Page 24 of Pretty Little Thing

“Why?”

I lean closer. “Because it signifies that you already belong to someone,” I explain. “Trust me, it’ll deter some of the more intensepatrons.”

She nods. “Oh. Okay. Thanks. That’s... a good idea.”

“Like this...” I pull my white handkerchief from my breast pocket, quickly unfolding it as she watches with interest. I grab two opposite corners and roll it into a long line. “May I?” I gesture to her neck.

She doesn’t say no but she doesn’t do anything to make me stop either. I take a short step behind her and lay the handkerchief around her neck, tying it off at the back. Her throat clenches with nerves and her pulse pounds in her artery, thumping the skin up and down.

“There,” I say. “No one will touch you. Unless you want them to, that is.”

Nora looks at herself in the reflective wall. “That’s a good tip,” she says.

“I see a lot of beginners get scared off too quickly,” I say. “Don’t want that to happen to you.”

Her eyes flick over at me. “Why not?” she asks.

“Because you seem like you’d be a lot of fun.”

She lets her face fall to the floor, possibly concealing some embarrassment. It’s a side of Ms. Nora Payne I never thought I’d see — let alone exist at all. Nervous and delightfully timid.

I like it.

I look down her cheek, following a line to her neck and along her sharp collarbone. All the way down to her professionally-hidden cleavage. I catch something sticking out of her purse from the corner of my eye — a small, black harddrive with the initials LBB scrawled in permanent ink on a worn, white label.

Nora shifts on her toes and straightens up. “Well...” She extends her arm and slaps the button with the flesh of her fingertips. The elevator starts again, softly bouncing an inch before continuing its decent downward. “I’ll have to remember that.”

She reaches behind her neck to undo the knot but I lay a soft hand on her elbow.

“Don’t,” I say. “You can keep it.”

“No, I shouldn’t—”

“It looks good on you.”

Her fingers curl away from it as her eyes twitch in hesitation, but she slowly lowers her arms again.

“Thank you,” she says.

We both look forward at the elevator doors. Just another few seconds and we’ll hit the ground floor.

“Hey, Clive.”

“Yes, Ms. Payne?”

“What kind of guy carries around a handkerchief anymore?”

I smile as the doors slide open. “The kind who likes to keep his hands clean,” I answer. “After you.”

She turns her head to look at me one last time with puffy, pink cheeks before stepping off. When I don’t move, she pauses outside the elevator.

“Are you getting off?” she asks.

I smirk. “Not yet but I will.”

Her eyes widen but the doors close again before she can say a word.

I let out a quick laugh and hit the button to head back up to the fifteenth floor. Sure, blatantly hitting on my boss probably wasn’t the brightest move but hell — she looks way too damn cute with that collar on.

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