Page 159 of Mistaken Identity

“Does she do the laundry, too?”

“No. I do my own laundry… and yours too, most of the time.”

I felt myself blush, realizing the truth of what he was saying. “You’re right. I’m not great at all this… but I’ll try harder.”

“You don’t have to. I love you, just as you are. Besides, I enjoy fooling around with your underwear… even when you’re not wearing it.”

I chuckled, and he kissed me, swallowing the sound, and although I asked if we ought to get up and get on with the job in hand, he told me there was no hurry… and we found a far better way to spend the next few hours.

Everything is done now, though, and I’ve officially given up my apartment and moved in with Hunter. The only thing I left behind was the bookcase. There was no point in building it, and he has enough space in his libraries for my books. So, I left it behind for whoever rents the place after me.

When we haven’t been moving my things, and making love, we’ve been working. I thought we were busy before, but it’s been even more crazy since I got back. There was quite a lot of work to catch up on after my enforced absence, but what made it worse was that Hunter had to fire Miles Hampton.

His decision had nothing to do with me, or with Hunter discovering Miles at my parents’ place. It was entirely to do with one of the designers making a formal complaint about him.

She came to see Hunter on the Tuesday after I got back, and I could tell straight away that something was wrong. She was flustered and upset, and although she didn’t have an appointment, I showed her into Hunter’s office. He asked me to stay, which didn’t surprise me, and when he turned back to the young woman, and asked why she’d come to see him, she burst into tears. I stepped forward, putting my arm around her, then Hunter and I waited until she’d calmed down so I could ask her name.

“Jenni Moore,” she said, sniffling.

Hunter frowned, but then his face cleared. “You work in the design department, don’t you?”

“Yes.” She almost managed a smile, seemingly surprised that he knew who she was. “I’ve only been here for two weeks.”

I knew Hunter didn’t take responsibility for hiring the design staff directly, and left that to Miles, so I was just as surprised as Jenni that he’d remembered her.

“Can you tell us what’s wrong?” I asked.

She turned to me, and then glanced at Hunter, and although I was tempted to ask if she’d rather speak to me alone, I couldn’t see the point. It was him she’d come to see, after all.

“It’s… it’s about Miles Hampton,” she said, and Hunter sat bolt upright.

“What’s he done?” I could hear the anger lacing his voice, and although I wondered if that was connected to me, I sensed there was something more to it.

“H—He touched me.”

Hunter stood, and I frowned at him, nodding back at his chair. Didn’t he realize how intimidating he was? He quickly sat again, and I turned to Jenni. “Would you rather Hunter left us to talk alone?”

She shook her head, swallowing hard. “No… it’s okay.” She took a deep breath, looking down at her hands. “M—Miles came to see me earlier and told me I needed to go to his office.”

“What for?” Hunter asked, keeping his voice quiet.

“He said there was a problem with my contract, but when I got there, he started talking about how much he liked me… and the next thing I knew, his hands were all over me, and he was trying to kiss me. I was telling him to stop, but…” Her voice faded and she gulped down more tears.

“Is that all he did?” Hunter asked, and I scowled at him. “I’m not belittling what’s happened to you, Jenni,” he said, speaking to her and not me. “It’s just that I need to know if he did anything else to you? I need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

“Fortunately, his phone rang, and it distracted him enough for me to get out of there.”

Hunter nodded his head and stood up again, although this time he didn’t seem so threatening as he came around the desk, looking down at Jenni. “Do you want to go home? I can have someone take you?”

She nodded her head. “Would that be okay?”

“Of course. Do you have anyone who can be with you?”

“My mom.”

“Good. If you need to take some time away from work, that’s fine. I’ll make sure you’re paid in full. But rest assured, Mr. Hampton won’t be here when you get back. You’ll be safe to return here whenever you’re ready.”

She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. “Thank you.”

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