Page 1 of Leverage & Obedience

Chapter 1

Coffee splashes down the front of my blouse before I even make it to my desk.

I stare at the huge brown stain spreading across the light blue fabric and sigh. This is pretty on-brand for me. It’s Monday morning and the second week at my new temp job. I’m already five minutes late, and now I look like I lost a fight with a latte.

The stain is right on my chest. I’d be more surprised if it had gone anywhere else.

I set my coffee down and grab a stack of files I was supposed to have copied yesterday. This is a three-month placement—the agency was upfront about that, and I didn’t ask questions. Three months is my sweet spot. It’s long enough to learn names but short enough that nobody makes a big deal of it when youleave. I’ve had ten placements in four years and exactly zero relationships that outlasted the fun stage. Most of the boxes from the last move are still taped shut in the corner of my apartment. Why unpack when I’m not sure where I’ll be heading in three months?

I rush toward the copy room, and my foot catches on nothing. I tumble forward, papers flying everywhere.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I mumble into the carpet.

My day has barely started, and I’ve already branded my tits with coffee and eaten floor. I wouldn’t be surprised if the copier explodes next.

A pair of polished dress shoes appears in my line of sight, and then a man crouches down next to me and starts gathering pages like this is a totally normal thing he does on a Monday morning.

“You okay?”

The voice is deep, and my mouth goes dry before I even look up. When I do, I forget about the papers and the coffee stain.

Well, hello, Daddy.

He’s older than me, I’d guess in his mid-forties, and his hazel eyes have me pinned to the ground. My skin tingles before my brain catches up.

“Thank you,” I manage.

He stands and holds out a hand to help me up. I take it. The second his palm closes around mine, a zing shoots up my arm and my brain blips out for half a second. His grip is sure, and he pulls me to standing like I weigh nothing. He hands me the stack he gathered without a word.

“My desk is right over here,” I say, gesturing with the crumpled stack, because apparently I’m giving him a tour now.

He walks back with me. Our arms almost brush in the hallway, and I’m aware of every inch of space between us.

When we get to my cubicle, he doesn’t leave. He stands there with one hand on the divider, watching me set the papers down. Up close, I can see the salt threading through his beard.

“You must be Lily.”

“I am, hello!” I give him my cheeriest smile, praying there’s nothing stuck between my teeth.

“I’m Mr. Harrison. It’s nice to meet you.”

Ohhh. He’s my new boss. The owner of the distressed debt firm I’m temping for. He was on vacation last week while his previous assistant trained me. I’m his personal admin, and the man I just stared at like I wanted to climb him is the person who signs off on whether I get to keep this placement.

His eyes flicker to my coffee-stained shirt, and I resist the urge to cross my arms. Yeah, so they hired a klutz. He would have found that out soon enough.

When he wishes me a good morning and heads down the hall, I try not to watch him go, but I’m completely unsuccessful. The man has a fine ass. I should not be eye-fucking my new boss’s backside, but here I am.

Thirty minutes later, the intercom on my desk buzzes, and I jump so hard I nearly knock over my coffee again.

Mr. Harrison’s smooth voice comes through the speaker. “Lily, please come to my office.”

“I’ll be right there, Mr. Harrison.”

I knock once on the open door.

He glances up from his laptop. “Come in. Close the door and sit down.”

When I close the door, the office shrinks. It’s a generous corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Uptown Charlotte, but the enclosed space feels oddly intimate. His sandalwood scent hits me when I get close to his desk, and my nipples tighten.