“I understand. Listen carefully, Amy. I’ll repeat it all for you.” Slowly, Reed repeats everything he said earlier, and the poor girl nods and holds back tears the whole time. “Repeat it back to me, Amy O’Brien.”
She does. Not well, but she manages.
“Good. And that’s all you’re going to say. If Caleb askswhyMiss Ricci isn’t going to the party, orwhyI’ve decided the tour and individual interview aren’t happening, you’ll say he can talk to me about it, if he wants clarification.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Amy, do you remember signing an NDA when you accepted this job?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you understand what an NDA is?”
“It’s a non-disclosure agreement.”
“That’s right. It means if you tell anyone about the private things you witness while on tour, you could not only get fired, but also sued for the money set forth in the liquidation clause of the contract. You understand that, right?”
She turns green. “Yes, sir. I won’t say a word about anything to anyone, but what you told me to say.”
“Good. Because if I hear so much as one word of gossip about Miss Ricci and me, I’ll blame you. And I won’t go easy on you, Amy. I’ll not only fire you, but also sic my lawyer on you to get the full extent of our legal remedies.”
Amy nods. She’s physically trembling.
“You can go now, Amy. Good talk.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. Sorry.”
And off she goes, looking like she’s dragging herself to her own execution.
When she’s gone, Reed turns to me, looking triumphant. Turned on. And ready to finish what we started before that poor, poor girl interrupted us.
But we’re most definitely not on the same page. I feel sick. Panicky. Disgusted at what Reed just now put that poor girl through, even though I’m also selfishly grateful to him for protecting our secret with such relentlessness. But most of all, I feel angry with myself for putting myself in a position where it was so easy for me to get caught with my tits hanging out and my panties off and my thighs spread for Reed... on the first freaking night of my job! If I was going to fuck the big boss, why’d I do ithere, where anyone could stumble upon us? Why didn’t I at least lock the freaking door? When word gets out I’m fucking Reed,which it will, who’s going to respect me? Absolutely nobody, that’s who.
“Now, where were we?” Reed mutters, reaching for me like the past few minutes of torture didn’t happen.
But he’s delusional if he thinks I’m going to fuck him now. In this room. Or at all. In a flash, I feel gripped by the instinct to flee and never look back. My heart exploding, I stumble off the couch, muttering curses under my breath when I bang my knee, and then sprint, like a bug-eyed bat out of hell, straight out the door.
27
REED
Ichase Georgina down the hallway and grab her arm, but she rips herself from my grasp. “I can’t do this.”
“Dowhat?”
She whirls around, her eyes panicked. “Fuck the big boss.”
I hear footsteps nearby. People talking and laughing. So, I pull Georgina through a nearby door marked “Janitorial.” And suddenly, we’re standing mere inches apart in a large closet. I pull a cord to turn on a bulb, and then back Georgina into a shelf with my arms on either side of her. “I’m not your boss. We’ve already established that.”
“You think that PA who saw you eating my pussy knows that?” she whispers frantically, looking near-hysterical. “Right now, that girl thinks I fucked you to get my job!” She rubs her forehead. “Oh, God. Everyone is going to think that same thing, Reed—the same thing everyone always thinks about me—that I get whatever jobs or opportunities, not based on merit or hard work, but thanks to nothing but my tits and ass—because some asshole in charge wants to fuck me!”
My stomach drops.Shit.“Okay, calm down,” I say soothingly. “Nobody is going to find out anything, because that PA isn’t going to say a word. You saw how I put the fear of God into her. Do you think I get off on bullying little PAs like that? No, of course, not. I did that for you. Because I knew you’d freak out, exactly like this.”
“It’s really important to me that everyone knows I got this job because CeeCee believes in me, Reed. Because she thinks I’m a good writer. And not because Reed Rivers wants to fuck me!”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.“Of course, sweetheart,” I say soothingly. “All anyone has to do is talk to you for half a second to realize you’re smart as hell and a total badass and absolutely deserve to be here.”
“Oh, God.” She palms her forehead. “Caleb. Once he finds out you’ve nixed the party and tour, he’ll assume we’re fucking. What else could he possibly conclude? And then he’ll tell the rest of the RCR guys about us, and then my interview with the band, and with Dean individually, will be awkward and stilted and embarrassing, and everything I’ve dreamed about achieving in my life will be shot to hell?—”
