by T. S. Ryder
Will struggled under the weight. He looked terrified. Hayden almost laughed. He shifted back into human form and punched him across the jaw.
“You stay away from Kaelyn, do you understand? Or next time, you might find yourself the victim of a gorilla attack.”
He stood up, and Will scrambled to his feet, then took off running. Hayden walked back to the parking lot.
It had cleared out some in the time it took for him to chase Will, but there were still too many people around. He had spare clothes in his trunk. He kept spare clothing in many places since he never knew when he might have to shift on the fly and would find himself naked afterward. But to get to his clothing required a walk through the parking lot. He found his shredded pants and fished his keys and wallet from his pockets.
He waited until there was a nice balance of empty spots, fewer people and a darkening sky. Then he bolted to his car. He popped the trunk open and quickly stepped into his shorts, then pulled a shirt on.
He didn’t know where Kaelyn had gone. He didn’t see her car in the lot when he left, but she wasn’t there when he got home. He went about his evening as he had planned. He worked out in his home gym, then had dinner. She still hadn’t shown.
Later that night, when he was relaxing in the living room, watching TV while catching up on emails, she came in the door and, when she saw him, flopped down on the couch beside him.
“Rough day?” he asked.
She ran her hands through her hair and nodded, bending over so that her head was in her hands and her elbows were on her knees. “The worst.”
“What happened?”
“It’s just stressful and my co-workers aren’t very helpful. I actually started looking for a new job today.”
“Wow, that’s serious.”
She turned to him, a hopeful expression on her face. “Any chance your company needs a new database administrator?”
“I can look into it. I’m sure I could create a position.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. That would be a huge favor on top of the other huge favor you’re already doing for me. I’d owe you for life.”
“I might be okay with that.” He wanted to see if he could get her to open up and tell him on her own what was going on with Will, before he told her that he had seen plenty. “What’s making it so bad?”
“I just need to get out of there.”
“Kaelyn. You’ve been dealing with this all week. You can tell me.”
She sat back hard on the couch and slumped down. “Thanks. I appreciate that, I really do. It’s just something I have to work through on my own.”
“Oh.” He twisted his mouth to the side. No point in not telling her, even if she wouldn’t be happy about it. “Well. The thing is. I already know what’s going on with Will.”
“What do you mean?”
“I noticed you’ve been stressed and not yourself lately and that work was getting you down. So, I brought you flowers today. And—”
“I didn’t get any flowers.”
He reached over his head, pointing behind him to the table. “Those are them. I didn’t end up giving them to you because when I got to your cube, Will was there. I heard him harassing you. So I waited for him in the parking lot.”
She gasped and sat straight up. “You did?”
“I chased him down in gorilla form and told him to stay away from you.”
“Hayden!”
“I’m sorry if that makes you mad, but I had to do something. I couldn’t just let him talk to you that way and it didn’t seem like HR were doing much. If he makes you want to quit your job after a week, it’s got to be bad. And I don’t like that he was here when you didn’t give the address or the passcode.”
“Wait a minute.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “What did you hear?”
He smirked. “Everything. Don’t worry. I know you said it just to get him to leave you alone.”
She let out a long sigh. “Well, I don’t know what to say.”
“Hopefully he’ll stay away now.”
“You really brought me flowers?” She turned to him with a huge grin, then glanced over at the flowers.
“Well, I guess I technically didn’t since I never gave them to you.”
“But still. That’s so sweet. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have taken care of this sooner.”
She shrugged. “I was worried you would ask me to leave so you didn’t have to deal with it all. It’s been such a hassle, and the police can’t do much since he hasn’t actually committed a crime yet. And since he’s already come to the house. I don’t know. You deal with enough of that as it is. I didn’t want you to have to worry about this, too.”
“But I was worried about you. And I was more worried that you wouldn’t talk about it. I was starting to think…” He closed his mouth. He didn’t want to say what he’d been about to.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
She tilted her head and gave him an exasperated look. “Spill.”
“It’s just that I thought we were kind of, I don’t know… flirting and maybe having some feelings after we kissed? Then you just shut down on me. I thought you lost interest or…”
“I haven’t lost interest.” She held his gaze for a long beat.
“Okay then.”
“It’s a relief to have you know. You’re not freaked out by it?”
“The only issue I have is that you didn’t tell me right away. We’ll figure out how to deal with this together, okay?”
Kaelyn nodded and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Thank you. And thank you for going after him. I can’t imagine after being chased by a gorilla that he’d keep at it.”
“Well, I will make a position for you in a second if you want to work for me. I have to warn you, though, I can be a very tough boss. I may also be tempted to make some sexual comments or do other inappropriate things in the office.”
She picked up the pillow beside her and threw it at him. “Whatever, dork.”
“Hey!” He set the laptop down and scrambled across the couch to get to her and tickle her like he used to when they were younger. He always beat her and Gabby from sheer size alone. Gabby, being a gorilla shifter herself, got free easily, but Kaelyn didn’t have their strength, and it showed.
