Page 1 of Courting the Consequences

“Youcan’tfuckingfireme! I made this firm! I started it with your father!” Ken Laraway screamed as he stormed into her office.

“Sure, Ken, come on in, ’cause I’m not busy,” Kara Carmichael drawled as he stomped toward her desk.

His red face contrasted with his white hair. His gut hung over his ill-fitting suit pants, and the buttons on his shirt strained. He looked like an overgrown gorilla… And he thought he was God’s gift to women?

Kara narrowed her eyes at the man ranting and raving in front of her. She leaned back in her plush desk chair and crossed her right leg over her left. She smoothed the hemline of her pencil skirt and took her time looking back up at the man who was spitting with rageacross the wooden desk from her.

Men like Ken Laraway really didn’t like a woman in charge and often overcompensated by trying to demean and belittle them.

Years of courtroom etiquette had Kara schooling her features when she really wanted to snap at the senior partner.

Instead, she slowly got to her feet. She buttoned up her own suit jacket and glanced behind Ken to the open door. Her eleven o’clock was right on time. A tall blond man stood out in the waiting area near her secretary. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a suit coat, he gave off a professional yet casual air. The scowl on his handsome face as he blatantly stared into her office suggested he would intervene should she need it.

“Mr. Laraway,” Kara started as she rounded her desk, “I think you’ll find that I absolutely can and will fire you for just cause.”

“Just cause?” Ken spat. “That little slut is lying. I never came on to her. I don’t even know her name. Why would I want some twenty-something bimbo? I’m a married man.”

Kara groaned internally. There were so many things she wanted to say to that. But she couldn’t. Not if she wanted this firing to stick legally; and she needed it to stick legally. Ken Laraway was just another one of her father’s old-time crew that were all the same. Backward thinking, misogynistic, andloyal to her father.

“Mr. Laraway, we have video footage of you entering the women’s bathroom and cornering her against the wall. This is not a case of her word against yours; we have just cause. You’ll find in the bylaws—that you and my father wrote together back in 1986—that sexual harassment is a fire-able offense.” Kara stood in front of her desk and rested her ass on the edge, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Your father bringing you into this firm was the biggest mistake he ever made. You think that all this new age mumbo jumbo will last? This is still a man’s world, whether you like it or not.” Ken slowly stalked toward her. “Your father should have left you in the ghetto he found you in,” he growled harshly.

Kara chuckled softly, half in disbelief, half in irony. She pushed away from the desk, needing to be on her feet for this argument. “Maybe so, Mr. Laraway. But that is none of your business. You have been fired for sexual harassment. Section 8 of the bylaws states that no employee will retain employment after evidence has been presented in the case of sexual harassment. All judgments will be made by the human resource—”

“I know what the damn bylaws say! I fucking wrote them!” he screamed in her face.

Movement behind Laraway caught her eye. Her eleven o’clock had moved into her office, slowly and quietly. Her distraction was the opening Ken Laraway needed. He reached out, wrapped his hand around her throat, and squeezed.

“Hey!” the man shouted from near the door. He moved forward quickly to grab Laraway.

Kara didn’t hesitate. She slammed her knee into Laraway’s balls, and he fell back gasping.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, regaining her composure. “You’ll find that HR has already cleared your desk of your personal belongings. Security will escort you out.” She motioned to two very large and intimidating security guards that had just stepped into the waiting area outside her office.

Security made quick work of picking up Ken Laraway from the floor and escorting him out. The silence left behind was deafening. Kara sighed and leaned back against her desk, resting her ass on the edge.

“Are you OK?” her would-be rescuer asked, his voice deep.

Kara looked over at him. He had short blond hair, longer on top and styled into the spiky bedhead look. Piercing baby-blue eyes above high chiseled cheekbones. His strong jaw was covered in a trimmed blond beard. He was tall and broad. The black blazer he wore over a navy button-up barely contained the muscles he was clearly rocking. Clean, dark wash jeans and a pair of brown cowboy boots completed the look. He was smoking hot.

“Yes,” Kara answered after her quick perusal. “Sorry about the drama. It’s not usually so exciting around here.” She stepped forward and offered her hand. “Kara Carmichael.”

“Johnathan Taylor. Taylor Construction and Mechanical.” His deep voice was a rumble in her soul. His hand was callused and warm, his grip firm but gentle. “Are you sure you’re OK, ma’am?”

His concern was heartwarming. She nodded, “Yes, I’m fine.” She squeezed his fingers before quickly dropping his hand and turning away. “And thank you for not stepping in. It would have gotten messy if you had.”

“I was about to when he put his hands on you, but you handled it just fine.” He gave her a proud smile that had a shiver running down her spine.

“Well thank you, Mr. Taylor. I appreciate that,” she said as she rounded her desk.

“Johnny, please,” he said as he walked toward the chairs set in front of her desk.

Kara sighed and took a seat. She reached down into a lower desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Macallan and two glasses. She didn’t even ask him before she poured him two fingers alongside hers. She put the cap back on the bottle and slid the other glass to Johnny as she took a sip.

He frowned as he reached for his glass. “You accustomed to drinking before noon at the office?”

She looked up into his intense baby-blue eyes and raised her glass. “I’m not accustomed to being choked by douchebags unless I’ve given consent.”

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