“Yes???” Ava demands.
“He said next time he touches me, it won’t be accidental.”
The stall EXPLODES.
Trey collapses onto the toilet lid like he’s been shot by Cupid with a machine gun.
Sienna clutches her chest like she needs resuscitation.
Ava grabs my shoulders. “Ruby. BABY. You are in so much trouble and I am SO PROUD.”
I shake my head wildly. “I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m going to lose my job. I can’t be the girl who..."
“STOP,” Sienna says sharply. “You’re not losing your job.”
“She’s right,” Ava adds. “Do you seriously think he’d risk your job? This is a man who said ‘let me take the lead’ like it was a holy vow.”
Trey nods solemnly. “He would buy the company before he let you get in trouble.”
I groan. “That’s not comforting.”
“It should be,” Ava says. “It means he’s not playing.”
I bury my face in my hands again. “I need air.”
Ava pulls me to my feet. “You’re going to be fine.”
“No I’m not.”
“You are,” she promises. “Because if he wants you that bad? He’s not stopping.”
My stomach flips. Hard.
I unlock the stall door.
We step out into the empty bathroom.
I look at myself in the mirror. And for a split second, I see it:
The blush. The soft eyes. The pulse fluttering at my throat.
I look… wanted.
And that terrifies me more than anything else.
Ava smooths my hair. Sienna straightens my blouse. Trey re-applies my lipstick with surgical precision.
“There,” he says proudly. “Fresh meat.”
“A professional woman,” I correct.
“A professional woman who is being professionally pursued,” he counters.
I sigh.
Deep. Shaky. Hopeless.
“I need to go back to my desk,” I say.
