Matthew didn’t believe her, she could tell. The raised eyebrow, the stern expression, the way he crossed his arms against his chest in the tiniest suggestion of danger, showed her that. But still she kept quiet. It was under control. It had to be! Or it had to be soon, anyway.
* * *
Jilly was on time to work the next morning, she made sure of it. Despite the evening not having gone any better than any other evening—she spent hours trawling the internet, browsing real estate listings, searching for anything within her price range, but she came up empty. She even expanded her search criteria to include houses in two suburbs over from their current place, but still, there was nothing. Sick with worry, she couldn’t sleep. Although her eyelids were heavy when she dragged herself off to bed not long before midnight, when her head hit the pillow her mind was wide awake, her brain whirling with worst case scenarios.
You won’t end up homeless, she tried to reassure herself, repeating it over and over again into her pillow, like a mantra, but she wasn’t convinced. Every single day she read in the papers of families, especially single mothers like herself, unable to find rentals in the city and ending up in emergency housing, camped in friends’ garages, or living in their cars.
“No way!” she whispered to the darkness. “My daughter is not living in a grotty place like that. I will find us a house, my baby girl, I promise!” But as she lay wide awake, staring at the wall next to her bed, the knots in her stomach getting tighter, she wondered if she had just made a promise she wouldn’t be able to keep.
Even though she was at her desk by 8.56 a.m., Jilly looked around nervously. Janice was standing near the photocopier chatting and Vanessa hadn’t turned up yet. Nobody seemed to notice her at all.
The tenderness in her bottom from yesterday had gone, she noticed, as she sat down, readying herself to start work. The pile of paperwork on her desk for her attention hadn’t gotten any smaller, and she needed to focus.
She was so deep in her work that she jumped slightly, startled, when Matthew came up behind her and placed a sheaf of documents on her desk, leaning down over her to nibble the back of her neck. She sighed and stifled a giggle at the tickle of his whiskers against her skin, arched back toward him and smiled.
“Good morning, Daddy,” she whispered, soft enough for his ears only. She was surprised by how easily the word daddy slid off her lips; she had said it instinctively. She felt his lips curl up in a smile against the side of her neck. He obviously liked it too.
“Good morning, little girl,” he whispered back.
He stood up, patted the papers he’d just given her and straightened up, making his expression stern. “Bring them to my office when you’re done, please,” he ordered gruffly, and winked.
“Yes, sir,” she answered meekly, hiding her smile, before returning her focus to her work as Matthew strode away.
Inwardly, she was both cringing with embarrassment and jumping for joy. Had anyone seen? Vanessa would have, surely. The thought of her secret office romance being found out both thrilled her and mortified her. After all, everybody knew of a secretary who had slept with the boss to get extra perks.
A spanking for being late is hardly a perk, her inner mind grumbled.
Is that what her colleagues would think of her? That she was sleeping with the boss just for the benefits it could give her? Vanessa wouldn’t, surely, and Vanessa was the only one in the entire office complex that she considered to be a friend. Besides, Matthew wasn’t the boss. He was merely the youngest, junior-most partner. And by far the best looking. And all he did was take her out for lunch—which was no different to what the big boss did with Janice. Let them talk, she decided. Then we can see if the no gossiping in the workplace rule is applied evenly, or just to the ones Janice doesn’t like. Like me and Vanessa.
Jilly sighed as she scanned the document for the required additions. If she couldn’t find a new place to live soon, her reputation with her work colleagues would be the least of her worries.
Matthew was on the phone when Jilly tapped lightly on the frame of his open office door, bearing the armful of documents he had asked her to complete for him. Glancing up, he smiled at her, indicated that she shut the door, and go about filing the papers. He finished his conversation soon after and the air was alive with electricity as he got up and shut the door, snibbing the lock, ensuring no one could get in, even with a key. Jilly’s heart raced but she kept her expression neutral, pretending she was unaware of his presence and his actions, carrying on with the filing as though nothing had changed.
But everything has changed! her inner voice screamed. You’re alone in his office with him and he’s just locked the door!
She sucked in a breath as he came up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and placing his hands on the metal filing cabinet on either side of her body, trapping her in place. His hips and thighs touching her, his erection hard against the small of her back, left her in no doubt that she was his. That he had claimed her. That he was going to claim her some more. Right here, right now.
Leaning into her, he trailed one hand up her thigh, sliding his hand under her skirt, his fingers tickling, teasing in the most delicious sensation as they slowly crept closer and closer to her core. Her simple cotton knickers were no barrier; he simply slipped his hand under the elastic, exploring her
