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“Charlotte.” He leans closer, his breath hot on my face. His gaze is hungry, brows down, his features all lines and shadows. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you. But you were always so… untouchable. But now… knowing what you’re really like…”
He lowers his arm from the wall and trails his fingers down my neck, lingering at my collarbone. “Now that I know what you like, Charlotte, I think we could have some fun together.”
Shudders are rippling through my body. This is wrong.
All of it, so wrong. His voice, so slick, oily, needy. His fingers burning like poison on my skin. My arm throbbing from his grip. The heat of his breath mixed with bitter coffee and sour milk. I don’t want any of this.
But I’m frozen. In my workplace, feet from the bathroom. I’m an empowered, intelligent, independent woman. Years of hard work and education behind me. So why can’t I bring myself to move? To say something?
“What do you think, Charlotte?” He traces my jaw with his finger, and I almost throw up all over him. “Interested in something later?”
No. I’m a professional. I’m thirty-two years old. I’ve been supporting myself for over a decade. If I can do that, I can say no to this man, regardless of who he is.
“No,” I whisper, then again, louder. “No. Whatever you want, I’m not…” Yanking my arm away from him, I sidestep away. “I have to go.”
Then I nearly sprint into the ladies room, half afraid Alan will come in after me. I lean over one of the sinks, sucking in shaky breaths while I try to calm myself down. My shirt is damp with perspiration, sticking to my back. When I glance into the mirror, my skin is ghostly pale, just a few ruddy blotches on my cheeks and neck.
How am I supposed to go to this meeting now?
I start by redoing my ponytail, dampening my hair, smoothing it down until the chestnut strands are shining and tidy. It’s the only thing neat about me. My clothes are a wrinkled mess and I’m near tears and I want to cry at how this day is going.
“Charlie?” Lydia comes into the bathroom, her gaze tight with worry. Though we don’t socialize outside of work, usually—she has a serious boyfriend she spends all her time with—she’s my closest work friend and we often go to lunch together or sneak away to get coffee. “Are you okay?”
The tears I’ve been holding back make a push to get free, and I sniff hard to keep them in. “I don’t know. Weird stuff is going on. Shane, and Greg, and Alan—” I snap my mouth shut. With everything else, I’m not ready to delve into accusations of harassment right now.
“Well, Charlie.” She frowns, sympathy etched into her features. “You had to know this could happen. Putting something like that out there… I mean, I’m not judging. You do you, and all that…”
My throat is closing, and it’s hard to breathe past the band wrapping around my chest. “What are you talking about? All of what?”
“The video.” She looks at me expectantly, like I should know what she’s talking about.
Am I in an alternate universe? What is going on?
“Lydia,” I say desperately, “I don’t know what video you’re talking about. What video?”
Sighing, she pulls her phone out of the pocket of her tailored pants. Tapping a few times, she frowns again, and says, “It was emailed to all the employees late last night. I’m not sure who wanted to share it, but…” She shrugs. “You had to know it could happen, Charlie. Nothing online can stay hidden.”
Heart thundering, blood rushing, I can barely hear myself saying, “Show me.”
At first, I don’t understand. It’s a link to a porn video on one of the big websites. One I know millions of people use. I’ve seen porn, and this is a little kinkier than I like—a woman having sex with three men at once—but I don’t get what this has to do with me.
And then.
Oh no. NO.
It’s my face. My face, my hair, my eyes, the freckle by my eyebrow—
NO. It can’t be. I’ve never—how—
Light-headed, dizzy, my body hot and cold at once, I gasp out, “That’s not me. I never did that. It’s not me.”
CHAPTER ONE
RYLAN
I will not fail those with whom I serve.
Pushing through my fiftieth rep, my knee screaming in pain, I never forget it. I will not fail those with whom I serve.
