Under His Spell (6 page)

He
had
invited her to Cactus.
 
It had all
been real, no matter how bizarre and impossible it seemed the next day.

By the time Kennedy got into the office,
she’d managed to work herself up into a near frenzy of anticipation at seeing
Easton again.
 
What, she wondered,
would he say to her when he saw her?
 
Would what happened last night manage to seep into their professional
relationship?

She had to admit, as she entered the
suite, that she secretly hoped it would interfere.
 
She didn’t want to pretend to be a
co-worker, a subordinate, when there was so much more between them.

Kennedy wanted Easton to bring her into
his office and close the door, hike up her dress and do what he’d done the
night before.

But once she walked into the suite, she
saw that Easton was in his office with the door shut.
 
She could hear his voice as though her
were talking on the telephone, but his words were muffled.
 

Her heart sank a little bit, even though
she knew that him closing the door didn’t signify anything.

Then
why does it feel like it means so much?

Because, she thought, as she made coffee
for herself and then a mug for him, just in case—everything Easton did
meant something.

The closed office door was symbolic.
 
It was a new day.
 
Last night was last night and he would
pretend like nothing had happened between them.

Kennedy tried to keep her spirits up
anyway.
 
Last night had happened,
and she could hold onto that.
 
Last
night had been frightening and magical and crazy and she’d experienced Easton
as a lover for the first time.
 

It had been more than she’d even imagined
it could be.

She must have drifted off into her
recollection of it all, so much so that she didn’t hear Easton’s voice go
silent, didn’t hear him opening the office door.
 

“What are you doing?” his voice called
out from behind her.

She’d been standing still as a statue by
the coffee pot, lost in her daydream.
 
Her cheeks flushed as she turned and saw him in all his masculine
business formidability.
 
He wore a
light gray suit that almost gleamed, and it was tailored to perfectly fit his
broad shoulders, tapering down to his slim waist.
 
His mauve tie set off the suit with a
dashing touch of color, and his eyes seemed to be all the more astonishingly
intense in this setting.
    

“Oh, I was making coffee,” she said,
trying on a smile even though her throat felt like it was about the size of a
straw suddenly.
 
He literally made
her knees week.

Easton nodded curtly.
 
“Thanks.”
 
He stepped forward and held out his
hand, and Kennedy quickly grabbed the mug she’d prepared for him and placed it
in his outstretched palm.
 

Their fingers touched briefly, producing
butterflies in her stomach, a pleasant but also anxiety producing
sensation.
 

Easton held the mug and gave her a
curious look.
 
“Are you all
right?
 
You have a strange
expression on your face right now.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little…I don’t
know.”
 
She shrugged.
 
“Tired.”

“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow at her.
 
“Why so tired?
 
Did you do something fun last night?”

She opened her mouth to say she’d been
out with him, and then closed it.
 
They were in the office and he likely wanted to pretend nothing out of
the ordinary was going on between them.
 
Finally, she just laughed with false lightheartedness.
 
“I was reading a really good book, kept
me up late.”

“Huh,” Easton replied.
 
“Probably one of those bodice rippers
you ladies are always reading.”

“Sort of,” she said.
 
“It’s a really hot story.”

Easton got a strange, hungry gleam in his
eye.
 
“I bet.
 
Maybe you’ll tell me about it sometime.”

“Sure,” she said, getting a thrill from
this innuendo filled conversation.
 
“I could show it to you.”

“Show me this book?”

“Show you what made it so hot.”

He smiled and then shook his head.
 
“Whatever you say, Kennedy.”
 
He turned around and headed back toward
his desk.
 
“I’ve got a phone call
with Red, so don’t disturb me,” he called over his shoulder, closing the door
behind him.

Kennedy stared at the door, an empty ache
filling her stomach.

What
am I doing?

Why
can’t we just be normal?
 
Why can’t
I quit this silly assistant job and just start seeing Easton like a regular
girl?
 
Am I not worthy of that?

But she knew the answer.
 
The truth was, Easton didn’t really want
a normal girl, a regular relationship.
 
That’s why he went to that strange Infinity Club, that’s why he spent
his time in little rooms tying women up and blindfolding them and whatever else
he liked to do.

If
you want him to be some typical guy who takes you out to the movies and
introduces you to his parents, you’re going to be very disappointed.
 
If you want that, you should go and find
Blake and tell him you’re interested.
 
Because Easton will never be that kind of guy.

It hurt, but Kennedy knew that deep down,
despite the way it sometimes made her feel, she didn’t want that kind of
relationship either.

***

It was about thirty-five minutes later
when the woman burst into the office, her eyes searching around the room
wildly.
 
“Is Easton here?” she
asked, looking frantic.

Kennedy instantly felt jealousy flare
inside her stomach.

This
must be one of his other women.

The woman was blond, tall, very thin,
with protruding cheekbones and big doe eyes that made her look like a little
girl trapped in a woman’s body.
 
She’d obviously had some work done, and everything about her screamed
that she came from money and privilege.
 

