Page 16 of A Forbidden Spring
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MERRICK
MERRICK: Late night, Hellcat?
WREN: Jealous?
MERRICK: Should I be?
Istare at the message, part of me wishing I could take it back and the other part dying to know her answer. Because something inside me had snapped yesterday, the part where I lead my life with control and discipline.
The part where I don’t fantasize about my employees.
Or flirt with them via text.
But I’m well past reason at this point.
WREN: I guess it depends
MERRICK: On what?
WREN: You’re flirting with me, Mr. Ellis
MERRICK: Poorly
MERRICK: Let me take you to dinner
WREN: I’ll think about it
My lips twitchthe slightest bit before I school my expression, the knock at my door heralding what has always been my least favorite part of the job.
“Come in,” I say, standing as Holly comes in, a seductive gleam in her eye.
Hard pass.
“You wanted to see me?” she purrs as I motion to the chairs on the other side of my desk.
“Have a seat.”
Her eyes flash with annoyance but she doesn’t argue.
Settling back in my chair, I pull out a couple of sheets of paper and hand them to her.
“What are these?” she asks.
“They are the payments made to your social media company.”
“This isn’t me,” she protests, alarm seeping into her tone.
Steepling my fingers under my chin as I rest my elbows on the desk, I stare at her. “Miss Gould, I’ve been at this a long time. My resources are extensive,” I tell her simply. “It wasn’t hard to follow everything back to you once I figured out what I was looking at.”
“Fine. I get paid to use my influencer status to promote the spa. Big deal.”
“Itisa big deal when you’re not actually doing that.” She doesn’t argue, her face pinched as she stares at me. “And to be clear, whatever agreement you did or didn’t have is terminated.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever?” I repeat. “You’re lucky the only thing I’m going to do is suspend you for a week without pay.”
