Tap In

1. Lark Dawn Hunter

“Lark, ensure that all tasks are completed before you go home today, or there will be a problem. I was forgiving the first time, but this time, a tap out will not be accepted.”

My entire heart dropped to my feet. Tap out! Tap out! Yes, that was my favorite song, but it was not a terminology that I used outside of listening to or reciting the song. The only other time that I used that phrase was when I got smutted out in Vegas by Numen. The same Numen that I wanted to get back to Vegas to feel him inside of me again. This could not be life.

I was forgiving the first time. My next immediate thought was that Jacobia was not going to get into the house good before I was on her ass about this. I might sit on the porch with a glass of wine and mini charcuterie board to wait on her ass. There was no way in hell that she didn’t know Chance and Numen weren’t the same person. She let me walk into a damn ambush. The party was so amped, and I was in a low-key haze and I couldn’t remember exactly how he looked.

I read over the entire email again. Right now, I couldn’t harp on it because I had tasks to complete. This was still the job that I accepted. I refused to be unsuccessful at anything I did professionally regardless of the circumstance. If it got uncomfortable, then I’d put in my resignation. I took out my tablet and went to my Notes app so that I could prioritize the task. There was no need for me to let him know that I was leaving the office since he knew what I would be doing.

I grabbed everything that I needed, then was on my way. Since he wanted his car to be detailed, I would drive his car to complete said task, especially with most of these errands being personal in nature. I made the bank deposits first, then went to the courts to file the eighteen evictions. Once that was done, I went to his house. When I went to Travis to get Chance’s house key, he chuckled before he told me that Chance was definitely fucking with me.

Let’s be clear. technically I was Marla’s assistant. Travis told me that he’d never known Chance to send an executive assistant out to do personal errands. He then asked me what I had done to him. I admitted that I would not allow Mr. Broughton to bully me. He had the right one now.

Chance’s house was extremely nice, which was not surprising. From the research I’d done about Broughton Real Estate Firm, they mainly handled high ticket properties to sell. They also owned multiple rental properties in various neighborhoods. I would see soon, when I had a chance to look at reporting, how much they made from those investments. I’d thought about buying a duplex or two as rental properties. I was sure he had cameras around his home, but ask me if I gave a damn. I walked around his house and explored.

I found his laundry in the hamper in his elaborate laundry room. The clothes that he wanted me to take to the cleaners was basic laundry that could have been washed right here. The room was so big that it could have been an additional bedroom. To get to it, you had to go through his closet. This man was ridiculous. Once I got his clothes in the bag, I went back downstairs to the kitchen to call a laundry service to come pick the clothes up. The grocery list on the refrigerator was fairly long.

I sat at the kitchen island, pulled out my phone, then called the guy that I’d used to fully detail my car. He wasn’t busy, so I gave him the address to come detail Chance’s car in his roundabout driveway. He told me that he would be here in ten minutes. Good stuff. After that, I pulled up the grocery delivery service on my tablet that I’d also used. The items on the list were of the Whole Foods variety.

“ Ms. Hunter, may I ask what you are doing? I would think that you would be making moves since you have tasks that need to be completed before the end of business day.” Chance’s voice came through a speaker in the house. I figured he was watching me. Travis also gave me the alarm code to use; therefore, I assumed it would notify Chance when I came into his house.

I continued to order the groceries from his list. “Chance, I would think that you have more important things to do than watch me. I’m not a fan of micromanaging. You gave me deliverables and a deadline. Would you like an update?”

“That smart ass mouth of yours is going to have consequences beyond what you think they are, Lark. Yes, I want an update,” he said. There was a sexy raspiness in his voice.

Why was I attracted to this man who was an asshole? Duh, because you know the dick is out of this universe. The man had me bent over like a pretzel with his dick in my ass! The personality that he gave as Chance was a far cry from him as Numen.