“Sorry, Mr. Rather is indisposed at the
moment, but I’ll let him know you came by.
 
What’s your name, please?”

“Sheri.
 
And I need you to tell him I’m here
right now
—I’m not going anywhere.”

Kennedy felt a bigger flash of anger at
the woman’s sense of entitlement.
 
“Sorry, but Mr. Rather is in a very important meeting and gave me
specific instructions not to—“

“I don’t care what he’s doing, and if
you’re not going to help me then I’ll just go in there.”
 
Sheri began stalking forward with a
purpose, heading for the door to Easton’s office.

“Excuse me,” Kennedy said, standing up
and moving to block Sheri’s path.
 
“I’m afraid that I can’t let you do that.”

The woman shouldered her purse and gave
Kennedy a coldly appraising glare, her huge eyes flashing with rage.
 
“Oh?
 
And how do you plan on stopping me?”

“You just can’t do this.
 
He’s not available.”

“He will be,” Sheri said, and then
sidestepped Kennedy as if she was no more intimidating than a potted
plant.
 
Sheri grabbed the door
handle and threw open Easton’s office door, striding into his office.

Kennedy was aghast, and she felt faint.

I
failed him again
, was
her first thought.

Easton was sitting at his desk with a
small wireless headset, talking (presumably to Red), when Sheri barged inside.

His eyes widened.

“I need to talk to you, it’s an
emergency,” she told him, her voice loud and confrontational.

Kennedy walked in behind her.
 
“I’m so sorry, I tried to tell her you
were unavailable but she refused to listen.”

“Get away from me before I take my purse
and break your cute little nose,” Sheri said, giving her a sidelong glare.

Easton sighed.
 
“Red, something’s just come up.
 
Can we reschedule for later?”
 
He listened and then grimaced.
 
“Yeah, yeah.
 
Got it.
 
I’ll have Kennedy put it on my
calendar.”
 
He hung up the phone and
took off his earpiece, setting it on his desk, then stood up.
 

“Can you ask your secretary to please
leave me alone?” Sheri said, her voice shaking with anger.

Easton gave Kennedy a cool look.
 
“Please leave us,” he told her, “and
close the door when you go.”

Kennedy felt her cheeks flushing with
shame and humiliation.
 
“Fine.”
 
She tried to smile, failed, and then
turned and started to leave the room.

“Oh, and add a meeting with Red on
tomorrow’s calendar for eight a.m.”

“Yup,” she said, purposefully being
flippant as she walked out, slamming the door behind her.
 
She felt furious, enraged that the woman
spoke to her so condescendingly and Easton had let her get away with it.

Sitting down at her desk, Kennedy tried
to push away the extreme feelings that threatened to overwhelm her as she
opened up Easton’s calendar.
 

Who
is she?

Why
would he get off the phone with Red for her?

The urge to listen at the door of
Easton’s office grew powerful.
 
She
could vaguely hear them speaking, but their voices were intermingled and
muffled, so Easton must have succeeded in calming her down a little.

How he calmed that bitch down, Kennedy
couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Maybe
by promising to screw her brains out on his desk?

The thought made her physically ill.
 
She got up and ran her hand through her
hair, wanting to cry, wanting to scream like a baby, knowing that she couldn’t
do any of those things.

She did walk over to the office door, her
heart beating fast in her chest.

She still couldn’t hear exactly what they
were saying, but some words did come through.

“…can’t be doing this again and again…”
Easton was saying.

And then her voice, louder,
plaintive.
 
“I swear, this is the
last time.
 
I swear it.”

“When have I heard that before…”

Their voices trailed off.

Was Easton trying to end their relationship
and Sheri was attempting to continue it in some form? Was he going to pull out
his cock and let her suck it right then and there?

Kennedy’s stomach lurched as she pictured
it.
 
Anger boiled like lava in her
veins.
 
She moved yet closer to the
door, putting her ear to the cool wood, anxious to know what was happening on
the other side.

“Thank you,” Sheri said, her words clear
enough now that Kennedy had her head against the door.

“Don’t thank me,” Easton said.
 
“Just do as you promised.
 
Take care of this.
 
I don’t want to hear about it again.”

“You won’t.”

“I’m not playing games,” Easton
said.
 

“I know.
 
You never play games.”
 

Kennedy frowned.
 
Was that flirtation in her voice?
 
Was she walking over now, grabbing his
tie, smiling as he grabbed her ass?

“If I find out you’re lying to me,
there’ll be hell to pay,” Easton warned.

“I can’t thank you enough.
 
I’m sorry it’s got to be like this.”

“Just take care of it.”

And then there was a protracted silence,
and Kennedy walked quickly away from the door, just in time—because a
fraction of a second later, it opened and Sheri walked out.

Kennedy glimpsed Easton inside, his arms
crossed, watching Sheri leave.
 
And
then Sheri shut the door and continued on her way, not so much as glancing at
Kennedy as she went.

Bitch!
She wanted to scream, as the thin, angry
woman exited the suite.