Page 22 of Indecent Secrets

But I was here for more than just myself.

The employees I talked to had a lot of good ideas, but not all of them would work for my purpose. It seemed that Jack’s uncle really had refused to change things, and usually those things he didn’t want to change involved things like promoting women, shifting to more social media based advertising and outreach, and keeping up with the pace of modern society.

None of them seemed to think about the fact that even if all these things changed and the company actually treated its own workers equitably, that wouldn’t shift what the company was doing at its very foundations: destroying fragile ecosystems and driving out the small-town populations and businesses that had been in those areas for decades.

One person I spoke to clearly didn’t get it. “We need to be more aggressive about recruiting from local people when we move into a new area,” he said.

Right. Because people wanted to give up their family businesses they’d cared about for years and then work to destroy their hometown forest. Definitely!

It made my blood boil as these people lamented how unfairly they were treated while completely missing the point of what they were promoting and who they were working for. All that mattered was what affected them, not others.

I would have to remember that Jack wasn’t necessarily any different. As much as I wanted to fuck him, I couldn’t let my lust blind me to his flaws. He could’ve taken one look at his uncle’s company and decided to dismantle it himself. The fact that he hadn’t said a lot. I shouldn’t have to convince him to do it.

But I would. Oh, I definitely would.

If only I could get a damn orgasm and not be interrupted by meddling secretaries.

Rebecca had no idea what she’d done, of course. If she had, she would’ve made it very clear with something like a triumphant smirk in my direction or a scandalized scowl on her face. I couldn’t quite tell if she liked me or not. The way she’d looked at me just now…

But her starry eyes over Jack were obvious. She possibly saw me as a threat. Well, there was no need for her to worry. First of all, I had no interest in actually dating the man. I wanted good sex and I wanted this company destroyed, simple as that. She could be his shoulder to cry on when I’d dismantled Lawton from the inside out.

But second of all it didn’t matter, because Jack didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d sleep with his secretary. Not after his uncle’s reputation dragged him down. With me it was a different story. I didn’t feel so much like an employee as an equal. Rebecca was directly under him.

Third of all, did she really like him? Or did she like the money and power that he had? He was handsome, sure, but if Rebecca was this starry-eyed already I had to wonder how much of it was an act, and I was sure Jack did too, given how he’d handled me and the other women at the party.

Not that Rebecca would listen to me if I told her all of this. I’d just have to be careful around her. If she saw me as competition, she might try to dig stuff up on me in order to discredit me to Jack, and she’d find out the truth about me. I couldn’t let that happen.

My best bet would probably be to act friendly around here, which was annoying given that I currently was irritated. I now had to wait all through dinner to get fucked.

Jack picked a nice place, though. It was a sustainable farm-to-table restaurant. Bougie and wildly expensive, of course, but at least the ethics were there. I didn’t begrudge people an expensive night on the town as long as it wasn’t done on the backs of underpaid and exploited farm workers.

Maybe this could be an opening for me to discuss the issues with his company.

The hostess took us to a table by the window, which allowed us to watch people go by on the street. I liked it, although I was kind of wishing we’d been put in one of the booths in the back to give us some privacy. The universe really didn’t want me to get laid today.

“I love places like these,” I said, once our waitress took our order and left us each with a glass of wine. “It’s so great to see people working with family-owned businesses that compensate their workers fairly.”

Jack leaned back and tipped his head at me. “You’re really passionate about this kind of stuff.”

“Well, aren’t you? You’re a philosophy professor.”

“I think you’re confusing me with an ethics professor,” he said before taking a drink of his wine. “I ponder the nature of our existence, I don’t debate what is and isn’t right.”

“And yet it’s so funny how those two can often be related.”

“Well, consider the tech startups you’ve helped. I looked at your website and testimonials. I wouldn’t call all of those people ethical, would you?”

“Not at all. But unfortunately I can’t always decide to follow my principles in my business. But I hope that in helping these startups I’m giving smaller, newer businesses a fair shot. A lot of large companies come in and destroy local businesses. We talk a lot about the environment and I’m passionate about it, but I think that can lead to people thinking about the big picture. They see whole forests destroyed, and it’s terrible. But they forget that there’s also the little picture—small businesses, local families—they can live in harmony in the local area and work with the environment. These big business don’t. And they entirely drive out fair competition and isn’t that what our country was built on?”

“You realize what Lawton Industries does for a living, right?” Jack grinned at me. “I wouldn’t exactly call us environmentally friendly.”

I considered that for a moment. “Mmm, you raise a good point. Perhaps I’ve finally sold my soul to the devil after all.”

“Maybe not, but you might be in danger of becoming a hypocrite.” He smirked.

“Perish the thought.” I feigned shock and pressed a hand to my chest. “But you do realize that you’re the CEO, and you have the power to implement some environmentally-healing changes to the company.”

“Were any of those ideas in the proposals that you wrote down?”

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