Secrets Shared (14 page)
“Rachel, Internet dating sites are perfectly okay, you know. You don’t have to be desperate or weird to join one—loads of normal, attractive people sign up, and if you just express a mild interest in BDSM, you’re not committing yourself to a fully fledged Dom.”
Rachel sighed as she finished her toast. Maybe Mandy had a point. It wouldn’t hurt to search for a few sites when she got a spare moment at work. Their own computer had crashed a couple of days ago and seemed to have given up the ghost, so the only Internet connection she had access to for now was the one at work, although it was strictly forbidden to use it for personal stuff.
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled at Mandy, wishing she was more like her. Whereas she was petite and skinny, Mandy was tall and statuesque with gorgeous tanned skin and brown eyes, compared to her own pasty pale complexion and green eyes. Whether it was her height and striking cheekbones that gave Mandy so much confidence, Rachel didn’t know, but she envied her flatmate’s ability to make friends so easily and the way she had men falling over themselves to go out with her.
Mandy reached out, took Rachel’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Hey, I’m really glad you’re thinking about sex again. It’s been over a year since you and Paul broke up, so it’s about time.”
“Mandy…” At the mention of Paul, Rachel stood up and dumped her plate and mug in the sink. She hated talking about him so that meant the end of that particular conversation as far as she was concerned.
“Okay, I know, I mustn’t talk about
him
. Anyway, I’m off. See you tonight.” Mandy blew her a quick kiss and grabbed her bag.
“Yeah, bye.”
Rachel didn’t move for at least ten minutes after Mandy left. Her mind was racing with thoughts about this online dating stuff. The idea of meeting some gorgeous hunk who would introduce her to a new world of erotic play, maybe tie her up—spank her even—sent a shudder of excitement through her entire body.
She sighed as memories of Paul returned to haunt her. Would she ever get over him? Mandy was right, it was more than a year since he’d so cruelly dumped her, with tragic consequences, and yet the pain was still as strong as it had been then. Well, there was no way she would ever let a man get to her like that again. If she did meet someone through one of these sites, it would be strictly sex only. Love was seriously off the menu, and until now that had meant sex was as well, but, as her dreams were so persistently reminding her, maybe it was time to give her body a little treat.
Forty minutes later, Rachel tiptoed past her boss’s office in the vain hope that he wouldn’t notice she was ten minutes late. She had been so preoccupied on the Tube that she’d missed her stop and had had to walk back to Holborn, stopping at Starbucks on the way of course. She carefully put her coffee cup on her desk and slid into her chair, silently congratulating herself for not getting caught, when she heard Joe call, “Rachel!”
Damn, he sounded angry. As she scurried toward his office door, she wondered why he was so rattled about her being a teeny bit late. He wasn’t normally so anal about her timekeeping.
“Hi, Joe,” she called brightly, as she burst through the door. One look at his face confirmed her fears—something was definitely wrong. His normally calm composure was gone—instead he looked like he might want to kill her. She tried to recall what had happened yesterday and was just about to reassure herself that she hadn’t made any personal calls or done anything she shouldn’t have, when she remembered the search on her computer.
She’d only wanted to check one tiny little thing, something that had been bugging her for a while that she couldn’t wait to know the answer to. Oh God, she’d done a search on BDSM and what the letters stood for and Joe must have found out. She’d known what the S and M stood for and guessed that the B must have been for bondage, but she hadn’t been sure about the D. She had felt a delicious warmth spread through her body as she’d read the description of discipline and dominance, but she hadn’t had time to finish reading it all so she’d bookmarked the page intending to finish it later. Shit, how was she going to explain that one? She put on her best ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ smile and said, “Anything wrong?”
“Yes, Rachel, very fucking wrong.” Joe stood up and started pacing the small office, his red, round face glowing with rage.
“I was only checking for a friend…” she stammered.
“Fucking Adam Stone,” he interrupted before she could finish. “He may be the CEO of this company, but what gives him the right to steal other people’s staff?” He stopped suddenly and gave her a hard stare. “Checking what?”
“Oh, nothing. Train times.” She could feel her face flush, but he was too angry to notice.
“Come and sit down,” he said, with a sharp edge to his voice.
She was seriously worried now. She had never seen her normally placid boss so agitated. She quickly sat down without another word and waited for him to tell her what was going on.
He returned to his chair and sat down opposite, glaring at her before his eyes softened slightly. “I’m sorry, Rachel, it’s not your fault. I’m just so bloody angry, you know?”
No, she didn’t know, he hadn’t actually told her anything yet. “Joe? What’s happened? Why are you so mad?” Her voice was gentle. She liked Joe and hated seeing him this upset.
He sighed, as if finally resigning himself to the fact that there was nothing he could do. “Adam Stone’s PA is pregnant,” he stated, simply.
That was it? What did Lucy being pregnant have to do with Joe? Oh no, surely not… “Rachel Porter, I can read you like a book. No, I did not get Lucy pregnant!” Despite his anger, his lips curled up into a reluctant smile and he visibly relaxed a bit.
“Why is Lucy’s pregnancy such a problem for you?” she asked, frowning.
“Because there have been complications and she’s been ordered bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy, with immediate effect.” He was staring at her as if that would explain his outburst, but of course it didn’t. Then the bombshell fell. “Stone wants you to replace her.”
Rachel’s jaw dropped. “What? Me? Why?”
“Stone hates temps, refuses to work with them. He has a policy that if Lucy is ever off work, one of the other senior PAs fills in and their boss gets the temp. But Brenda is on sick leave and Hilary leaves at the end of the week.” Joe glared at Rachel with resentment as he spat out his next words, “You’re next in line.”
“But… Joe, I don’t want to work for Mr Stone.” The truth was, Adam Stone scared her shitless. He had a reputation for being ruthless and had reduced many a PA to tears. In fact, she was close to tears herself right now.
Joe smiled at her, not a warm, reassuring smile, but a bitter, defeated one that told her it was no use trying to make him change his mind. It wasn’t his decision to make. “I’m sorry, Rachel, but the boss has spoken and the rest of us have no choice but to toe the line. You’re to make your way up to his office immediately and I wouldn’t take too long about it. Stone is not a man who likes to be kept waiting.”
Rachel felt tears sting her eyes. This was turning out to be one hell of a shitty day and she had a really bad feeling that it was about to get a hell of a lot worse.
About the Author
A multi-published author of erotic romance, Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.
She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge. As once she is writing she is oblivious to everything else, her lovely long-suffering husband is learning to love the dust bunnies, work the Aga, and be on stand-by with a glass of wine.
Email:
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Raven loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at
http://www.totallybound.com
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