Sweet Jealousy (2 page)

“Just off to work,” Addison said. She picked up her pace. The rent had been due two days ago, and she hadn’t paid it. The security deposit for this place and the furniture she’d had to buy had wiped out her savings. She wouldn’t be able to pay her rent until she got her paycheck in two days.

“Not so fast,” Mr. Gold said. He stepped in front of her and rubbed his hands together. “I think you forgot to pay your rent this month, yeah?”

His eyes raked up her body, and his tongue snaked out and licked his bottom lip.

Addison blushed, suddenly embarrassed to be wearing such a revealing outfit.

“I didn’t forget,” she said. “It’s just that I need a couple more days to get it to you.”

Mr. Gold shook his head, looking at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Addison,” he said. “I need the money. You need to have it to me by tonight, okay? I can’t just go around letting people be late on their rent. What if other tenants found out? Nobody would be paying their rent on time, yeah?”

“I understand,” she said. Obviously she wasn’t going to have the money to him tonight. She didn’t have it. But she wanted to get out of there. The man’s presence was unnerving. Besides, it was only two days. All she had to do was avoid him until she could put the rent check into the drop box. Two days wasn’t that long. She’d use the back stairs if she had to.

She hurried out onto the sidewalk.

***

She was ten minutes late to work, and when she got to her desk she had two missed calls, both from Nathan Sweet’s office.

He hadn’t left a message. Should she call him back? She was hardly ever late to work, but she’s spent so much time getting ready and then Mr. Gold –

The phone buzzed again.

“Hello, Addison,” Nathan said smoothly. “I was wondering if you could come to my office so we could talk about your next column.”

“Oh. Um, okay. When should I come?”

“Right now.”

“Okay.”

She stopped into the bathroom to reapply her lip gloss and smooth her hair. Then she walked to his office, clutching a manila folder with the article pitches she’d written up last night.

His secretary led her into his office.

“Please,” Nathan said, gesturing to the chair in front of him. “Sit.”

She sat.

He was wearing a gray suit, and his eyes were just as blue as ever.

He leaned back in his chair and pressed his hands together.

“So,” he said finally. “What’s in the folder?”

She set it down on his desk. “Some ideas for future columns.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to read them to me?”

Addison didn’t. How could she read the ideas out loud? They were all so sexual.

Although, if this was her job now, she was going to have to get used to talking about sex with him. She picked the folder up, hoping he wouldn’t notice that her hands were shaking.

“Well,” she said, paging through the sheets of paper, “I um, wrote an article about how to undress for a man. Um, to make it sexy. And then I was thinking we could do one on how to dress for a date, depending on if it’s the first, second, or third date, based on…. you know, how far you want to go.”

“You mean sexually?”

“Yes.” Her blush deepened.

He shook his head. “I think our readers are a little past how to dress on a date,”

he said. “Did you get the email I sent you?”

He’d sent her an email yesterday, with a link to different stories that had appeared in certain women’s magazines to give her ideas on what he was looking for.

She nodded and then smoothed her skirt.

“Did you read them?”

She nodded again.

“Do you have any other ideas?”

She flipped a page. “Well,” she said slowly, “we could do a top ten sex positions you’ve never heard of.” Of course, she’d have to figure out what those were first. But how hard could it be? She’d ask Tia. Tia probably knew tons of crazy sex positions.

He nodded. “I like it,” he said. “It’s a little trite, so make sure you put a new spin on it. And make sure not to make it too raunchy. Our readers want sexy, not over the top.”

She nodded. “I’ll get started on it right away.”

He sat back in his chair. The silence stretched between them, and she wasn’t sure if he was waiting for her to say something else.

“What time are you supposed to come into work, Addison?” he asked finally.

“Eight o’clock.”

“And what time did you get in today?”

Panic surged inside of her. “A few minutes after eight.”

“I called you at a few minutes after eight, and you weren’t at your desk.”

“It might have been ten or so minutes after. I had a rough morning,” she said.

She grabbed at one corner of the folder and twisted it nervously.

“Why? What happened?”

“I’d rather not get into it,” she said. “It’s personal.”

He nodded. “I understand that things come up. But now that the website is in trouble, things are going to be tightening up around here. Everyone is going to be expected to be here on time, and work a full eight hour day. Do you understand that, Addison?”

She nodded.

“Good.” He smiled at her, then sighed. “Unfortunately, there are consequences for when people don’t follow the rules.”

She frowned. “What kind of consequences?” Her heart was pounding so fast in her chest she was certain that Nathan could hear it.

“Consequences for bad behavior.”

The way he was looking at her, like he was waiting to pounce, was making her feel hot all over.

“I assure you it won’t happen again,” she tried.

“I believe you. But we have to do something about this morning, now don’t we?”

“I don’t – ”

“Come here, Addison,” he said gruffly.

She swallowed. “What?”

“Come here.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what you – ”

“Come over here, behind my desk with me.”

A sliver of fear slid up her spine. There was obviously something off about what he was asking her to do, and her logical side told her to run out of the room. But the other side of her was so suddenly and inexplicably turned on she could hardly take it.

The way he was talking to her – his voice so commanding, his gaze so penetrating – had caused her pulse to quicken, her stomach to fill with butterflies, and her skin to break out in goose bumps.

“Nathan,” she said. “I don’t --- I mean, I don’t think we should be … ” She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to be presumptuous. What if he just wanted to show her something on the computer?

“Addison,” he said again. This time his tone was even firmer, and tinged with a tiny current of anger. “Come here.”

She hesitated for a second more, then finally got up and walked over to him.

