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Ella had enough stress with fulfilling Nana Bee’s wishes, with her job, and with fighting her attraction to Bass to fill her plate to overfull. She didn’t need adding harassment from her boss, who didn’t know what a creeper he actually was.
A couple of hours passed and the reception was a lot smoother than the wedding had been, so Ella could take a fifteen-minute break. She needed a moment with no one asking anything of her. She made her way to the dock at the lake they were at. Luckily no one was there.
She rested against the rail and looked out at the moonlit water. Her thoughts turned to Bass. For once she didn’t try to push the man from her mind. She thought about how good he always looked, about the way she’d catch him watching her, and what that did to her. She actually smiled as her body lit up.
She once again considered an affair with him. The man had rocked her world when they’d been making out on her couch. It was such a teenage thing to do, but she reminded herself that teenagers grew into adults, and apparently the sex drive only grew more intense the older a person became. There was no doubt she wanted the man. She just wasn’t sure what to do about that. It was crazy, but no matter how bad an idea it was, it wasn’t leaving her mind.
She was all warm and cozy with thoughts of having sex with Bass when arms came around her and a hard body press against hers. For just the briefest of moments she softened with her thoughts still on Bass. But her brief consent immediately disappeared. Bass was nowhere near the wedding. Who in the hell had their arms around her?
She felt lips on the back of her neck and her entire body stiffened. She pushed back hard, shocking whoever it was behind her into stepping back. She whipped around. The lighting was dim at the dock, but the moon was full. She gasped in horror when she saw her boss standing before her.
“What in the hell are you doing, Paul?” she asked, her heart racing. The wedding party wasn’t within shouting distance and she was alone with this man who’d dared to lay his hands on her when he knew she didn’t want that to happen.
He gave her a crooked smile as he shrugged. He apparently didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong in groping her.
“You looked so good I couldn’t resist,” he told her. He then pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out, and lit up.
“You can’t just grope someone without permission which I definitely don’t give,” she told him. She wasn’t sure how she was keeping her head on straight. She was both scared and furious at the same time.
“Come on, Ella, something has been happening between the two of us for a while. You know you want me as much as I want you,” he said with a mocking smile. The man was challenging her, and she didn’t know what she could do about it.
“I don’t want you, Paul. I’ve made that incredibly clear. I don’t want your hands or your lips on me. I’m trying to do my job, that is all,” she told him.
“Part of your job is making your boss happy,” he said. There was now a meanness in his eyes she’d never seen before. He apparently didn’t enjoy being turned down over and over again. Maybe it was new for him. How anyone could be attracted to him was a mystery to her.
“Are you threatening my job?” she gasped.
He simply smiled at her. “Take it how you want, Ella,” he said. He tossed his cigarette butt into the lake, disgusting her even more.
“I’m going to assume for your sake that this has all been nothing but a big misunderstanding,notsexual harassment,” she warned.
He didn’t even blink. The man wasn’t worried. How many others had he done this same thing to? How did he get away with it? Maybe it was because the women were too afraid to come forward. Maybe some of the women he’d slept with did like it. She wasn’t sure. She only knew howshefelt about the situation . . . and it definitely wasn’t good.
“I need to get back to the reception,” she told him. She took a step to leave and he reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“You can only run for so long, Ella. I’ve been enjoying our little dance. It’s been a treat actually. I don’t normally have to work so hard to get a woman in my bed. Even with as hot as you are, though, eventually I want the game to come to its proper conclusion.”
She stood before him stiffly, wondering if he was going to assault her. It was odd how calm she was. Maybe it was from years of abuse. She knew throwing a fit wouldn’t get her anywhere. That didn’t mean she’d go down without a fight, it just meant she could stay calm until she didn’t have a choice but to fight. Even if it was a losing battle she’d give it everything she had.
She didn’t say a word to him, just stared back as he looked at her with his beady eyes that were creeping her out more than they normally did. Who in the hell did this man think he was? Could she be the woman to take him down? She didn’t think so. There was so much on her plate already, she didn’t have another battle in her. Man it would feel good to be the one to end him though.
He finally let her go, and she walked away at a steady pace, refusing to give him the satisfaction of running. She was on the verge of tears but she wasn’t going to let them flow. She wasn’t giving that power to the monster of a man. He didn’t deserve her tears.
She finished the wedding without any further complications and sighed with relief when it was time to go. She made her way to her vehicle and found a note on her windshield. She picked it up, climbed inside her car, and locked the doors before opening the note. Her blood ran cold when she read the words.
This isn’t over.
There was no signature, no name, and nothing else said. It was clear that her boss wasn’t finished with her yet. Did she have to quit? The thought of doing that made her tears finally fall. She knew she’d need another job. She lived paycheck to paycheck. Every dime she’d had left over had gone to Nana Bee. Sure, she’d gotten that money back, and she had to accept it or hurt Nana Bee’s memory, but that was her only savings now. If she quit her job and it took a while to find another, that money would be gone in an instant.
Nana Bee had given her a gift in letting her have that money. She couldn’t waste it. She’d have to be more careful to not find herself alone with her boss. There was no other choice. She pulled herself together and finally drove home. If she saved a little longer then she could try a new career. It was just too dangerous right now.
She was walking in the door when she got a message from Bass, telling her they were meeting at Rafe’s office building in the morning. She didn’t have work on Monday so she replied that she could be there. It would be much better to focus on her mission with Bass and Rafe than to think about her boss and the job she was beginning to loath.
The house was torn down now and they had to come to an agreement on what they were going to do with the property. Bass and Rafe were the big businessmen, so she had sat back quietly for that part. It was up to them what they wanted to do.
She replied she’d meet them there. Then she wasn’t sure why she did it, but she told Bass what a creeper her boss was. He immediately replied with a phone call. She ended up spilling her guts to Bass.
He was oddly quiet while she went on and on. She was unsure what he thought about it. She did feel better once it was all out on the table though, as if she’d cleansed herself of his awful comments, words, and touches. She felt freer than she had in a long time. She also felt better that someone knew. If anything did happen to her, then maybe Bass would make sure Paul paid. She wasn’t sure what her boss was capable of, but the longer she was around him, the more worried she became.
