Caught: Punished by Her Boss by Claire Thompson Page A

“Jessie never said much of anything about her personal life. I used to wonder sometimes what she had to hide.”
    “Some people are just very reserved,” Eric replied, pretending to come to Jessie’s defense, though relieved the story he’d made up didn’t contradict anything she might have told the guys. He continued with his cover story. “Anyway, I tried to convince her to bring them here—that I’d help her get them in school and stuff, but she was adamant. She asked me to help her move, so I’ll be getting her place packed up for her. I figure it’s the least I can do.”
    Both men nodded, and offered the requisite murmurs of sympathy.
    He pushed on with the setup. “With the recession and all, we really don’t need a fulltime officer manager anyway,” he continued, not having to feign the irritation that fact caused him, especially after losing the Franklin account. “So I was thinking.” He fixed his gaze on Blake. “Blake, I’m not going to mince words here. Your sales record is, shall we say, less than stellar lately.”
    Blake tugged at his collar, his face turning pink as he glanced sidelong at Tony. “You know how it is, Eric. I’ve been pounding the pavement, you know that. I really need this job.”
    Eric nodded. “I know. It’s tough out there.” Blake was young and eager, but hadn't been able to clinch many deals in the few months he’d been onboard. Tony was by far the stronger of his two salesmen. They were paid primarily by commission, and so far Blake had barely earned enough to get by.
    Not for the first time, Eric had thought about letting him go, but now he had a better idea. He leaned across the desk, spreading his hands flat and smiling at Blake. “I was thinking, not everyone is cut out for sales. You used to work in accounting, right?” As Blake nodded, he continued, “I can show you the basics and you can take over as office manager. You can keep working your existing accounts, too. How does that sound?”
    “It sounds fantastic,” Blake gushed, his relief palpable, Jessie’s supposed bad luck apparently forgotten.
    Eric sent Tony and Blake out, pretending he was expecting an important call, asking them to close the door behind them. Once they were gone, he opened the right bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the bottle of fine cognac he kept for special occasions, along with a brandy snifter. He poured a few fingers into the glass and raised it in a silent toast to himself.
    He’d done it! All the groundwork was now laid for the accepted, unquestioned disappearance of his office manager. He’d tidy up the loose ends with the apartment and the website and that would be that. He rinsed the snifter in the bathroom just off his office and returned it and the bottle to the drawer, energized and excited.
    Packing some work to take home, he walked out of his office. To Blake he said, “Log onto Jessie’s laptop and familiarize yourself with the files.” He’d been careful to wipe the hard drive clean of anything potentially incriminating. “I have to go to an appointment. Answer the phones and handle the mail. If I’m not back this afternoon, we’ll connect in the morning and get you started with the accounting software.”
    His briefcase and laptop in tow, Eric headed out of the office, eager to get home and check on his charge. As he drove, his mind was filled with his plans for breaking J. down and then rebuilding her into his submissive sex object, with no mind or will of her own, existing solely for his perverse pleasure.
    He knew he was becoming obsessed, but couldn’t have stemmed the obsession, even if he’d wanted to. It was like eating a forbidden fruit that had caused an instant addiction, its dark, sweet juices dripping from his lips as he stuffed it greedily into his mouth.
    Slave J. was his forbidden fruit, and the more he tasted, the more he wanted, the more he needed. He couldn’t get enough.

 
    Chapter 6
     
     
    The light flicked on and