I got to the third one.
I don’t get an answer right away, but I didn’t expect one. He’s probably busy with meetings, and I wonder how he’s faring without me there to take notes.
Then, half an hour later, the reply comes.
Good. You have tomorrow off, too.
I gape down at my phone. Hecan’t be serious. I don’t need the time off, and I feel idle not being at work when I usually am.
You don’t need me?
I need you very much. Which is why you have the day off. Paid.
Oh. I see.
I understand.
There are no further messages after that, not that I need one. I know now what he expects me to do, and I’ll do it if it means I get what I want.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ROSETTE
By the end of the second day, I’m bored out of my skull, but I managed to make the largest of the dilators fit. Even though it was a stretch, I made sure to use it plenty, rubbing my clit at the same time that I fucked myself with it—all while imagining it was Mr. Roth inside me, instead.
I might have orgasmed quite a few times.
The following day, I’m anxious and excited for what he has in store for me. I wait on the curb shifting from foot to foot, trying not to chew my cuticles. I never have nerves like this,not even the time I entertained an ambassador at Octavio’s.
Then the car pulls up with its tinted windows, so I won’t know until I open the door whether Mr. Roth is there or not. I take a steadying breath as I pull on the handle, and inside, he sits in his usual seat. I slide in, put my purse in the pocket, then close the door behind me.
As is typical, Mr. Roth says nothing. He doesn’t even look at me as I put on my seatbelt and George drives off. Taking out my phone, I look at his calendar for the day.
It’s a busy one. First, he has a meeting with a client at the office, and then a one-on-one with the CEO. After that, we’re visiting two sites, and one of them is a good long way out of town.
I’d almost expected to see a meeting with me on the schedule, but there isn’t one.
We head to the main building first, and Mr. Roth holds the front doors open for me as we go inside. On my way past, his hand brushes my ass—just a tiny breath of contact, but one that electrifies me.
We wait in the elevator silently until we reach the fifth floor, then step off. Mr. Roth waves a hand for me to walk in front of him, so Ido, though I used to always trail behind him wherever we went.
Once we’re inside his office, I expect him to bend me over the desk, but instead he sits down in his chair and boots up his computer. I find my usual seat at my own desk in the back of the office, away from the windows.
Abruptly, Mr. Roth stands up again. He walks over to my desk, his leather dress shoes clicking on the floor, and stops in front of it. Then, without warning, he bends forward andpicks it up. Carrying it like little more than a matchstick, he relocates the desk—leaving me still sitting in my chair—closer to his own, so they form an L shape. Then he sets it down and gestures to me.
“Come, sit.”
I get out of my chair and wheel it over, utterly perplexed. I’ve always sat in the back, just the note-taker. But now he wants me closer?
Sitting once more, I tuck myself in. Mr. Roth nods, pleased, and returns to his seat. Only a few minutes of silence later, the client arrives.
I take thorough notes of the conversation, as I always do. Things get a bit heated, but Mr. Roth keeps his cool as he tells the client he won’t be meeting their offer. He wants a cheaper buy-in, which upsets the man immensely, but Mr.Roth simply sits with his arms crossed while the human rages about how much Mr. Roth is under-valuing their company.
With that order of business finished, we have thirty-five minutes until Mr. Roth’s appointment with the CEO. She’s intimidating, but he handles her with the same indifferent aplomb as he does anyone else.
Mr. Roth rises, probably to get water from the dispenser, but instead he walks past it. He grabs a string hanging from the ceiling and pulls, which releases a curtain I didn’t even know was there. It drops down, covering the glass wall. He repeats this on the adjoining wall, which covers the door, too. Now we’re hidden from the rest of the office, with only the windows left that look out over the city.
