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She dated men who were considerably gentler than he was, always friends before lovers. And in bed, they were polite. Polite and mostly perfunctory.
The fact that she was curious about BDSM was a conundrum for her. Of all people, she shouldn’t fantasize about being submissive to a sexy man. But she did, more often than she would dare to admit.
She took her last sip and closed her eyes.
Fuck.
Unbidden, the image of Nathan crooking his finger at her and indicating she should lower herself across his lap filled her mind. She saw him lift her skirt and all but felt a trembling in her legs as she prepared for him to lower his hand in a punishing spank.
She heard herself begging, but since she didn’t know whether she would want him to continue or stop, she shoved aside the image.
What in the hell was wrong with her?
Purposefully Kelsey stood and dumped her cup in the nearby trash bin. Making a point to herself as well as the world, she brushed her hands together, as if washing away thoughts of him.
It took the entire walk back to the office to banish the lingering tingles that the images had given her.
Thankfully Nathan’s door was still closed.
Not having to see him after her discussion with Andi was a blessing.
A phone call from Zoe McBride, Sofia’s sister and manager of the Houston branch of Encore Events, distracted Kelsey, made her think about business rather than entertaining outrageous fantasies. They set up a meeting for the following morning.
Thankfully, the next hours passed in a flurry of phone calls and meetings. Nathan left to visit the docks, giving her some appreciated time alone.
She reached out to Holly Newman, and they discussed plans for the going-away party. The woman agreed that the end of the month or beginning of December would be fine.
Before they hung up, Kelsey arranged to visit Samuel at lunchtime the next day.
Nathan returned a few minutes later.
The office temperature seemed to increase as he swept in, full of harnessed energy. Seeing him there, big, powerful, confident, she wondered again if he was a Dom.
Kelsey hoped he’d continue past, but he stopped in front of her desk and pulled up a chair.
“Ms. Lane?”
“Sorry.” She shook her head. “You were saying?”
He repeated that the meetings had gone as well as he had expected, then added, “Anything I need to know?”
She brought him up to date on preliminary plans for Mr. Newman’s party. “If he’s up to it, after Thanksgiving and before your retreat seems to be ideal.”
“Agreed. Did you get the artwork I sent over this morning?”
“I did. I’ve ordered a few things that will be expedited. As for the rest, I’ll get you my recommendations and pricing in a couple of days.”
“Good.” He stood. With a crisp nod, he returned to his office, sucking energy out of her and the room.
It took her a couple of minutes to refocus and get back to her task list.
Toward the end of the afternoon, Lawrence dropped by with a corrected check and termination letter.
“Thank you. Sorry for the confusion.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” Lawrence said. “The changes, I mean.”
“I know,” she replied. Nathan’s words about loyalty seemed to echo in her head. And while she stood by her statement that he had to earn it, she knew she was a crucial part of the company’s future success. And for all the employees, she had to back her boss. Even if she had to bite her lip. “Mr. Newman believed this was the right course.”
“Remains to be seen.”
“And it’s up to all of the management staff to ensure the success of Donovan Logistics,” she said firmly, leaving him no room to argue. “There’s a lot at stake here, beyond your personal opinions. We’re counting on you to help set the tone.”
“We’ve had a lot of questions,” he said.
“No doubt.” She chose her words with care. “If you need to talk to Mr. Donovan, you should. Give him a chance.” She could hardly believe the words came out of her mouth.
“Honestly, Kelsey, I’m not sure.”
“No one is,” she agreed. “But what’s another option? We can leave. And we should if we believe the company is going the wrong direction. Or we can trust that Mr. Newman knew what he was doing and help him fulfill his vision for the company.”
“Seward has been with us a long time.”
“And he screwed up. You know it. I know it. Better than anyone, you know about family leave. He was entitled to it, and he chose not to utilize it.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to. Neither do I. But he was given a second chance.” And both of them knew how much worse it could have been. If the barge had sprung a leak or sunk, the company would have been damaged.