Just like then, he now had her pinned with little effort. Except it was suddenly different. Now when he was hovering above her, it felt very intimate. Her arms were above her head, stretched far. He straddled her waist, his hips over hers. He couldn’t help it. He started to get hard.
The laughter stopped and they gazed into each other’s eyes. His heart was racing. He didn’t care what they’d said before. He leaned down, moving slowly to give her plenty of time to turn away or say no. He paused with his mouth just an inch above hers. She lifted her head to press her lips to his.
He kissed her, letting his tongue slip between her lips, this time, to caress her tongue with his own. The kiss started to get hotter. He wanted her so badly. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to contain himself. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to wait after all.
He reached one hand down to her breast and squeezed gently, cupping and caressing its full weight. She was so soft in his hands, he couldn’t get enough. He ran his fingertips along her stomach, feeling her bare skin.
He hesitated. They’d said they were going to wait. Was this moving too fast? But his hard on raged in his pants and she was breathing heavily, pressing her body against his.
He moved down and unzipped her pants, then slipped his hand beneath her panties. She let out a moan as he slipped his finger around her clit and between her lips. He slid his finger inside her, feeling her warm dampness. She was already so wet. She wanted him, too. He could rip her clothes off right now and take her.
He moved his finger in and out of her, making her moan in pleasure. But then he glanced up and saw his housekeeper hurrying away. Crap. She’d seen them making out
. This was not the place to do this. It was one downfall of having staff. They were always there.
He pulled his hand out and kissed her again. “I have too many staff to do this here,” he breathed into her ear.
He backed away, rolling over to sit beside her. She pulled herself up on the couch and looked around to see if someone could see them.
He kissed her cheek. Now that they weren’t kissing and her body wasn’t pressing against him, he could think a little better. “We should probably wait like we talked about anyway.”
She nodded and closed her eyes, running her hands through her hair. “We should wait,” she repeated.
“And we should talk to Gabby.”
She nodded again.
He kissed her one last time before taking his laptop to his room where he could be away from the temptation of her body. He tried to focus on his work, even if all he could think about was her.
Chapter Seven
Kaelyn still couldn’t fully wrap her head around yesterday, from Will’s obnoxiousness to Hayden’s chasing after him. Then Hayden’s kiss. The day had gone from extreme aggravation to extreme pleasure with a stop at gratitude and embarrassment along the way.
If she’d had any idea Hayden was around, she never would have said he was her boyfriend and she loved him. Of course, he had handled it well and played it off as nothing, but it wasn’t nothing. She wanted it to be true. She thought maybe the second part of that, the being in love part, was true. After knowing him for so many years and now seeing him like this and kissing him, it was easy to fall for him.
When she got to work the next day, she was still on such a buzz from kissing him and thinking that the Will problem would go away that she actually felt good walking to her cube. She was happy, relieved of stress, ready to start her day.
She’d texted Gabby earlier that morning. “What would you say if Hayden and I hooked up?”
The response made Kaelyn giggle. “It’s about time?” Then a short moment later, “So, did you or is this a preemptive text?”
“We did, then decided to wait until I moved out and we’d talked to you.”
“Well, you just talked to me, so do your thing.” She’d even added a winky face. Everything seemed to be falling in place.
But when she got to her cube, all that changed. On her desk was a stuffed gorilla. Except it wasn’t just a cute little stuffed animal sitting there. It had been torn to shreds. Someone had sliced it with a knife and pulled out its insides, leaving her desk covered in stuffing and gorilla parts. Clearly, it was a threat.
She took out her phone and snapped a picture, but she couldn’t do much with this. If she told HR or took this to the police, they would know Hayden’s secret. What if Will told people? Why hadn’t Hayden considered that before he shifted in front of him? She brushed the mess into the trash and turned on her computer.
There was an email waiting from Will. She’d been able to block his calls and texts on her phone, but here at work, she couldn’t. They still worked together, so she needed to be able to get his emails. With a deep breath, she opened it.
“Kae,
Met your boyfriend yesterday and what a hunk! I find him to be quite wild. I can see why you’d be concerned about him. But don’t worry. I’m not concerned. He never has to know anything. That kind of makes it more fun, don’t you think? How about lunch? We could sneak off someplace romantic.
- Will”
It was like he knew exactly how far to go and what he could and couldn’t say. When she’d talked to HR, they said he needed to make some sexual innuendo or say something more specific for it to be considered sexual harassment. Every time she went to talk to them, it was the same thing. “It just sounds like he really likes you, and so far, he hasn’t done anything we can legally fire him over, but we’ll talk to him.”Apparently, all the talk had done was make him more cautious in writing.
But it still felt like a threat. Every line seemed to have a hidden message. Though it completely pissed her off, she could see HR’s point. If they went by this email, what would they say? We’re firing you because you like someone? Even the part about Hayden could have been taken as her complaining over a jealous boyfriend. Will came off like an idiot, but he was far smarter than she’d given him credit for.
