Bedroom Bully by Harper West

4

Rebecca

It had beenfour days since Brit had caught us in JoJo’s office, and there hadn’t been a peep out of anyone.

My boss was back to his usual self, Brit had stopped coming by my office to ask me random questions, and no one stared me down the way they had the past few days.

All in all, I had the confidence that things had finally blown over.

Until my desk phone rang.

“TechGiants, Incorporated, this is--.”

JoJo’s voice sounded clipped. “H.R. Now. You and me.”

My heart fell into my stomach. “But, I thought--.”

“Now, Rebecca.”

I didn’t hesitate to get my ass down there. I charged out of my office and took the elevator all the way down to the main floor where H.R. sat, and the entire time I thought about what we had been caught doing.

I hated the way it puckered my nipples against my new red-and-yellow dress.

But more than that, though, I hated that he hadn’t touched me in the same way since. Four days, and we hadn’t so much as talked about what happened. I wanted to know what it meant for us. I wanted to know if we’d have more moments like that in the future.

I wondered if he’d be open to having those kinds of adventures outside of the office.

“Don’t lose it now,” I whispered to myself.

The elevator doors opened, and I found JoJo staring at me from his perched position in the H.R. office. His gaze locked with mine before they slowly raked down my body, and I watched his shoulders tense. I held my head high as I strutted into the office space, enjoying the fact that he couldn’t take his eyes off me.

But he managed to pull it together when the head of H.R. came out to beckon for us.

“Mr. Ryker. Miss Loren. Please, join me in here.”

I looked over at JoJo before I started into the office, and he followed quickly behind me. The H.R. woman closed the door and flipped the lock, and I knew what that meant.

The two of us were in a hell of a lot of trouble.

“So,” the woman said as she sat down at her desk, “I’ve had some interesting reports coming from the top floors for the past couple of days. Have a seat so we can discuss them.”

“I’ll stand, thank you,” JoJo said.

But I sat down and crossed my legs at my ankles. “May I ask what the reports are about?”

The woman picked up a thick stack of papers. “We’re going to go through them one by one so I can get a reasonable account of what’s actually happening versus what others are seeing. All right?”

I nodded as JoJo leaned against the wall. Neither of us spoke, and that prompted the head of H.R. to start in on the list. I prepared myself for the inevitable. For her to call us out on our frivolous affair that had been captured by one of my co-worker’s eyes.

But the actual question she asked caught me off-guard. “I have a report here saying that you’re still being given more work than you can manage. I had three different department heads report to me the other day that you’re loaning out work in order for all of it to get done?”

I nodded. “I did yesterday, yes.”

“Care to tell me why?”

I shrugged. “There was a list of things I needed to get done and I figured it would go faster if the departments worked on their own slices before I brought it all together.”

JoJo chuckled. “Sounds like a future manager, if you ask me.”

I resisted the urge to smile at his compliment as the H.R. lady stared at me from beyond her glasses. “And this has been going on since you were hired?”

I shook my head. “It was only yesterday.”

She sat down that file and flipped to another one. “I have three reports of that same nature, and they don’t all come from yesterday.”

JoJo groaned. “Look, I hired Miss Loren to do a job and she took on more work of her own accord. I consider that kind of thing promotable, which is what she’s gunning for in the long run.”

“Is that true?” the woman asked me.

I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I hope one day to take over as his overall accountant, which means I have to show that I can juggle multiple things at once. Even if it means me taking work home. That’s all it is.”

JoJo clicked his tongue. “Plus, she knows that if she’s got too much work on her plate, all she has to do is tell me. I don’t expect my employees to sell their soul to this place in exchange for a fancier title. That isn’t how I operate.”

“Is that right, Miss Loren?” the woman asked.

Despite trying my hardest not to, I peeked up at JoJo, and the look on his face told me that I needed to comply, and quickly.

So, I put on my best smile. “Yes, of course that’s right. It’s not like Mr. Ryker is a slavedriver or anything. I just have ambitions, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Because I’m honestly not sure if you’d pull me in here for reports like this if I were a man.”

JoJo nodded as he moved a bit closer to me. “She’s got a point.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Mr. Ryker, you know your own company’s policy, and after a certain number of complaints--.”

That’s when he sat beside me. “I know, I know. But can we hurry this up? I’ve got a phone conference with a potential new client in thirty minutes.”

“Hey, that’s nice. Anything I can help with?”

He thumbed in my direction. “See? It’s always like this with her.”

And finally, the H.R. woman managed a soft smile. “All right, on to the next report, then. I’ve got five separate reports from worried co-workers about how many times Mr. Ryker storms into your office, Miss Loren. I’ve even got a couple of reports that say he yells at you so loudly that others on the floor below you can hear.”

My cheeks blushed. “That’s partially my fault as well.”

“And why do you feel that is?”

I looked over at JoJo. “We might as well tell her.”

He peered over at me with a cautioned look. “If you feel it’s pertinent, go ahead. But you certainly don’t have to indulge anything about your private life.”

He bit the last two words, but he didn’t know what I had up my sleeve. I had this completely under control, and I knew how to get us out of there.

He just had to follow my lead.

“Miss…?”

The H.R. woman leaned back. “Margaret.”

I nodded. “Miss Margaret, Mr. Ryker and I know one another from our childhood. We went to high school together. Grew up in the same neighborhood. So, there’s a lot about our working relationship that bases itself off a friendship we had growing up.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?! Oh, I’d love to hear stories sometime about what he was like when he was younger.”

JoJo chuckled. “Trust me, there’s not always becoming of the man I am now.”

I leaned forward and playfully whispered. “That’s code for he was an angsty romantic at one time in his life.”

Miss Margaret clapped her hands as she laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. I could never see Mr. Ryker like that now.”

His back stiffened. “But we can definitely work on being more work appropriate when it comes to communicating with one another. After all, neither of us are high school teenagers anymore.”

I folded my hands in my lap. “Is there anything else we need to discuss before we head out?”

I saw JoJo’s grin out of the corner of my eye, and I knew he was proud. I knew I was doing well, and I couldn’t wait for his praise once we got back to my office. On the one hand, I guess I could’ve riled him up by disagreeing with him at every turn. Maybe his punishments might lead to another heated encounter that my body craved more than food itself. But I stood my ground, explaining away any and all accusations with the fact that we knew one another prior to me interviewing to work with the company.

And Miss Margaret seemed satisfied.

“Well, thank you both for coming down. I’ll document your answers and file everything away.”

I shook her hand. “Thank you for giving us a chance to explain things. I know it must look weird to others around us, but it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to us.”

JoJo smiled as he shook her hand, too. “Thank you for staying vigilant.”

Miss Margaret beamed with pride. “I take this job very seriously.”

He nodded. “And your vigilance doesn’t go unnoticed. You have my word on that.”

I looked up at him and watched him turn on the charm. His eyes sparkled with his smile, and it caused Miss Margaret to blush. I wanted to slap him, though. That charm was only for me. That smile was only for my eyes to behold. I didn’t like the fact that he could easily charm other women.

Especially when I was around.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I do need to get back to work,” I said.

Miss Margaret nodded. “Of course, yes. But, Mr. Ryker?”

JoJo’s eyes lingered on me. “Yes?”

“Could you stay behind for a few more minutes. I have another matter to discuss with you.”

I walked toward the door. “Have a good day, you two.”

And as his eyes bored a hole into the back of my head, I sauntered toward the elevator.

Giving him an eyeful as punishment for flirting with another woman right in front of me.