I Know What You Read (6 page)

“No,” she stated plainly. “The newspaper and my car are only ten minutes away. It wouldn’t make sense to go all the way out to Indian Rocks.”

“It’s Friday night. You won’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight will you?” he laughed.

“No, but you stepped over the line a bit at your—”

“It was a hug,” he defended, trying to make it sound innocent.

“Do you always press your groin into a woman’s ass when you ‘hug’ her—
from behind
?”

He honestly blushed a little, “I apologize—I don’t regret it, but I apologize.”

“Which is precisely why I shouldn’t go back to your house; guys find it too easy to do something without thinking and then hope an apology later will cover it.”

She started to get out when he gripped her arm.

“Jade, I know you think I’m pushy, but I swear to God, I’ve never forced a woman into anything—today was as bold as I’ll ever get without your approval.”

“The problem is I almost said yes, and I know I’d be the one with all the regret.”

“Damn, girl,” he said, letting his head fall back onto his head rest, “you’re killin’ me.”

“See ya,” she said. She closed the door and started across the parking lot. She was about five cars away when she heard him give an incredibly loud wolf-whistle. She glanced over her shoulder as he came up behind her, yet kept his distance.

“Damn it, man!” he practically shouted, turning the heads of the other early patrons, “I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave!”

So much for any progress he made against her resistance; she was back to loathing him.

Ethan was waiting for her at the entrance. She couldn’t help but think of him as her knight in shining armor, rescuing her from stupidity—mostly her own.

CHAPTER NINE

“A woman with balls; how did I get so lucky?”

When they finished the interview and photo shoot, Ethan asked if she was ready to leave or did she want to stay and watch the game.

“You mean tell him I’m leaving but actually stay?”

“Yeah. Do you like hockey?”

She gave him a funny grin, “Do
you
like hockey? I mean, I don’t want to stereotype you by thinking you’d rather be at Disney on Ice, but—”

“Oh, I don’t know, I think they’re about the same. They have to wear a specific outfit, put on a good show, and be able to skate—the blood, the screaming, and the fist fights might not happen at Disney on Ice, but the Lightning do have one
big
draw for me.”

“What?”

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “
They’re all guys.
”

She thought she was going to die laughing. “Where are we sitting?”

He escorted her to the seating he’d arranged—nothing fancy and spectacular like Noah getting them in the XO club, but she didn’t care. “I’ll call him. Would you mind getting us something to drink?”

“Not at all; how about a beer?”

“You are simply amazing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The macho, I-have-to-get-into-her-panties former baseball player offers me a glass of wine, and the gay guy offers me a beer.”

He smiled and turned to walk away, but then glanced back at her, “Light or regular?”

“Regular,” she said, and then added, “dark, if they have it.”

He looked upward toward the ceiling, “A woman with balls; how did I get so lucky?”

Noah sounded extremely disappointed when she told him she was catching a ride with Ethan and wouldn’t be joining him for the game. She felt bad at first, but then she remembered how he wrangled her into this in the first place. The remainder of the night was more fun than she had experienced in a long, long time.

Ethan
really
liked hockey. For a while, she completely forgot she was with a gay guy. He had some major testosterone raging by the end of the third period as the puck was passed to Steven Stamkos. It looked like an impossible shot. Ethan, as well as every Lightning fan, rose to watch the puck slam into the net. The buzzer went off; the Lightning won the game. It was a breath-taking and thrilling ending to an enjoyable night, and the best part was she didn’t have to worry about the person she was with trying to sack her as soon as they left. Instead, he drove her to the parking garage at the Trib and told her goodnight—although he did take one nice, extended hug from her before she exited his car, but he and Julian were both the huggable type anyway.

She didn’t have any assignments for the weekend, which was unusual to have two weekends in a row free. She pulled into a Starbucks on the way home and picked up a coffee. She was tired, but she wanted to write her piece before the adrenalin of the game left her system. By 1:30 in the morning, she finished her story and emailed it into the office.  The rest of her weekend was hers to enjoy.

