“You mean I have to obey him,” Sarah said.
“And if he expects it, you have to present yourself to him.”
“Huh?”
Lainey slid down to the floor and got onto her knees. She knelt there with her back and shoulders straight, head bent, hands behind her back.
Sarah groaned. “I was totally submissive!” She who liked to control everything around her, including when, where and how she had sex. “How could I do this?”
“You liked it.” Lainey curled her feet beneath her and leaned on the coffee table.
“Yeah, I did. It felt kind of nice not to be in charge for once,” Sarah admitted.
“And it wasn’t boring sex with Cory,” Lainey said shrewdly.
Sarah ignored that.
“You know I’m right. That’s why you two always break off. He’s boring,” Lainey said, pressing her point.
“Cory’s safe,” Sarah argued. Boring and dull, predictable and safe. Like her.
Glancing at her watch, Lainey stood. “I’d better get home. Gotta work in the morning.”
Sarah sighed. “I don’t want to think about work. I’m either fired or Jake will recommend that the board sell or close. Either way, I’m out of a job for sure.”
Sarah’s cell phone range. She glanced at it then send the call to voice mail.
“Cory?” Lainey asked.
“Don’t want to talk about him. Or to him,” Sarah said. She walked her friend to the door.
Once she was alone, Sarah headed for her computer and, once on the internet, researched Dominants and submissives. She figured Jake was done with her but, just in case, she wanted to learn all she could.
“Ms. Sweeney, could you come here, please.”
Here it comes. She was going to get fired for sure. She couldn’t believe that Cory had given her boss a beaut of a shiner. Everyone was talking and wondering what had happened to Mr. New York.
Sarah entered her boss’s office and winced at Jake’s face. “Mr. Anders, I am so sorry!”
“Close the door, Sarah.”
Sarah, not Ms. Sweeney. Maybe he wasn’t going to fire her! Of course, he needed her, at least until he had all the information he needed for that damn New York board. After shutting the door, Sarah turned.
“I don’t blame you, Sarah.” Jake stood and indicated the chairs and couch in the sunny corner of the office. “Let’s sit.”
Taking one of the leather chairs, Sarah smoothed her hands down her skirt. “I’m glad you don’t blame me, but still, Cory had no right to do what he did.”
Jake lifted a brow. “I’m not sure I blame him. I’d be upset if I found out my girlfriend was playing around.” His voice was cool.
Sarah narrowed her gaze. “If you want to know if Cory is my boyfriend, ask.” Her voice matched his.
Tapping his fingers on his knee, Jake lifted a brow. “Is he your boyfriend, Sarah?”
The lack of emotion in his voice made her frown and his piercing gaze made her feel like an errant employee caught napping on the job. The air of authority radiating from him was that of a CEO rather than a fancy accountant.
“My relationship with Cory isn’t any of your business any more than my relationship with you is any of his. But because of what he did, I feel you are entitled to an answer.”
Jake steepled his fingers in front of him. “Point taken.”
“Cory and I have been in a relationship on and off for years. Currently, we’re not involved and he had no right hitting you.”
“Yet he did,” Jake said.
“I don’t know what got into him.” Sarah wanted to groan and hide her face in shame. Her relationships with Cory were uneventful. Boring. Even making love was dull and uneventful. He’d never made her scream or beg. Sex with Cory was a walk in the park. Fucking Jake had been a wild roller coaster ride.
“Don’t you? I fucked his girl,” Jake said.
Sarah rolled her eyes. “I told you. I’m not his girl.”
Shrewd eyes held hers. “You had a date.”
“It was dinner, between friends,” Sarah said, though she had suspected that Cory wanted to pick up where they’d left off.
“You’re not that naive, Sarah.”