I paused what I was doing to give him my attention. I found the camera and looked directly into it. “The bank deposits have been done, and the evictions have been filed. The laundry service that I use is on the way to pick up your laundry. My car detailer is also on his way to take care of your car.” The doorbell rang. “Oops. That’s him or the laundry service.”

I stood to answer the door. It was my detailer and the laundry service. “Oh, y’all are right on time.” I had full ass conversations with Gary, my detailer, and Janice, the pickup driver for the laundry service, like Chance wasn’t waiting for me. Gary said that it would take about an hour to an hour and a half for a full detail.

When I got back into the kitchen, I sat down and went back to ordering the groceries. Over the speaker, I heard Chance clear his throat. I glanced at the camera. “Oh, shit, I forgot you were there to further annoy me. As you can see, the laundry is picked up, and car detailing is underway. Now I am ordering your groceries for delivery. While I wait for that delivery and your car, I’m going to sit in your living room, enjoy the television, and schedule the homes that need to be cleaned for showing next week.”

There was silence. I went back to the task at hand. It was only two thirty in the afternoon, and I’d made excellent time. I would be back at the office no later than four thirty.

“Lark, when I asked you to complete these tasks, it was not for you to have others do it,” he had the nerve to say.

He said that bullshit just as I checked out with his debit card. Now he could have my undivided attention. “Chance, what you thought was that you would overwhelm me. You pointed out earlier that I was overqualified for this position. Why in your goofy mind would you think that I wouldn’t work smart instead of hard? The tasks were completed efficiently by the unrealistic deadline that was indicated by you. Again, I do not like being micromanaged.

“Know that any task you give me, although technically I am not your executive assistant, will still be handled with excellence. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a final task to handle. I will see you back in the office with your fully detailed car.”

I moved from where I sat to the fridge to get a bottle of water and see if there were any snacks around here since I skipped lunch. I found some beef jerky. As I walked to the living room with my tablet and company laptop, I yelled over my shoulder that I wouldn’t be skipping too many more lunches. He was quiet, but I knew his ass was watching me. Knowing that I’d fucked my boss made me feel a certain kind of way. I was not a fan of mixing business with pleasure; however, this was something that I couldn’t avoid. It couldn’t have been avoided by me, but that damn Jacobia could have let me know what was up.

I finished scheduling the cleanings just as the groceries were being delivered. Gary finished Chance’s car in forty-five minutes because his car didn’t really need it in the first damn place, which I knew. I rolled my pretty ass back into the office comfortably at four fifteen. Travis and Marla were in the hallway having a conversation. Their attention turned to me. They both looked at me with this bewildered expression.

“Lady, I don’t know what you have, but I am so happy that I hired you.” Her voice was low. “I have never seen Chance so wound up about a person and at the same time not react how he normally does. That man said that you wasn’t going to finish those tasks and when you didn’t, he was going to fire you,” she said with a titter.

I smirked. “He’s going to have to come way harder than that. Let me go give this man his keys and carry my ass home. I’ll talk to y’all later.”

Chance’s office was at the end of the hall. His door was open, but I still knocked on it. When his head lifted, his eyes tightened. Sexy fucka! “I see you were able to complete everything in a timely fashion.”

“I see you doubted me. You wanted to fire me that bad, Chance?” I walked toward his desk, then set his keys down on it. I looked at my watch before I focused back on him. “If there isn’t anything else, I’ll be in my office finishing a few things that Marla needed.”

He was the type of person that wanted the last word in this environment. “There’s nothing else that I need from you right now. Did Marla issue you a company cell phone?”

My face was contorted. Why the hell would I need a company cell phone? My plan was to do my job within my business hours, then carry my ass home. “No, she did not. I’m not sure why I would need one.”

“There may be times that I need something from you after-hours or something done in the morning before you come into the office. That would require me to reach you, and I prefer to do so on a business line,” he said casually.

