I’d come to the conclusion that either I was not allowed to reach out to him, our arrangement was over, or he wanted to make me squirm—something I knew he enjoyed doing.
Well, if that was the goal, it was working. Not only was I antsy waiting for his reply, but I was also missing him physically. I was desperate for the taste of his lips. I longed for the roughness of his grip. I yearned for the overwhelming way he rode my cunt.
It made me desperate and distracted all through my day. A few times I even tried walking by his office, but he was always in a meeting, and he was gone by the time I got done with my work.
Lying in bed that night, I tried texting him. I’m thinking dirty thoughts of you.
I attached a picture of the bottle he’d told me to use as a dildo sometime when he’d fucked me in my apartment.
I brought myself to orgasm three times before I was finished.
Donovan never replied.
“Tom,” I said, stopping my employee from leaving the conference room after our Thursday morning team leader meeting. “I’m really impressed with the way you’ve handled all the details for SummiTech’s presentation at the Think Expo tomorrow night. It was thrown at you without much notice, and your team has taken it on without missing anything.”
I hadn’t spoken to Tom Burns one-on-one since he’d walked in on Donovan almost kissing me weeks ago in the strategy room. Even after he’d spoken kindly about me to Weston, I hadn’t wanted things to be awkward. But he’d shown consistently good work on his team, and when SummiTech had asked Reach to put together an ad and materials to unveil their latest products, I knew Tom was the guy to head up the marketing side.
“Thanks,” he said, seemingly surprised about the acknowledgement. “I appreciate the compliment.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll stop in tomorrow night, but I’m sure you won’t need me.”
He gathered the items he’d brought for the meeting and started to leave but suddenly stopped and turned back to face me. “You know, Sabrina, I have a confession to make—I didn’t think I was going to like you.”
“I’m listening.” I straightened, bracing myself for what he’d say next. The rest of the room had emptied, and it was just the two of us now. This could go anywhere, and this wasn’t starting out very promising.
“Especially after I found Donovan Kincaid trying to get cozy with you that night we were working on the Phoenix campaign. I was sure that must have been why you were hired.”
“What do you mean? Like you were sure I was sleeping with him?” I hadn’t been at the time. But hadn’t I gotten the job by sleeping with Weston?
Guilt knotted in my stomach. I’d deny it. I was qualified to be here. I might have gotten his attention by taking my clothes off, but that didn’t mean I didn’t deserve my position.
At least that’s what I told myself.
“It’s shitty,” Tom said, regretfully. “I’m sure that sounds sexist, but it was how it looked. You know?”
I nodded because I knew exactly how it looked, and yes, it was sexist. But the truth wasn’t much better, so I couldn’t say a lot to defend myself.
Tom, however, could. “You’ve really proven yourself, though. You put a lot more time into the team than I expected you would. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates it.”
“Thank you.” The knot loosened slightly in my belly. “I appreciate the compliment as well.”
Again, he started to go, but with my anxiety a bit settled, I realized things didn’t quite add up. “Wait a minute, Tom. I’m confused. Didn’t you put in a good word to Weston about me back then?”
He scratched at his neck, his eyes averted. “Yeah, but that was just because Kincaid threatened my job if I didn’t.”
Um. “He did?”
He looked up, studying my reaction, which was utter shock. “You didn’t know. I wasn’t sure.”
No, I absolutely didn’t know that Donovan had talked to him about anything. “What did he say to you?”
“He said that he was the one who had come on to you and that he had been out of place for doing so. Then he said you deserved to be respected for all your hard work, and he made it clear that spreading rumors about you would not be respectful. He suggested I get the rest of the team to support you if I wanted the department to continue running smoothly.”
My heart was beating rapidly, my hands shaking. “And he said he’d fire you if you didn’t?”
“Not in those exact words, but I knew what he meant.”
My cheeks flushed. “Oh my god, I had no idea. I’m so sorry!” It was so unfair for him to threaten my employee. Tom was innocent. I was mortified.
But at the same time…
What did it mean?
I ran my hand along my forehead, wiping the bead of sweat that had gathered along my brow. Why would Donovan have done that? Was he worried that Tom could make my job hard for me? Had he been concerned about my reputation?
“You didn’t know,” Tom said consolingly. “Why are you apologizing? I should apologize. I assumed I understood the situation, and I never even asked to make sure you were okay.” He took a cautious step toward me and lowered his voice. “I don’t want to cross the line, but do you need any help with him?”
“No,” I assured him. It was almost laughable, thinking I needed rescuing from Donovan. “No, I’m fine. We’re fine.” I shook my head, wishing I hadn’t said we.
And because I had said it, I felt the need to say more. To explain the situation so that there was no doubt in Tom’s mind that there was absolutely nothing to be concerned about. “It was a strange night you walked in on. Donovan and I have known each other since college, and…”
I trailed off. How the hell did I think I could explain any of this? It wasn’t something I even wanted to explain.
Just then, I looked out through the glass walls of the room, and my eyes caught sight of someone familiar on the other side of the floor. Someone who, after this most recent information, I was desperate to speak with.
“I’m sorry. Can you excuse me? I see someone I need to talk to.”
I picked up my files and brushed past Tom, running out into the hall to catch Donovan. He’d disappeared around the corner, and when I followed after, I saw he’d gotten on the elevator. He looked up as the doors started to close.
“Wait!” I called.
His eyes met mine, but he didn’t hold the doors.
I chewed my lip for several seconds, trying not to jump to conclusions. Donovan was not transparent, and there were so many possibilities of what was going through his mind. But I had to get this sorted out. I wanted to talk to him about Tom Burns, and I wanted to know for sure if he was evading me.
I caught the next elevator and went to my office and called Donovan’s secretary on the company line.
“Who may I ask is calling?” Simone asked after I requested to speak to him.
“Sabrina Lind in Marketing.”
“And what is it regarding?”
“An employee in my department who I’d like to speak with him about.” He was in charge of Operations. If he wouldn’t talk to me about our non-relationship, he should at least talk to me about work.
“Hold just a moment, please.”