Page 48 of Hurt Me Not
If she wanted to stay, she would have too.
Once it was heated up, I took it back to the table and began eating. It was good, even reheated.
Emerson is a pretty good cook.
I had been shocked when I found out she cooked—and how well—but she merely huffed and told me hiring a private chef would be a waste of money when she could manage just fine.
I made a mental note to cook her breakfast one of these days. I was pretty good at it too, given how much I had to cook for myself from a young age. Maybe during the weekend?—
My phone buzzed.
As I pulled it out of my pocket, there was one anonymous message waiting for me.
I won't stop at getting you fired. I have a plan for you. You’ll find out soon.
I put both my phone and my fork down. My appetite was gone.
Only fear remained.
Chapter 12
Emerson
Iheld in my smile as Pearl sent me an updated file that was supposed to be presented to my team later today.
Let's see what she came up with this time.
Originally, I had her doing mostly admin tasks, but she said she wanted something a little bit more challenging. She was trying her best, and I could see her getting better, but if she were anyone else, I would have berated her for not getting it fast enough. It had been almost a week since she started, and well… she was very good at herotherduties, but the actual assistant part of it would need some work. I knew she’d get there in time, so it was a constant fight against my instincts to not rail into her about it.
To be fair, she was good at my stuff. My lunch. How I liked my coffee. Making sure my office was clean and set up just the way I wanted it. She was thoughtful, and it counted for something.
She was also perfect when it was just her and me alone in my office. She had begun to let go, but I was going to need her to be more vocal about what she wanted for aftercare. She mostly settled on a lingering hug.
She complimented me on my hugs the other day.
It was stupid how much it fed into my ego.
And then you walked into the house without a word and left her there.
It was a dick move. I knew it even as I was doing it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I had… maybe bitten off a bit more than I could chew with this contract. The panic I felt when Pearl asked if she could touch me… It had been slowly building up since that first hug.
It was… more intimate than I had allowed myself to be before.
And to make it worse, I found the food untouched in the morning. She had tried to be kind, rewrapping it and putting it back in the fridge for later, but it was easy to see she hadn’t even taken a bite.
All of it was sitting heavily on my chest, clouding my mind and making me even more antsy than I usually was.
Was she truly that upset that I left her?
I caught Pearl’s eye as she was looking at me through my office windows, and she gave me a halfhearted smile.
She hadn’t been totally herself after the steakhouse fired her. I was secretly happy they had so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of making it happen, but I hated that they made her cry.
The trip to the lookout had been a spur-of-the-moment thing that I figured might not help at all. But as soon as I saw those beautiful eyes filled with tears… I needed to dosomething.
I hadn’t meant for it to turn into a thorough fucking session, but neither of us complained. I was happy I’d bought a couple of fake dicks that were still in the back of the car. It’d been on my mind to get them since she’d told me to fuck her with a dildo back at the club andthe bigger, the better.
I aim to please.