She checked the rest of her emails and went on with her morning. But when it came near lunch time, sure enough, Will came to her cube.
“Hey, did you get my gift and email?”
She ignored him and kept typing.
“Kae? I’m talking to you here.”
Would he leave if she didn’t respond?
“I have a fabulous lunch planned for us. Are you ready to go?”
She kept typing, still not looking at him.
“Okay. We can just stay here, then.” He perched on the edge of her desk, spread out several food items that he’d brought over with him and set up a nice lunch.
When she still refused to acknowledge him, he turned to the cube beside hers and talked to her neighboring co-worker.
“Hey, Jill, look at this,” Will said.
Kaelyn could see from her peripheral vision that he was making Jill look at the lunch he had spread out.
“Nice lunch.”
“Is it romantic enough?” he asked. “I brought this for Kaelyn, but I don’t think she likes it.”
“Don’t you like it, Kaelyn?” Jill asked.
She glanced at Jill and made a tight head shake. She was started to wish she’d confided in at least one of her co-workers about the situation. Will was also pretty good at manipulation.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Will continued. “I write her love letters, bring her gifts, surprise her with a romantic lunch. You ladies all say you want romance, right? But when we do it, you don’t respond.” He chuckled. “What else can I do?”
“Aww,” Jill said. “It sounds lovely. Well, maybe there’s someone else who would appreciate it.”
Ugh, her tone made Kaelyn want to scream. It was like she was being ungrateful for everything Will did.
“You know what I bet it is?” Will said. “Kaelyn’s boyfriend is really jealous. And when he gets mad, whoa! I think my little Kae just doesn’t want to take the chance that he’ll find out that we’re falling in love. But you would keep our secret, wouldn’t you, Jill?”
“Oh, of course.” To Kaelyn, she said, “Honey, take it from me. Ditch the one with the jealousy and anger issues. It’s not worth it in the end. Go for the romance right in front of you.”
She couldn’t take it anymore. She got up, grabbed her purse and hurried to the elevator. The doors closed as she saw Will hurrying after her. Luckily, he didn’t make it in time.
She got off on the second floor and stormed to the HR office. She didn’t care if he was in a meeting or what. This needed to be taken care of now. She knocked on the door and walked in.
Mr. Brown looked up at her. “Do we have an appointment?”
“No. This can’t wait. I take it anymore. Will keeps sending me emails and harassing me and whatever you said to him yesterday did nothing. I’m quitting. Effective immediately.” She set her badge down on the desk. “I have been working with the police, though. I suggest you do something about him or you’re going to end up with a lawsuit on your hands.”
She stood up and left the office. She didn’t intend to sue them. She had meant that Will would do this to someone else, but she realized what it must have sounded like. Well, fine. Let them think she was going to sue them. If they knew her connection to Hayden, they would likely be worried. And with good reason.
She just wanted this to be over. And now she was very glad she hadn’t yet brought in any personal items. The only thing she had with her was her purse and it was now on her shoulder. She went straight to her car and called Hayden.
She tried not to cry when he answered and she told him about the gorilla and lunch.
“I’m in my car now. I just quit.”
“Okay. Well, that’s un
derstandable. How are you feeling about it?”
“Better. I don’t think he’ll just go away, but at least I won’t have to see him every day.”
“Right,” he said. “When do you want to start working here?”
“Oh, Hayden.” She let out a sigh. “You’re the best.” The tears she’d been fighting came and she wiped them away. “As soon as possible, I guess.”
“Why don’t you take the rest of this week to relax and recover from this, and you can start fresh on Monday?”
“That sounds great. I think I’ll go home and take a nice, long bath.”
“Well, don’t tell me that. You’ll make me want to leave early.”
She giggled. “Okay. I meant I’m going to put on frumpy sweatpants and an oversized shirt and sit around with no makeup on, tweezing my eyebrows.”
There was a pause then. “Nope. Not working. You’re sexy no matter what I picture you in.”
She blushed. “Get back to work, Mr. Lynch. See you when you get home.”
“Yes, dear.”
Kaelyn couldn’t help grinning. He was so sweet and fun. So different to anyone she’d dated before. She tried not to think about the fact that he was a billionaire. Most times, it was easy. He was the same old Hayden from high school. More grown up and far sexier, but the same underneath. Living in this house, though, and going to fancy meals and whatever else they might do together would just be such an amazing lifestyle, she honestly couldn’t picture it. What would it be like to really be with him? To be his girlfriend? She wanted to know badly.
When she got home, she did go to her room and take a long bubble bath. It helped her relax and she did feel much better already.
Just knowing that she wouldn’t have to go in tomorrow to face Will brought her huge relief.
Then she thought, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go for a run. Hayden was always working out and said it helped him relieve stress. She should ask him about it. Maybe have him help her workout in the basement or something. But for today, a little jog or walk in the park sounded lovely. Get in touch with nature, get in a little exercise. She’d be feeling great by the time Hayden got home. Maybe they could have a nice dinner together.