Page 126 of Not Safe For Work
Teagan scrunched her eyes shut and waved a hand. “Okay…okay… I’m…” She looked at me again. “Are you telling me, they told you with a straight face that you have to—”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that, like, prostitution?”
“Kind of feels like it,” I muttered.
“Can they do that?”
“Fuck if I know.” I thumbed the edge of my glass. “Dawson’s looking into it, but she doesn’t know either. She’s talking to a lawyer she knows, and then I guess we’ll sit down with HR.”
“That’s going to be a fun conversation.”
“Tell me about it.” I sat back. “The thing is, I’m not sure what difference it’ll make. Even if they can’t fire me for it, it isn’t like they can get fired for giving me the ultimatum. Part of me wants to say ‘Fine, fire me! I’ll see your asses in court!’ But I’m not even sure if I have a case, and even if I did, there’s no way I could afford a lawyer who could hold a candle to the firm’s legal team.”
“Well, you—” She chewed her lip.
“What?”
“You might not have the money. Your, um, boyfriend—”
“No.”
“Jon.” She huffed sharply. “They can’t get away with putting you in this position. If you can’t afford to go after them, but Rick can…” She shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because that’s not how I do things. If I can’t afford it, I don’t need it.”
“But you do need this job. And you have every right to work in a place that isn’t literally threatening you with unemployment if you aren’t at the sexual beck and call of their client.”
I shuddered. It would’ve been a distasteful position to be in no matter what, but the Dom in me wanted to start flipping tables. “I’m also well aware that if I quit or get fired, I’m screwed for keeping my house and putting my kids through school. Or finding another job.”
“Ugh, I hear you about another job.” She scowled. “There isn’t much out there for us.”
“Exactly. The thing is, if Rick finds out what’s going on and he pulls Horizon Developing from the firm, everyone here is screwed. We both know his company is the only thing keeping us all employed.”
“Shit. Yeah. Man, I do not envy you.”
“The thing with the money, with him paying for a lawyer or something, it…” I hesitated. “Look, there’s a little more to this, and there’s no way I can explain it without getting into a little bit of TMI.”
Teagan’s eyebrows climbed her forehead. “Am I going to need therapy after this?”
“Probably.”
“Great. Go on.”
I laughed a little, but it took a hell of a lot of effort. “The thing is, we… The reason we click is that we’re both…” I cringed. “We’re both kinky.”
Teagan blinked a few times. “Kinky? Like, whips and chains?”
“Kind of. Head games more than anything. Dominance.”
She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Rick Pierce is a dominant? Seriously? Seriously?”
“No.” I swallowed. “I am.”
She straightened. “Oh really?”
I nodded. “So we—”
