Hostile work environment in three…
I smiled up at Rick.
Two…
My stomach lurched as we all watched me draw Rick into another longer kiss.
Mitchell shifted uncomfortably. Forsyth cleared his throat. Marie swore under her breath.
And right then, they froze the image.
With my hand in Rick’s hair, his arm around my waist, and both of us locked in a deep kiss.
All heads turned toward me again.
“Mr. McNeill,” Mitchell said in a low growl. “Would you care to tell us what’s going on in this video?”
Someone muttered something, which I had no doubt was homophobic and obnoxious, but I couldn’t make it out over the thumping of my heart.
I gulped. “This, um, wasn’t exactly how I wanted to come out at work, but—”
“I couldn’t care less about you being gay,” Mitchell spat. He pointed a pen at the image. “What I want to know is what’s going on here?”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Marie cleared her throat. “Mitchell, I think—”
“I’m asking him.” Mitchell glared at her, and I thought I felt her shrinking back behind me. She wasn’t one to be cowed by these guys, not even when they were being utter assholes, but this had apparently caught her off guard too.
Mitchell shifted his attention back to me and folded his arms across his chest. “Was I not clear about the owners of Horizon Developing?”
“You were, sir.” My mouth had gone dry, and I struggled to hold eye contact with him. I refused to stare at the floor and cower, but holy shit, they had me by the balls. They couldn’t fire me, though. Right? I’d thought that through. They’d be stupid to fire Rick Pierce’s lover.
Right?
Forsyth sat up, his expression twisted with disgust. “How long has this been going on?”
“Since…” I swallowed. “A while. A few weeks, I guess.” Had it been that long? Had it only been that long? It felt like forever. My whole life.
“I see.” His jaw tightened. “So all those times you told me that you and Mr. Pierce were having benign conversations…” His raised eyebrows finished the question.
I cleared my throat again. Words failed me. The English language vanished from my mouth altogether. How the fuck was I supposed to explain myself?
Finally, I managed, “You know what’s going on between us.” I gestured at the screen as if that kiss was even the tip of the iceberg. “I’m assuming I should go clean out my desk.”
“No.”
I blinked. “No?”
“No.” He folded his hands tightly on the table and glanced at his business partners before glaring at me again. “Let’s get one thing perfectly straight here, Mr. McNeill: Rick Pierce is the client who will make or break this firm. We cannot afford to lose his account. Am I clear?”
I nodded, my throat constricting.
“So whatever this is”—Forsyth gestured at the image, wrinkling his nose—“must continue.”
My jaw fell open. “I beg your pardon?”
“I think you understand us.”
“Are you…” I swallowed hard. “Are you telling me that for the sake of the firm, and the Horizon account, my job now hinges on whether or not I keep my boyfriend happy?”
Forsyth cringed, disgust radiating off the old bastard.
“You’ve chosen to get…involved with a client,” Mitchell said coolly. “Like it or not, you are a part of this firm. And since this firm needs to do whatever it takes to keep Rick Pierce happy, so do you.”
I coughed to get my breath moving. “This is our personal life. It—”
“It ceased to be private and personal when you brought it onto company property.”
“That was a lapse in judgment,” I said through my teeth. “It doesn’t give Mitchell & Forsyth jurisdiction over my bedroom.”
Forsyth made a subtle gagging noise. Then he rose. “Mitchell, I think you have this handled.” Without waiting for a response, he walked out and let the door slam shut behind him.
Mitchell and Sam exchanged scowls, and Mitchell turned to me again. “The last place Mitchell & Forsyth wants to be is in an employee’s bedroom. However, you’ve complicated the situation by choosing to get involved with our biggest client. Mitchell & Forsyth cannot afford to lose Horizon Developing’s business, which means you, Mr. McNeill, cannot afford to upset the relationship we have with them.”
“Which means maintaining the one I have with him,” I said through tightly clenched teeth.
“Exactly.”
I just stared at him, disbelieving we were even having this conversation. This couldn’t be legal. They couldn’t… Could they?
“I think we’ve made our point.” He clicked off the image on the screen and set the remote down. “We’ll see the both of you at this afternoon’s meeting.”
And just like that, he and Forsyth got up and walked out.
The door banged shut behind them. I was alone with my shock. And my boss. Slowly, she turned toward me, eyes narrow and lips pulled tight. I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to the punch and growled, “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I—”
“Could you have maybe given me a heads-up?”