Chapter 18
Kelsey
“Left, Kelsey,” Hendrix orders as soon as we step out of the elevator the next morning.
I take a deep breath and shoot him a look. “Can I at least put my purse away?”
“No. We’re ripping the bandage off. Now.” He nods toward Mr. Hollenbeck’s office. Apparently, he’s already here this morning. The door is open, and the lights are on inside.
We’re early, as usual, so Josephine hasn’t arrived yet. Small favors.
With his hand on the small of my back, Hendrix leads me toward what I assume is going to be my doom.
He’s so confident his friend and business partner won’t give a shit that we’re sleeping together.
I’m not so certain. In fact, I’m queasy.
I don’t care how long the two of them have known each other, the man can’t possibly think it’s a good idea for Hendrix to fuck his assistant or move her into his house.
Hendrix knocks on the door frame as we step inside.
I grip the strap of my purse with one hand so tightly that my fingers hurt.
Mr. Hollenbeck lifts his gaze. “Hey. Come on in. You said you wanted to see me this morning.” He points toward the seating area by the window, rounds his desk, and joins us there.
Hendrix shuts the door, angles me directly to the loveseat, and sits next to me.
I’m not sure I was this nervous when I interviewed for my first position here two months ago. This seems like madness to me.
Hendrix leans back casually and rests one arm behind me on the back of the sofa. I’m ramrod straight, so he’s not touching me. How the hell is he so relaxed about this?
“Kelsey and I are in a relationship,” Hendrix says without a single moment of preamble.
I gasp and jerk my head in his direction. “Could you be any more blunt?” My face heats.
He lowers his hand from the back of the loveseat to between my shoulder blades. “Kels…”
Mr. Hollenbeck chuckles.
When I look back at him, I find him also relaxed in his armchair. He’s got one leg crossed over the other, one elbow on the arm of the chair, and he’s rubbing his chin. “Is this supposed to be news?”
Hendrix shrugs. “I doubt it, but it’s very stressful for Kelsey.”
I groan and cover my face, lowering my head. Maybe I could somehow transport myself to a different dimension. “Does everybody know?”
“Probably,” Mr. Hollenbeck replies. “Kelsey, there’s no reason to panic. I doubt anyone cares. And if they do, fuck ’em.”
“How did you know?” I ask. I’m racing through every possible compromising position we’ve been in for the last week and a half in my head.
Did someone see or hear us? I thought we were pretty discreet.
Apparently not. Now I’m mortified, and I’m not sure I want to know what Mr. Hollenbeck or anyone else might have witnessed.
Maybe it was Josephine, and she told Mr. Hollenbeck.
He lowers his leg and leans forward, hands on his knees. “Kelsey, there are some things you don’t know about Hendrix.”
I flinch.
He smiles. “He’s not the same man since you met, and he can’t hide that fact from anyone, especially not me.
As soon as he returned last week, I knew he was different.
Immediately. He wasn’t fully present before you.
In retrospect, I would say he was just existing.
He didn’t smile much. He spent long hours at the office—much longer than he has since you arrived.
He never had a full-time assistant. He didn’t like people in his space.
When he requested someone, he usually worked with them for a few days and then insisted they were more trouble than it was worth.
He’d rather just stay until ten and do everything himself than have someone else trying to be helpful.
He wasn’t rude, but I suspect he has a reputation on the thirteenth floor for being distant and unapproachable.
“Anyone who has been with us for more than two years and knew him before he went to Germany dreaded the idea of being summoned to help him. They had a tendency to feel like a failure since they couldn’t quite please him.
In truth, no one could please him. He’s too particular.
And then you showed up, and he called HR and requested you personally.
I knew in an instant. Here you were. He was smiling and laughing and taking life less seriously.
“The HR manager has been with us for many years. She’s well-aware that it’s impossible to place someone with Hendrix.
I spoke to her myself. She was worried because she knows you’re a valuable employee, and she didn’t want you to become disgruntled and feel like you aren’t as competent as we all know you are.
She was afraid you would quit. So, yeah, I know.
Enough people from the thirteenth floor were smart enough to figure it out, and the rest have heard through the rumor mill. ”
I sit very still, trying to absorb all this information. I’m shocked. When I turn to Hendrix, his brow is furrowed. He’s staring at his friend, almost smirking. I think he’s surprised, too.