He turned his chair around so that he was facing her. His eyes slid up her body, taking in her legs, her hips, her breasts. “I think you wore that skirt for me,” he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

She shook her head. She hadn’t worn it for him. Had she? She’d wanted to look sexier, yes, but that was because she wanted to seem like she would be good at her new job.
And he’s your boss,
a voice whispered,
so of course you wanted to impress him.

“You didn’t?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

The mood in the office had completely changed. A moment ago, it had been mostly professional, with just a current of sexual tension simmering below the surface.

Now that tension had taken over, permeating everything, from the way he was looking at her to the huskiness of his voice.

“Unbutton your shirt, Addison,” Nathan said. She was so shocked, that for a moment, she thought he must be joking. But there was no hint of humor in his voice. In fact, he sounded almost angry.

“What? I don’t – ”

“Unbutton. Your. Shirt.”

Her mind screamed at her to stop, screamed that this was wrong and that her boss shouldn’t be talking to her like this. But his eyes were on hers, and she suddenly wanted to so badly to please him that before she even knew what she was doing, she’d begun to unbutton her blouse.

Her fingers trembled. It took what seemed like forever for her to finish slipping the buttons through the holes. When she was finished, she stood there, her shirt completely open. She’d worn a black lace bra this morning, one of the few pieces of nice lingerie that she had.

“Very sexy,” Nathan said. He reached out and flicked her shirt to the side, then ran his index finger slowly along the top of her bra.

Her face flamed.

He sat back in his chair, his dark blue eyes taking her in. “Pull down the cups of your bra so that I can see your breasts.”

This time there was no hesitation. She felt as if she were under his spell. The cups of her bra came down, her breasts popping out over the top. Her nipples instantly hardened under his gaze.

“Do you see that chair over there?” Nathan pointed to an office chair that was sitting in the corner.

Addison nodded.

“Bring it over here.”

She wheeled it over.

“Good girl.” He nodded as if she’d passed some kind of test. “Now I want you to pull your panties down.”

This time, she hesitated. Something that felt like a warning crept up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Even so, she reached up under her skirt and pulled down her panties. When they reached her ankles, she stepped out of them and stood there, waiting for her next direction.

“Sit in the chair, Addison.”

She sat. She was completely wet between her legs now, and terrified he was going to notice. Some instinct told her that if he knew how horny this was making her, he would prolong the agony.

“Do you understand that there are consequences to your actions, Addison?”

She nodded.

“And do you understand that since you were late today, you will need to be appropriately punished?”

She nodded.

“Sit down and put your legs up on the arms of the chair.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. And then she realized what Nathan meant. He wanted her to hook a leg around each chair arm, so that her legs would be spread and she would be completely exposed to him. And, consequently, to anyone else who happened to come into his office.

“Mr. Sweet, I don’t think …”

“You don’t think what?” His gaze was cool, almost amused. He was sitting behind that big desk, watching her, his hands folded in front of him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Yes, well, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be late to work when I’m paying you to be here at eight o’clock. All of my other employees somehow figured out a way to be here on time.”

Anger flared inside of her. She couldn’t possibly be the only person who had been late this morning. He was taking advantage of her. He obviously thought he could do whatever he wanted to her because… because why? Because he thought she was young and stupid and would do anything to keep her job? And because she’d played right into it by unbuttoning her shirt and showing him her breasts. Her whole body flushed with embarrassment.

“No,” Addison said, shaking her head. Her voice was trembling. “No. I’m not doing it.”

“Very well.” He shook his head, sighing. “Then I’ll have to go through the proper channels.”

“What proper channels?”

“HR, whatever.” Nathan turned back to his papers, swiveling his chair away from her. “You’ll be written up of course, but it shouldn’t be a big deal unless you’re late again.”

He waved his hand, dismissing her.

His nonchalance cut like a knife to her heart. She was standing here, her breasts out, her panties off. Shame burned through her, and her anger intensified. He thought he could just use her like this, just demand things he wanted and then dismiss her. She hated him. She hated him so much she could hardly speak.

She reached down, picked up her panties and stepped back into them. She pulled her bra down, covering herself.

Nathan’s attention was back on his computer.

She allowed herself one last look at him while she buttoned her shirt. And then she walked out of his office.

Chapter Three

The afternoon was torture. Addison tried to work on her article, but after what had happened, there was no way she could concentrate. She just sat there at her desk, watching the minutes tick by and waiting to be called down to HR and fired. By the time five o’clock rolled around, she’d never been more grateful to see the end of a work day.

Even dealing with Mr. Gold and his demands for the rent money would be better than this.

“Hey,” Tia said, appearing at her desk. She was wearing a pair of tight, dark-wash skinny jeans and a hot pink peasant top that dipped down over one shoulder.

Technically she wasn’t supposed to be wearing something so casual to the office, but Tia got away with it since she wrote the fashion column. If anyone ever questioned her outfits, she just said she was ‘researching new trends.’ “We’re all going to go hit up this new bar in Soho,” she said now. “You wanna come?”

“Who’s we all?” Addison asked.

Tia shrugged. “Me.”

Addison laughed. She thought about it. She didn’t necessarily want to go – she loved Tia, but the last time they’d gone out together, Tia had gotten completely drunk and started yelling and screaming at the tourists on Fifth Avenue, telling them to take their rich snobby asses home. Addison had ended up having to take her home and put her to bed.

On the other hand, it
would
be nice to have a distraction from what had happened in Nathan Sweet’s office today. Not to mention being out for the night would keep her away from Mr. Gold.

“Okay,” Addison said, shouldering her purse. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

Tia’s boyfriend had just gotten a bartending job at Circle, a new restaurant that had just opened up in Soho. Normally, there would be no way the two girls could afford such a swanky place, but according to Tia, her boyfriend would take care of everything.

“He can get us in, get us drinks, food, whatever,” Tia promised as they walked out of the office and Tia hit the button for the elevator.