Page 53 of Hate Notes

Another email notification made me jump. This time it was from Orion:

Miss Hartwell,

I trust you made it home safely. While reviewing some files, I found myself thinking about our conversation on the terrace.

Regards,

O. Foster

I bit my lip, heart racing. Even his most innocent emails carried weight now. But before I could reply, my phone started ringing.

Cole.

I stared at his name on my screen, remembering how he'd looked at me at the gala. There had been something predatory in his eyes, something that said he knew exactly what game I was playing.

"Enough," I whispered, then blocked his number.

It wouldn't solve anything. He'd find other ways to contact me. But for tonight, I just wanted to reply to Orion's email and pretend, just for a little while, that everything was simple.

That I deserved the way he looked at me.

That I wasn't going to end up hurting people I cared about.

I opened my laptop and started typing:

Mr. Foster,

I've been thinking about our conversation too. There's something I need to tell you. Maybe tomorrow?

-E

P.S. Davenport wants to meet tomorrow. I think something's happening.

I hit send before I could overthink it, then got up to change. As I unzipped my dress, I caught my reflection in the mirror—cheeks flushed, eyes bright, lips slightly swollen from biting them too much.

I looked like a woman in love.

"Well, shit," I told my reflection. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

My laptop chimed again. Another email from Orion. This one was a different flavor entirely.

Miss Hartwell,

While I appreciate your reply, I'm not sure you understood the assignment presented by my previous email. Please reply as soon as you've completed the task.

Regards,

O. Foster

I smiled to myself. Maybe things were far more complicated than they needed to be. Maybe I had a mess to untangle... But I did know exactly what this email meant and what he wanted from me.

I noticed Catman watching me and made a shoo gesture. "Look away, Catman."

I could have sworn he rolled his eye at me before strolling over to his food bowl to noisily eat.

With one more look at Orion's email, I slipped under the blankets on my couch. I didn't want to disappoint my boss, so with my dress still pooled on the floor and wearing nothing but my underwear, I reached between my legs and got to work for Orion.

I really did love this job in more ways than one.

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