“Huh… I didn’t know I was such an open book,” he says.
Mr. Hollenbeck shrugs. “You’ve been rather busy. I figured at some point you would come to me, when you were ready, and here you are.”
“Did I really not smile before?” Hendrix asks.
Mr. Hollenbeck chuckles again. “Not often. It’s not as though you were surly. Just…lonely.”
Hendrix slides his hand up to my neck under my hair and squeezes. “I’m not lonely now.”
“I see that, and I’m so happy for you.”
“This isn’t a passing thing,” Hendrix informs him. “Kelsey is living with me.”
“Figured as much. I’ve never known you to do anything half-assed, nor have you ever made decisions that weren’t calculated.”
I groan, my shoulders dropping. “So everyone knows…”
“Yes.”
“They must want to push me off the roof.”
Mr. Hollenbeck frowns. “Why? Because you’re sleeping with the boss?”
“Yes!” I exclaim, throwing my hands up. “Of course.”
He shakes his head. “I really don’t think that’s the case, Kelsey. I haven’t heard a single grumble, and believe me, I have people reporting to me.”
Hendrix chuckles. “You have spies making sure no one is badmouthing my girlfriend?”
“Yep.” He grins. “I would have nipped that shit in the bud and fast, but it hasn’t happened, or if it has, it’s been too discreet to get back to me.”
I rub my jaw. This is not what I was expecting.
My panic is real. Surely people are talking about me behind my back.
How the hell could they not? They’ve probably kept it on the downlow so they wouldn’t get caught.
No one appreciates finding out the new girl slept her way to the top.
How else could they possibly see this situation?
A knock on the door has me turning my head.
“Come in,” Hollenbeck calls out.
The door opens, and Josephine leans in. “Your first appointment is on their way up, sir.”
“Thank you.”
Josephine backs out and shuts the door.
Hendrix stands and reaches for my hand to pull me up with him. “Thanks for meeting with us. It was…enlightening.”
Mr. Hollenbeck slaps him on the back in that bro-hug way men do. “I’m beyond happy for you. Now you can stop sneaking around. Will I see you at Edge this weekend?”
My eyes bug out. “You’re a member of Edge?” My voice squeaks.
“Yeah. I’ve seen you there a few times, but I stayed out of sight. It wasn’t too hard since you didn’t know me well. I was just one man in the sea of members.”
I swallow hard, all the blood draining from my face. He’s seen me… Naked, no doubt. Oh. My. God.
“Kelsey… What happens at Edge stays at Edge. Always. I would never breathe a word about your membership or any other detail of your preferences. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be yourself at the club if you happen to see me. Pretend I’m a stranger. Do your thing.”
My tongue is stuck to the roof of my suddenly dry mouth. Holy fucking fuck. I can’t form another word as Hendrix guides me out of the office, past Josephine and the waiting client, and into his office.
He shuts the door, turns around, and pins me in, framing me with his palms on either side of my head. “Take a breath, baby.”
My eyes widen. “Hendrix,” I hiss. I’m shaking. My nerves are shot to shit. “Your business partner has seen me submitting at Edge. Naked.” My voice would be shrill, but somehow I find a way to keep the high-pitched manic words muffled.
“He’s not going to tell a soul, Kels.”
Apparently, he never even told Hendrix. For two months, the man saw me at his club without mentioning it.
That does indicate a level of discretion.
Considering how strong their friendship is, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mr. Hollenbeck had called Hendrix the very first time he saw me.
It’s telling that he never said a word, but he also had no idea Hendrix had an interest in me that went beyond pushing my resume to the top of the pile.
Granted, that alone could have made Mr. Hollenbeck take notice.
I tip my head back, nearly banging it on the door. “What a clusterfuck.”
Hendrix, undaunted by my meltdown, kisses my neck. “Such a potty mouth on such a beautiful woman.”
“Hendrix, Mr. Hollenbeck has seen me naked.” This is my only thought.
“And I suspect he’ll see you naked again tomorrow night if he’s there.
Exhibitionism is a kink you enjoy. That doesn’t mean I would let someone else touch you.
Not sexually. I’m not into sharing. Perhaps I would allow another Dom to scene with you if they had expertise in something you were interested in trying that I’m not familiar with.
But I would be with you the entire time.
It would never be sexual except possibly you getting aroused from holding my gaze. ”