Page 51 of Illicit Education
What Scary Stella looked like when she got the sex shakes was one of them.
I covered my mouth as a laugh slipped past my lips.
I’d seen her get whipped until she had an orgasm.
There. I said it.
Was her back bruised?
A tightness in my chest gave me pause. Whoa nelly, was Ijealousof her?
Nope. Didn’t matter. I had to get a hold of myself. This was only Day Two of a twelve-week internship. I couldn’t be jealous that Stella got whipped by Mr. Reed.
And I certainly couldn’t be wishing for my new boss to whipme.
That would be irrational.
Veryveryirrational.
Since I’d been waylaid on my way up, I stopped at seventy-three to talk to Marisa. I could easily read this entire manuscript and provide feedback–vague!–by the end of the day, so taking a few minutes to chat with my new friend wouldn’t hurt.
Marisa’s eyes widened when I strode toward her. “Girl,” she whispered loudly, “what wasthatabout? Are you in trouble already?” She laughed, but it was obvious by the concern in her brown eyes that she was genuinely worried about me.
Leaning forward, I rested my forearms on the top of the reception desk, and shook my head in disbelief. “You guys were right. That man is a nightmare.”
Marisa giggled, eyes flicking around the room quickly before she said, “False advertising, am I right?”
I snorted. That was the perfect way to describe a man so beautiful on the outside and so obviously hideous on the inside.
The phone rang and Marisa lifted a finger as she hit a button on her headset with the other hand. “It’s a great day at Reed Publishing, how may I direct your call?” Almost instantly, her smile fell and she met my stare, eyes widening. “Yes, sir. Uh-huh… Right away, sir.” She pressed the button on her headset to end the call, then her eyes flicked behind me to something above my head. When she met my gaze again, she said, “Mr. Reed would like me to tell you that if you are lost, the cafe is on the ground floor. In the lobby.”
I whipped my head around to locate the security camera above the elevators. He waswatchingme? I was half-tempted to storm back up to his office and tear him apart with my teeth, but that would be a surefire way to end my dream internship and no one was going to take this away from me. Not even Cabot Reed himself.
Ugh! The absolute nerve of this man!
Looking back at Marisa, I asked, “I’m not going to survive twelve weeks of this, am I?”
Her gaze flicked up to the camera, then she whispered, “If Hector survived, you can too.”
My stomach sank. “Is theresoundon that thing?”
“I’m not sure.” Marisa rifled through some papers on her desk, face taut with discomfort. “You should go.”
Shaking my head, I turned to leave, then paused and looked back over my shoulder. “May I join you for lunch again?”
Marisa’s eyes widened. “Of course you can. You’re one of us now.” She winked, then whispered, “Now go, before you get in trouble.”
Shaking my head, I made my way to the elevator, glaring up at the security camera while I waited.
What nerve he had!
It tookeverythingin me not to flip him off and walk off the premises with my head held high.
Chapter Nineteen
Rylan
By noon, I was two-thirds of the way through the contemporary romance Reed gave me to read, and halfway through a box of tissues I’d found in–then promptly swiped from–the library. I’d been completely taken by the story within the first few pages and had very little feedback to provide outside of absolute gushing. This was an incredibly talented author, whoever they were. The manuscript was simply titledThis One,handwritten in red pen,and there was no author name to be found.