Page 49 of Loathing My Boss
But, then, without any manner of warning, he grips my chin, pulls me in, and kisses me.
Chapter 17
?
Suicide is not the answer.
Viktor
Was kissing Crisis without consent a terrible idea and an abuse of my power as not only her superior but also as someone who could afford the kind of lawyer that could decimate her sexual harrassment charges?Yes.
Did she taste like mint and magic?
Absolutely.
I think I’m going to locate the nearest highway and lie in the traffic.
Hand clamped to my face, I speed walk away from Crisis, past the horses who approach the doors to their stalls, through the hay-soaked scent of the barn hall, and out into the sun, partially hoping it might burn me into a crisp.
Her lips were…so soft.
My first kiss.
It just… It happened. I was thinking about what Crimson told me—to stop letting Crisis get away witheverything—and thought okay, okay,thistime, I’ll stand my ground. I’ll do what I want. I’ll cast off whatever seems professional or considerate, and put my needs first for once.
Problem is, what I want when I’m with Crisis is to heareverything in her skull, then kiss her until I’m little more than a patchwork of her handprints on my skin.
It. Just.Happened.
Itbeing sexual harassment of an employee who visibly recoils every single time I touch her even casually.
I turn on my heel, face the barn. Swears stampede through my head like a herd of wild elephants.
What have Idone? I need to apologize, on my knees, probably by cutting out my stomach seppuku style.
I turn on my heel again.
Actually, traffic seems a little less painful and a whole lot less disgusting for a woman I’ve already traumatized. Besides, I don’t have a katana. If katanas are even used to commit seppuku. I bet it’s a different, more specific, and completely ceremonial sword.
I do not deserve the ceremony. So traffic it is.
Lifting my attention toward the only quiet road near the sprawling campus of Canter Creek Ranch, I swallow hard. The winding lane rises and falls with the rolling grass beside it, coasting along the side of a sheer stone mountain that glitters in the blazing sun. As far as I can see before the tarmac cuts away, not a single car appears.
My options are becoming more slim by the moment.
Wait a second. Isn’t there a lake on this property? One of the retreat events was swimming at a lake, so there must be one somewhere nearby.
Twisting, I march around the barn, toward the ranch house, in search of it.
Drowning myself isn’t my first option, but I’ll take what I can get. Lots of water. One deep breath. Severe, agonizing pain.
And that’s it. All done.
My steps lock up, leaving me stationary in the center of the kicked up dirt between several pastures and the ranch’smain buildings.
If I drown myself right now, I may never get to kiss Crisis again.
She already hated me.