My head tilted to the side. This was new information for me. When Marla and I went over my expected duties, this was not something that was listed or mentioned. Had I been his personal assistant, that would have been more feasible. I was his, well, Marla’s executive assistant, which was not the same. I asked him if I could close his door so we could have a private conversation.

After I was given permission, I closed the door and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. I spoke. “Mr. Broughton, the duties of this job seem to be morphing into more of a personal assistant than an executive. For Marla, yes, it’s clear that she needs an executive assistant, but you seem to need a mix of both. Am I correct with my assessment?”

He gazed at me for a moment before he sat back in his seat. “When I think about it, your assessment is correct. I do need a mix of the two. Is that a problem, Ms. Hunter? If it is, let me know so we can make other arrangements.”

This man really thinks he has me in a corner. Watch me work, goofy! “That is not a problem at all, Mr. Broughton. With the update to my job duties, I would like to make an amendment to my employment contract. Per section 8b, we both have ninety days to make amendments as needed.”

He tittered, then asked, “What amendments would you like to make at this time?”

“Seeing as there may be times that you will need me after-hours for task which require you to have pretty much open access to me, I would like an additional fifteen thousand added to my salary. I would also like to be issued a company vehicle to utilize in the happenstance that there are deliverables that need to be completed that would require me to travel by vehicle. Based on our interactions today, something tells me that you are a bit needy. I want to ensure that I am compensated appropriately.” Mr. Broughton wasn’t messing with a short stop. If he wasn’t willing to meet the terms of my amendment, I would in fact resign.

He sat there silently as he gawked at me. After what felt like the most intense stare down of my life, a smirk appeared on his handsome face. Get yourself together, Lark. He leaned forward to press the intercom button. Marla’s voice came through the speaker, and he asked her to come to his office.

It took Marla less than a minute to come into the office. “Hey, is everything alright?” I wanted to chuckle at the nervousness that sat on her face.

“Everything is fine. Can you pull Ms. Hunter’s employment contract and make the following amendments. Please add twenty thousand dollars to her yearly salary. Issue her a company cell phone, a credit card, and reach out to Cedric to have him get me a Range. Charge it to the business account.” His eyes didn’t leave me as he spit out instructions.

When I peeked up at Marla, her light skin blushed over with her eyelids stretched wide. “Oh, okay. I’ll do that.”

After she told me to stop by her office on my way out to sign my amended contract and get my phone and credit card, she left. I kept my poker face on because I wasn’t sure what this man’s angle was.

“Ms. Hunter, I added an extra five thousand to your request because you are correct. I’m needy as fuck, but you should know that.” The dip in his eyebrow was sexy. “I also want to make sure that you are adequately compensated. You will have a sixty-dollar daily stipend for things such as lunch. Are these changes amenable for you?”

There was something about this that seemed like a damn trap. Needy as fuck . He was right. I did know in more ways than one. I moved to Charleston for a new start and a little adventure. This could be just what I was looking for. “Those changes are great.” I stood to my feet, stepped closer to his desk, and extended my hand.

When he stood, my eyes betrayed me when they fell to his crotch. My brow rose at the hardened dick that he was in no way trying to conceal. Sexual harassment is unwelcomed sexual advances, asking for sexual favors or other physical and verbal acts of a sexual nature. It was understood in that moment, in my spirit, that nothing about what he did and was doing was unwelcomed. I felt ashamed to say that Chance had been an asshole to me all day, but if he told me to drop to my knees right now and eat his dick, I’d do it with vigor and excellence. I’d suck his dick and call him an asshole when I rose from my knees with cum still on the corners of my mouth. Something about this man made me want to be sexually bold.

“It was nice negotiating with you, Ms. Hunter. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He released my hand, then sat back into his seat.

I snickered when he went back to whatever he was doing before I came into the office. “Rude ass,” I mumbled before I turned on my heels to leave the office.

I took the short steps to Marla’s office. Her door was open as well. Travis sat on the couch that was against the wall. He told me to close the door. “Lark, what’s up? You’re blackmailing him or some shit? You can tell us.”

