Bedroom Bully by Harper West

2

Rebecca

My phone stayedsilent the rest of the day.

I went to bed with anxious thoughts rushing around and woke up with a decision to make.

I rifled through my new dresses, eventually settling on a royal blue and silver one. The skirt of it dropped just below my knees and swished with every movement I made. The off-shoulder sleeves were feminine and sexy, but still covered enough of my cleavage to make it work-appropriate.

And after slipping into matching shoes, I headed into the office.

With every mile that passed, I felt my back stiffen. My legs tightened. I felt my movements grow stifled and ragged. And as I entered the building, Brit didn’t come out of her office to greet me, or say hello, or even to ask me how I was doing.

Try as I might, however, I couldn’t push things out of my mind. I wanted to rush up to JoJo’s office, knock on his door, and slip inside before asking him how things went yesterday.

But instead, I started my morning with a curt email from him outlining what I needed to do for the day.

Miss Loren,

Attached is your schedule for the week. Make sure all of your projects are turned in by the highlighted date. I won’t take late work as an answer. Get it done.

-J. Ryker

What the fuck?

I scoffed as I downloaded the schedule. So, he was back to being his usual, cold-hearted self. Wonderful. Just fucking great. He wasn’t going to do it without an explanation, though. He wasn’t going to send me out on a shopping spree just go back to his usual fucked-up nonsense. So, after I opened the document and uploaded everything to my own schedule so I’d receive alerts not only on my computer but on my phone as well, I shot him an email back.

Mr. Ryker,

I have received my schedule and gotten it uploaded on my end. Though, I do have some things I wish to discuss with you. Expect a call within the next few minutes.

• R. Loren

I should have knownthat he wouldn’t have allowed me to take the reins, though, because less than a minute after sending that email my desk phone rang.

And guess who it was?

“This is Rebecc--.”

Joseph cleared his throat. “Do we have an issue, Miss Loren?”

I leaned back in my chair. “Are you sure you want to have this conversation over the phone?”

“Get up to my office. Now.”

He slammed his phone down, but I grinned as I dropped mine softly back into its holster. With a sway in my hips and a grin on my lips, I sauntered out of my office and made my way toward the elevator. I couldn’t wait for him to see me in the dress I had picked out. I felt like a fucking bombshell and a half.

And the second I slipped into his office, his heated stare raked along my body.

“You really enjoy playing mind games, don’t you?” I asked as I closed the door behind me.

He stood from his seat. “Flip the lock.”

I giggled as I gave the cold, hard metal a flick of my wrist. “Done.”

Then, he came out from behind his desk. “So, what is this attitude I’m sensing from you this morning?”

I turned to face him with my hands clasped in front of me. “I’m not sure of what you’re talking about.”

He leveled his gaze with my own. “Don’t. I’m not in the mood to play games.”

I took a few steps toward him. “You were up for them when you sent me out for these dresses. And now, I’m back to being your work horse?”

“You still get paid by this company, correct?”

“Yes, but--.”

He strode for me and wrapped his hand around my neck. “Then, let me be perfectly clear, Miss Loren: I still run a company that pulls more in a month than you ever will in your life. And if you want to be my good little girl, then you’ll learn to roll with the punches. You only get to have fun if you work hard for it. That is how the world works.”

I glared at him as I tried to keep my body at bay. I loved the feeling of his hand wrapped around my throat. I adored the way he pinned me to walls. I was damn near addicted to it, and that meant I had to regain the upper hand somehow.

I’d never be able to focus otherwise.

“Well,” I said as I wrapped my own hand around his wrist, “maybe you should’ve thought about that before putting me on this rollercoaster in the first place.”

His grin was practically wolfish. “And yet, here you are, with your nipples puckered every time my fingertips sink into your pulse points.”

I ripped his hand away and shoved it back to his side. I hated how he always got the best of me. I hated it because I never got the best of him. I never knew what version of him I was getting whenever I walked through those doors, and it almost made the dress shopping pointless.

Don’t let him do this. Don’t let him take your joy.

“Have a nice day, Mr. Ryker.”

JoJo’s eye twitched. “We aren’t finished.”

I turned around and opened his office door. “You might not be finished, but I am. I’ll have your work for you at a prompt time.”

Then, I left his office without even bothering to close the door in the process.

However, just as I got back down to my office and was about to dive into work, a soft knock came at my door.

“Becca, can I come in?”

Brit’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

“That depends. Are we going to have a kosher conversation?”

“Yes. I just want to talk, I swear.”

I pulled away from my computer and leaned back into my leather chair to try and feel as cool and calm as I needed to for this conversation. “Then, come on in.”

