Page 126 of Pure Recklessness

Just because I’d had sex with my boss, I couldn’t expect special treatment. I had to stay focused.

After reading over the brief three more times to triple-check everything, I attached the document to the email and sent it to Blake, ready to review before our big meeting on Monday with all of the department heads involved in the app.

Thankfully, Blake was doing the presentation. He was heading up the project, but I was his ‘second in command’, which was a big deal. And even more reason for me to prove that I was worthy of the trust he’d put in me.

Sated were investing millions in this app. It needed to be a success.

My mobile rang. I glanced at the screen. It was my parents.

Now that I’d sent the brief, I could take a quick break. I swiped my phone off my desk, got up then slipped into an empty meeting room.

‘Hi!’ I said enthusiastically. It’d been a while since we’d spoken. Normally they liked me to call a few times a week, but with all of the ahem late nights I’d had at the office, I hadn’t spoken to them since last weekend.

‘Thank goodness you’re still alive!’ Dad exhaled loudly.

‘We were so worried!’ Mum added. ‘You haven’t called.’

‘Sorry.’ I winced. ‘It’s been really busy at work.’

‘I hope they’re not working you too hard,’ Mum said, concern in her voice.

‘I’ve heard about companies that make their staff work twenty hours a day,’ Dad warned. ‘They’re so exhausted they turn to drugs to stay awake. Then before you know it, they’re in rehab!’

Oh God. Here we go.

‘I’m not working twenty hours a day, Dad. And I’m not turning to drugs. I’ve been given a huge project which is really exciting, so I’ve been working late voluntarily. Usually someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of experience wouldn’t be given such a high-profile job, so I need to work extra hard to prove myself.’

‘How exciting!’ Mum chirped. ‘What project are you working on?’

‘An app,’ I said, knowing that any words related to technology would shut the conversation down immediately.

‘What kind of app?’ Dad asked.

I frowned. I wasn’t expecting him to probe.

‘It’s er, like an audiobook app…’ My voice trailed off, hoping that I wouldn’t have to elaborate.

‘That sounds interesting!’ Mum enthused. ‘So it’ll be like when we used to read you bedtime stories, but a recording on someone’s mobile telephone?’

‘Sort of,’ I said.

Very sexy bedtime stories.

‘Oooh!’ Mum continued. ‘You know how much we love books. I’d love to listen to them. Maybe you could listen to them with me too, Harold.’

‘Er…’ I paused. There was absolutely no way they’d ever be able to listen to these stories. ‘I’m not sure it’ll be your kind of thing.’

‘Why not?’ Dad barked.

‘Because it’s… the stories will be sort of…’ I desperately tried to think of some adjectives that wouldn’t let my parents know that it was erotica or anything they’d consider corrupting. Oops. Too late. ‘Gory.’

‘Like horror books?’

‘No,’ I said, knowing they wouldn’t approve of horror either. ‘It’s just the kind of stories that… get your heart racing, like when you watch a thriller for example.’

‘Thank goodness,’ Dad said. ‘For a moment I thought you were going to say that it was something… explicit.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I should’ve just spouted some technical jargon. Mentioning the word ‘books’ was too intriguing for them. They loved reading, but they wouldn’t even approve of romance, never mind erotica.