I hollered. “What! No, I’m not blackmailing that man. When I noticed that he wanted more of a personal assistant, I asked for an amendment to my contract. That’s it. Negotiation is one of my stronger skills.”

“Ma’am, I need to take your picture and put you on the wall in the lobby. You are damn sure a different breed.” Marla leaned forward on her desk. “Lark, you are the fifth assistant that I have hired in six months. You have checked a man that most think is uncheckable. Not sure what it is, but I like it.”

We talked while she got me to sign my amended contract and issued me the items that I needed. She told me to use the credit card to catch a rideshare to work tomorrow. My company vehicle would be here in the morning. I had always wanted a Range. Nothing like driving on someone else’s dime.

After I got what I needed, Marla told me that I could head out for the day. She didn’t have to tell me twice. I went to my office, filed the deposit slips, grabbed my stuff, and was out the door. Now it was time for me to get my wine, make my snacks, and sit on a bitch’s porch.

* * *

I sat on the porch with my wine and my charcuterie board on the table next to me. I was showered, refreshed, and relaxed. Jacobia’s dental practice closed at seven. She took normal patients until four. The last three hours, she took people without dental insurance. It was seven thirty, so I expected her at any moment.

By the time that I finished the glass I was on and poured a new glass, Jacobia pulled in the yard. When she climbed out of her car, her facial expression told me that she knew that I would be ready to go in her ass. She took longer than I knew she usually did to get stuff out of her car, or pretended to. When she finally got to the porch, she didn’t have anything more than she usually did.

“Hey, how was your first day at work?” The joking smile displayed on her face made me want to slap the hell out of her.

I let her sit in the seat on the other side of the table. There was a glass there for her, so I poured some wine into it. She took a sip and got comfortable.

“I find it funny that I walked into work today and was blindsided by finding out my boss is the same man that I’d been asking you for information on. Jacobia, there is no way that you can make me believe that you didn’t know Numen was Chance.” I took a sip of my wine.

Her chest rose and fell. “I completely understand why you are upset. Yes, I knew who he was when he approached you at the party. He didn’t know who you were at all since Marla does the hiring. After that, I didn’t tell you because I knew you would try to back out of working there.”

“You damn right I would have backed out. That man has fucked me in every applicable hole on my body. He fucked me so damn stupendously that I couldn’t take it. Walking into my job and finding out the man I let fuck me to oblivion at a sex party was not the embarrassing part. The embarrassing part was knowing that I tapped out.” My face was tight as hell.

Jacobia stared at me for a beat before she erupted into laughter. Her hands waved in the air. “Wait, wait! Sorry! I don’t mean to laugh.” She said that but still laughed harder than she should have been. “Lark, just get your money, sis! If you want to fuck him again until you don’t tap out, then do that.”

“You say that so casually like it’s nothing, bitch,” I said before I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to get my money. Matter of fact, my pay was increased by twenty K, I was given a cell phone, credit card, and my company Range will be parked in front of the office in the morning.” I stood from my seat. “Have yourself a snack. I’m going to watch a movie.”

Jacobia sat there with her mouth slightly agape. “Wait, tell me your fucking secret! I wanna know how to get an extra twenty K from my boss.”

When I glanced over my shoulder, she had a knowing smile on her face. I turned to face her. “The secret is don’t be a punk bitch. That man is a complete asshole. I don’t know if Numen is an alternate personality of his, but Patrick Chance Broughton is an asshole.”

Jacobia tilted her head. “That doesn’t seem right.” She sat there pondering for a moment before her eyes stretched. “You were a bitch to his domineering ass, weren’t you? Oh, girlie, you have no idea what you just did.” Now she was walking toward me. When she got into my space, she looked at me with a menacing glare before she said, “Joston is having a party this weekend, and we’re going.”

I stood there frozen as she walked past me. My thoughts were going a thousand miles per second. What the hell did she mean we were going to Joston’s party this weekend!