing with the hours of overtime I had become used to.
“Bec Bec!” Mom exclaimed.
She rushed me the second I walked through the door and wrapped her arms around me. She squeezed me tight, kissing both of my cheeks before my sister came trolloping down the stairs.
What the hell is Maggie doing here?
“Hey there,” she said with her perfect smile showcasing her perfect pearly whites.
Mom squeezed my shoulders. “Sweetheart? Get in here! BecBec’s home!”
But Maggie shook her head. “He went to the junkyard this morning, he’s not in a good mood.”
“Awww,” Mom said, “Maggie, go make him a hot cup of tea. You know how those days wear him out.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know all he’ll want is a beer.”
She poked my stomach. “Well, neither of you need any more of that useless alcohol with all of those empty calories. Maggie?”
My sister groaned. “Fine, I’m going. But, if I break a nail, you’re paying for it.”
“Nice to see things don’t change,” I murmured.
Mom scolded me playfully. “Oh, come on. It’s been years since we’ve had you both under the same roof. I mean, you just up and moved within the span of a couple of weeks and it took its toll on Maggie.”
“Is that why she’s still living here?”
Then, her scold turned real. “Don’t start.”
Trust me, I never do. “Sorry, Mom.”
She smiled brightly as if the scolding hadn’t ever happened. “Now, get in here and have a snack with me. I’ve got some fruit and some cheese laid out. You want some sweet tea?”
I shook my head. “Why stop at the beer I don’t drink? Sweet tea has empty calories, too.”