She was intensely curious if Noah was going to be angry over being abandoned at the game, but she didn’t see him when she walked in to the building on Monday. She looked toward his office: it was dark and the door was shut. She opened her door, set her items down and then walked around to pull out her chair. There were two items in the seat. One was a small, rectangular box about four inches long, and under the box was another envelope.

“Damn,” she whispered, “Here we go again.” She opened the envelope first to find a new erotic story for her to read, but the note attached to it caused her heart to lurch.

I know what you read. I know what you like to do while you read. Perhaps this little gift will come in handy ‘down there’ while you’re reading—it’s better and faster than your fingers.

This wasn’t good. She slowly lifted the box lid with her trembling hand to reveal a new, compact, quiet touch vibrator. “You have to be fucking kidding me,” she stated, but not loud enough for anyone outside her office to hear. “He must have a camera under my desk,” she muttered, placing the lid back on the personal appliance and then setting it on her desk and covering it with the manila envelope.

“There has to be a camera in here,” she repeated. She knew it would be tiny but she was determined to find it. Her skirt was too snug for a lady-like jaunt under her desk, but no one could see that side. She looked around once, hiked her skirt to her hips, dropped to her knees, and crawled underneath. It was dark, but if there was a camera then there had to be a wire. She was sliding her hand over the veneer trying to find what she was certain she would touch at any moment. Her ass was high in the air as she slid her hand all the way down to the carpeted floor.

“Holy shit!!!”
A startled male voice rang out from behind her.

She jerked at the sound, slamming her head into the underside of her desk, “Oooouch!”

“J—Jade, what the hell are you doing under there?” Julian asked as he offered her his hand, “Honey, your skirt is way too short for that.”

She knew he saw her thong—and everything her thong didn’t cover—but what was shocking was seeing him standing there holding a manila envelope. “YOU!?” she said far too loudly as she readjusted and pulled down her skirt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in here!” he snapped back.

“I bet you didn’t!” She snatched the envelope out of his hand and then proceeded to wave it in his face,
“You’re the one?!”

“The one what?”

“You’ve been leaving these on my desk?!”

“They’re—Ethan asked me—they’re the freaking pictures he took at the Forum Friday night!” he replied, clearly still rattled, “He—he asked me to drop them off. The door was open. The light was on. How was I supposed to know you were under your desk with the crack-of-dawn shining?!”

She just made a huge mistake. Her head was pounding, and she was pretty sure she had a goose egg forming. “Pictures?” she whimpered. She didn’t want to cry, but her head really did hurt—and her pride was completely destroyed.

“It’s okay,” he said much calmer, “sit down. My God you hit the desk so hard I’m surprised you didn’t knock yourself out. Are you all right? Do you want me to get you some ice?”

He helped her to her chair and was being impossibly sweet, but she was wishing he would be vehemently angry instead; she deserved his wrath after accusing him of being her blackmailer.

“No,” she pitifully replied, “I’m so, so sorry I snapped at you.”

He smiled strangely, “What did you think I was putting on your desk?”

She watched his gaze drift to the latest envelope. He was reaching for it, but she grabbed his hand before he could pick it up, “Please, don’t. I think I’d curl up in a ball and die if you…” She realized it wasn’t the story she’d ‘die’ over, but what was under the story was a different matter entirely.

He went down to his knees in front of her chair, still allowing her to hold his hands, “Jade, I think you need to tell me what’s wrong.”

She glanced out through the glass; she had an audience once again, “Everybody is looking,” she said with a little choke.

“Fuck them!” he said rather manly for being a gay dude, “Something is wrong.”

At that moment, Kristen leaned into the doorway. The surprise of seeing Julian on his knees holding Jade’s hands couldn’t be masked, “What happened? I heard the thump all the way out front.”

“She hit her head on the desk. Would you mind getting her a little ice?”

“Oh,” she said, sounding as if she at least semi-understood what was going on, “sure, I’ll be right back.”

