Page 10 of Her Boss

Understanding that I was being dismissed forthwith, I scurried to the door, determined to get out with what was left of my dignity.

“Stop right there. Turn around.” His voice brooked no disobedience, and the fluttering in my stomach at his tone was both demeaning, and had me shivering for reasons I didn’t want to examine too closely.

I faced him once more. “Yeah?”

He scowled at me. Not using his ordered form of address was my little way of showing he hadn’t cowed me completely. Not yet, anyway.

Oh, who are you fooling? You’d kneel at the side of his desk and eat out of his hand if he told you to. The thirst is strong with you.

“That top you’re wearing. Unacceptable.”

It was the first truly hurtful thing he’d said. “What are you talking about? This is one of my favorites.”

“It’s a schoolmarm costume.” He flicked a finger upward. “Collar goes practically to your throat. Covers up too much.”

Too much?

“What? I don’t?—”

“This is the second time I’ve told you. No back talk. Do as you’re told. Lose the top.”

My mouth suddenly as dry as a desert creek bed, I picked at the top button of the navy blue silk blouse.

“No, not here, silly.”

“Oh…”

But I’d caught him watching for just the briefest of moments. Had he considered simply letting me go through with taking off my blouse right there in front of him?

And you were about to do exactly that! Don’t you think that might be the bigger problem at hand?

“If you’re going to work for me then you’re going to wear the proper attire. Another condition. You take the number that I’m about to give you and go get the approved wardrobe for this job.”

Though I wasn’t quite sure why I would ever agree to such a thing, I marched to his desk. “I’ll do it.” I held out my hand.

For a heartbeat, his dark, intense gaze coursed over me, a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. “Oh, I know you’ll do it. Or I’ll make sure you regret disobeying me.”

What does he think you are? A dog?

But what his words were doing to my insides had me thinking of something quite different than a dog.

Sure. How about a bitch in heat?

His palm wrapped about my entire hand as he shook it. It stunned me into silence at how tiny my hand looked in his huge one. For a moment, it was as if we were both transfixed by the sight.

Then he broke the spell, pulling out a drawer, the wood squeaking. Slapping a spiral-bound tablet on the desktop, he scribbled something on a piece of paper. The ripping sound as he tore the page loose echoed in the office. He held the paper up to me, and I took it.

“Get out of here,” he growled, spinning around in his chair, his back to me. “Don’t come back until you get the right clothes.”

Without another word, I fled from the room, shocked and confused.

And more turned on than I’d ever been in my life.

CHAPTER 5

Rick

The last thing I expected an hour later was for Geneva to come bursting through my door, red-faced and enraged.

---