She opened my door and slipped inside before closing it behind her. But she didn’t make her way to my desk. Her eyes boasted of an uncertainty I was almost prideful she had.

She needed to be a little more cautious around me, at least for now.

“May I be blunt?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure why you’re asking me now.”

She snickered. “I deserved that.”

I nodded. “Yes, you did.”

She sighed as she walked over and sat in front of my desk. “Look, I don’t know what the hell’s going on or anything, but you really need to take what happened yesterday to H.R.”

Another email popped up on my computer screen and it caught my eye. But, the headline of the email pulled me back to my keyboard.

“Hold on a second,” I murmured.

I opened the email from JoJo and was shocked at its contents.

P.S.: You’re now responsible for this as well. See to it that it makes it into the quarterly documents you’re drawing up for the board.

- J. Ryker

“What the hell?”I murmured.

“What is it? Is everything okay?” Brit asked.

I was very wary of how kind and considerate she was being. “Nothing, just a bit more work than usual.”

“From him?”

I lied. “No, from his tax accountant. Apparently, I have to go around and collect projections from other departments to include in the quarterly documents for the board.”

“Ah.”

I still wasn’t sure why JoJo was sending me on a fool’s errand when it wasn’t even my job, but I didn’t question it.

I did get frustrated with the sheer number of emails he kept sending, though.

“Do I need to come back at another time?” she asked.

I closed out my email. “No, because we do need to talk. But, not for long.”

She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

I sighed. “I know you think I should go to H.R., and I appreciate you being so concerned about me. Really, I do. But if I wanted to fix this thing between me and Mr. Ryker? I’d have to go to my sister. Not H.R.”

She blinked. “I don’t know what that means.”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned with, but understand that what you believe you’re seeing is really much deeper, much greater, and much more complicated than it seems.”

She leaned forward a bit. “What happened between him and your sister? I remember you mentioning something about going to high school with him? Or whatever?”

I crossed my leg over my knee. “It’s not something I’m at liberty to discuss because it’s private, but trust me, I’ve logged your complaint and what you believe I should do.”

She grimaced. “So, sleeping with the owner of the company has nothing to do with H.R., but has something to do with your sister?”

I stood to my feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work that needs to get done today.”

“Rebecca, if he’s threatening you in any way--.”

I stared her down. “Again, I appreciate the sympathy, but I’m a grown woman who has it completely under control.”

Her eyes raked down my body. “Is that a new dress?”

I looked down at it. “This old thing? No. Just got mashed into the back of my closet. I haven’t been able to wear it in a few years.”

“Uh huh.”

I sat back down. “Thank you for your concern. See you at lunch?”

She clicked her tongue. “Right, right. Yeah.”

She stared at me a little while longer, which only made me focus harder on my computer screen. JoJo had inundated my inbox with bullshit busy work I had to accomplish, but I wasn’t going to take it lying down. Why he kept sending me work that wasn’t even in my department, I didn’t know. So, I sent out a few emails and outsourced the work so I could focus on what he expected of me. Which was a succinct document to take to the board in a few weeks.

Then, my phone started ringing.

“TechGiants, Incorporated, this is Rebecca speaking.”

JoJo’s voice practically growled through the phone. “Why the fuck did someone from P.R. come up to my office asking about a job I gave you?”

I shrugged as I continued typing away on my keyboard. “Because I don’t work in P.R.”

“You want to tell me about anything else you’ve outsourced so you can be lazy today?”

I didn’t let his words get to me. I was done with that game. “Well, anything that doesn’t pertain to my job description.”

His voice lowered. “If I didn’t think it was so pertinent that we are not seen in each other’s company right now, I’d storm down there and--.”

“And berate me for not doing someone else’s job?”

He paused. “It’s now your job to stay behind them and make sure it’s done right.”

“I know.”

“It’ll also be your job to--.”

I clicked my tongue. “Mr. Ryker, unless you have anymore useless work you wish to pile in my lap, I have to go. I’ve got documents to format and graphs to tailor, and I can’t have you chirping in my ear while I do it. Okay?”

“Sounds like someone’s grown a pair.”

I swear I heard pride in his voice. “If there’s nothing else?”

He snickered. “No, there’s nothing else. Have a nice day, Miss Loren.”

“You too, Mr. Ryker.”

I dropped the phone back into the receiver and buried myself in work. It was the only thing I knew how to do, and before I knew it, I had worked squarely through my lunch hour. I leaned back and closed my eyes, giving myself a moment’s rest before my stomach started growling so loudly that I figured all of my office mates could hear it.

Then, I pulled a protein bar out of my purse and got back to work.

Anything to stay out of the prying eyes of the rest of the company.