Page 34 of Possess

“Ummmm, right.” Dani was a member. Had she seen Zeke there? And why didn’t Dani warn her.

“And I believe you’re a submissive.”

“I am not.”

“Do you feel comfortable taking the lead in the bedroom? Telling a man what to do?”

“In the bedroom, no. Outside of it, yes.”

“Sexual submissive then.”

“That’s a new term for me.”

“We’ll discuss what all of it means on another night. I remember you said you had an early morning meeting. I want you to feel comfortable with me. Are you open to us going out again as more than friends?”

Allyson tipped her head back and stared at him. “Yes.” She wasn’t going to hold herself back, no matter how much it might hurt in the end. She deserved this. She wanted to be with Zeke, to see what they could do together. “I’d like us to go out again.”

“Good. I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and we’ll set up our next date. Until then…” He cupped her chin as his lips covered hers.

She sighed into the kiss, enjoying the feel of his mouth against hers. The way his tongue dipped in and retreated. His body against hers. Oh yes, she was going to enjoy getting to know this man better.

When he lifted his head, she was out of breath. Zeke smiled at her. “Until tomorrow. Lock the door after me.” He released her, unlocked the door, and left.

She lifted her fingers to her lips. They throbbed from his kiss. This was crazy. Scary crazy. Then again, maybe not. Locking the door, she made her way into her bedroom. Tomorrow, she’d talk with Dani. She needed to understand more about the lifestyle Zeke described.

* * * *

Thursday morning, Allyson sat in Wes’s office, twisting her fingers together. This shouldn’t be that hard of a conversation. She’d checked the HR regulations again. They were vague about personal relationships in the workplace.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” Wes asked.

Cards on the table. “There’s no fraternization component to our HR regulations.”

Wes sat up. “There’s nothing in there about dating someone in the same department or even working for the city.”

“Right, but this is outside of that. Wes, I’m starting a relationship with the owner of Riggs Construction. I don’t want anyone to think I’m doing him any favors, so if it means taking me off of all his jobs, then that’s what has to happen.”

His eyes widened. “Let’s talk about this. Because there’s only you and Rudy doing the overall inspections, I can’t afford to give Rudy all the Riggs Construction jobs. Would you mind if I got HR involved?”

“No, please do. I’ve read the regulations over and over and can’t find anything.”

Wes picked up his phone, and within a few minutes, Linda from HR walked into his office. “Is there a problem?” Linda asked after sitting down.

“There might be. I think not, but I need an HR perspective.” Wes outlined what Allyson had told him.

“Hmmm, there’s no real policy.” Linda looked at Allyson. “But it means when you’re on the job there can be no slip ups. You cannot let your relationship interfere with your job. There can’t even be a hint of anything other than business.”

Allyson nodded. “We’re only having dinner out right now, to see where things go.”

Linda nodded. “Because the department is so small, I know lines blur, and there’s no concrete rule. But keep the private life, private. By that I mean very private. On the job, there can be no doubt that there is no favoritism.”

“I can do that. I don’t believe in showing favor over one company to another, or one person to another when it comes to my job. People can be hurt if I mess up.” Allyson took a breath.

“Good. Wes, any questions?” Linda asked.

“Nope. I wanted to make sure how HR felt about this.”

Linda turned to Allyson once again. “Off the record, you’re a model employee. Keep things out of the office, and everything will be fine.”

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