Page 16 of Peaches

I try again. A slightly more pronounced rattle of my knuckles this time. My not so sure of myself voice soon to follow. “Sir?” But there is no answer.

Well, hell, he didn’t just walk past me in the hallway and escape without my notice. I guess I have to be bolder. More determined. More,take no shit,in a pleasant, nice, tactful way. Something I’ve never had to be before. Fear fills my belly because, truth be told, I don’t know if I have it in me.

But with Archie in mind, I close my eyes, throw my shoulders back, straighten my spine and hold my manuscript a little tighter to my chest and BANG on the door.

That’s right, bang!

Right up there with the word “wood.” Only this time, I don’t snicker as a booming voice comes through the wall and says one thing.

“Come in!”

Well, at least he didn’t tell me to get lost. Now, if I can only find my confidence from earlier, the one I checked at this door the first time I walked through it, that is before my emotional outburst and career ending rant, we might officially, and hopefully, start over here.

Well,heregoes nothing.

That is, nothing some shoulder biting, back scratching, knee wobbling, toe-curling, mind-numbing sex couldn’t cure. But for now, I’ll leave those extracurricular activities to my characters as I try and work out the business end of the details in front of me.

Brett

I bitethe side of my cheek to keep from smiling as I watch her sitting in the chair across from my desk.Her eyes nervously dart around the room a few times before anxiously landing back on mine and then continuing their tour around my new office space. She begins to tap her fingers against the side of her chair. A clickity clack of her nails assaults my ears and must match the beating of her heart. God, I have to admit, this is just too damn good - watching her squirm under my scrutiny.

Click!

I take my own mental picture of her to enjoy in bed later and finally let myself grin at the thought.

But she’s going to have to do better than the lie she just told me to get me to speak first. Nope! Not gonna have it. My lips are sealed, as I lean back in the office’s large armchair and rock back and forth a few times. I can feel my eyes squint together as I take her in, in all her jittery glory, and wait for the stubbornest woman I’ve ever met to break first. If she even has it in herself to do so.

“So that’s it. In a nutshell. I don’t know why they call it that? Do you? I guess it’s because those damn, I mean darn, things are sealed so tight. Isn’t that right, Mr. Beckett? Closing in any and everything that threatens to escape until the time is right.”

Her eyes grow wide as she glances to her left, and then her right.

“Kinda like, these walls are closing in now,” I hear her whisper and then instantly stick my tongue in the side of my cheek before biting down hard on it to keep from breaking out in a laugh.

She looks up at me with a newfound confidence and tries to continue, but then pauses again a moment later. If only I was a more dignified man, I’d put her out of her misery and cut her rambling off, so she didn’t say anything more that we both know she’ll regret later on. Her current lie proof she’ll owe me, big time, that is if I agree to keep her on. But like the passerby that can’t help but give themselves whip lash to check out the massive wreck their cruising past, I let her continue, and on she finally goes.

“I mean, you can’t say I’d bethatmuch of a liability, in my current state. I work under a pen name after all. No one ever has to meet me. I can have someone else act on my behalf at signings. It could even come with some perks, in the writing department that is, if I let it…”

“Tourettes is hardly something I feel skilled at managing,” I joke, cutting her off suddenly and stopping this circus once and for all.

It’s a lie, for two reasons. Why? Well, for starters because I know she’s absolutely lying through her teeth about a disability we both know she doesn’t have. Her cheeky attitude, well that’s another story. One I’d like to slap hard with the palm of my hands and then watch as her peachcheeksin question blush a deep red. And two. I’d find every bit of joy in managing her condition, by throwing her over my knee and spanking the shit out of that fine ass. Both peach cheeks included. God help me, because I’m about to, even if it’s against company policy if she doesn’t cut the bullshit and tell me the truth already. Sitting straight up, I move forward so my arms are resting on the desktop in a business-like form and continue. “Listen, Anne Marie…”

“Grace!”

“Perhaps we should go back to me calling you Peaches!”

Her eyes flare, but I see her reign it in as I hide my smirk and stand from my position behind the desk. Rounding the corner of the only thing separating me from her and a spanking that looks like it’s long overdue, I look to the floor and decide how best to handle the ever growing situation in front of me, especially in light of the phone call I just had with The General before she came back from her earlier temper tantrum and interrupted me.

I walk a few steps forward and rattle my brain for ideas.

When my eyes lift, I put on the perfect show - acting the boss full of compassion, care, acceptance, and slight pity as I stare in her eyes.

“Maybe you’d feel more comfortable at another publishing house after all. One that can offer you perhaps, the medical attention, you may need. That is, given your condition.”

She’s silent. Her eyes are wide as she studies me and tries to decide if I am kidding.

“Unfortunately, that’s not something we can offer you at Beckett Enterprises. Maybe Samantha was better equipped to deal with… your condition, but I’m not,” I walk around her and take the few steps needed to the door. Opening it, I turn around to see she’s bolted up to standing and is staring at me like a deer in headlights. “I’m sorry Ms. Presley, I just don’t see any other way.”

Another lie. But until Ms. I Can Get My Way By Lying To My Boss - new boss for starters - doesn’t tell me the damn truth, there is no way in hell I can allow myself to do business with her. Regardless of how I feel about her tempting peaches.

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