Several others were brave enough to come to her door and ask if she was okay. She never had to open her mouth because Julian was quick to tell them she hit her head, but that she was fine.

Kristen returned with a little plastic sandwich baggie of ice and handed it to Julian, “Do you want me to…  I mean, should I tell Mr. Spencer you need to go home?”

“No, no,” she finally managed, “I’m fine.”

“How did you hit your head?” Kristen continued.

Jade could see Julian was about to say something unkind to their nosy intruder when she shushed him with a gentle touch, “I dropped my pen,” she fibbed. “It rolled under my desk. I thought I was clear when I came up, but I guess not,” she added as she gingerly placed the ice bag on her throbbing scalp. “I’ll be fine. You can go back to the desk.”

Kristen took the hint and left.

“Tell me what’s in the envelope,” he asked as soon as Kristen was far enough away.

“No—please, Julian—it’s—it’s private.”

He frowned, “I don’t care.”

“I do. Please. Maybe some other time, but right now—”

“Thursday,” he stated, “Ethan and I are taking you out for dinner, and you’re talking about whatever is bothering you. I’d make it sooner, but we’re both slammed—unless you want to talk over lunch.”

“No,” she said quickly. She wasn’t sure she’d want to discuss it on Thursday, but she certainly didn’t want to discuss it less than a few hours away, “Thursday sounds great.”

He stood up, but he still appeared truly concerned. He leaned down and put a tender kiss on her cheek. Very quietly he said, “If Noah is still bothering you, just say the word and I’ll kick his ass.”

She couldn’t believe what he said. For a split second, she thought about taking him up on his offer. Still, she wasn’t completely sure if Noah was the guilty party, and even though Julian was muscular, she knew the kind of arms Noah possessed. She finally smiled to let him know she was okay, “Don’t, please. I can handle him.”

She waited about a half an hour before she became brave enough to pull out the newest story.  It was the same author she’d been reading, but this time it was different.  This was the first three chapters of a novel.  She only had forty-five minutes before she had to leave for her first interview of the day; she could crunch a lot of pages in that amount of time.  She looked across the office; no Noah.  Curiosity clawed at her insides as if she had an itch slightly out of reach.  She glanced at the box containing the vibrator.  “No way in hell, buddy,” she whispered.  She opened her purse and dropped it inside; she would not leave it lying around for someone to find.

She forced her smile to stay hidden as she began to read.  The story turned out to be surprising.  Although there was some mild sexuality in the beginning, the story took center stage.  She devoured chapter one and discovered the main character was a lycan: human one minute and werewolf another.  Paranormal erotica was new for her, but she liked it especially since the main character had waited his whole life to find the right woman, the right mate.  Was this person trying to tell her something? She glanced at the clock; seventeen minutes had passed since she started reading.  Time for chapter two.  Essentially, this tale boiled down to finding the perfect connection with someone; a connection that would last a lifetime.  Jade wanted the same thing.  She wanted someone to search her out, sweep her off her feet, and devote himself to her. 

By chapter three, the sexual tension was growing between the characters.  Jade knew a bedroom scene wasn’t far away, but it wasn’t going to happen by the end of the final page.  The last words the character uttered at the end of the third chapter gave her a jolt, “Marry me.” They were the characters words, but she felt as if someone was trying to tell her that he was seriously interested.  Then she realized there was one additional page.  She knew this would be from her blackmailer.  She felt a quiver roll from her crotch to the middle of her stomach. She held her breath and lifted the page; it was a question.

Do you want to read any more?  I think you’ll like it. Leave this page on your desk with your answer.

Now she was wishing she was the one with a camera.  Suddenly, she realized she had something just as good.  She took her pen and wrote yes on the last page and laid it on top of her desk.  She was ten minutes behind schedule (the reading took a little longer than she expected, but it was worth it).  She put the story away and grabbed her purse.  She had one stop to make before she left the office.

“Kristen, could I get you to do a favor for me?” she asked as she paused by the reception desk.