Propositioning Love

Stepping up to me, his hand cups my cheek. “Zoe, baby, are you okay?”

I don’t know what I am. Chad is scrambling to get off the floor, and my heart is still racing like I’m in danger. I’m so cold, Bry’s palm is burning hot against my cheek.

Opening and closing my lips, I just shake my head at Bry.

Honestly, I feel like I’m about to throw up.

“You—you—you can’t do this to me! You assaulted me! I’m calling the police!” Chad cries out as he gets to his feet.

Bry’s face contorts into a mask of rage and he swings around to face Chad.

“You’re lucky I didn’t fucking kill you! You just assaulted my future wife!” Bry roars at him.

I’m not the swooning type, but Bry’s face is so furious it’s a little terrifying. Clenching his fists at his sides, his red tie is askew, and his normally perfect hair is all ruffled. A few strands fall down into his face, in front of his glaring eyes, and his jaw is clenched so tight he’s probably cracking teeth. The way he’s breathing, as if he’s barely controlling himself, makes him look like he could bust all the seams of his suit at any second.

Chad visibly flinches after Bry’s roar and then there’s this moment of silence before a burst of hushed whispers and murmurs hits my ears.

Ripping my gaze away from the scene playing out in front of me, I glance toward the doorway to see a crowd of people squeezed in, gawking.

Fuck, half the office must be there, trying to peek in.

Humiliation washes over me and I shrink against the counter, wishing I could disappear.

“Your future wife?” Chad sputters in disbelief, and then he starts laughing. “She’s a fucking prostitute! A whore! I was just giving her some business!”

It’s Bry’s turn to flinch, and I sure as fuck don’t understand why that statement would hurt him. Then the color floods back to his face. Redder, angrier.

He takes a step toward Chad, growling, “Get the fuck out of my office. You’re fired!”

“Fired? After you assaulted me?” Chad turns toward the crowd for help. “Did you see him attack me?”

“Get out!” Bry roars, losing his patience.

“Bry! Bry!” Ariel cries out, pushing and elbowing her way through the group of people clogging up the doorway. Stumbling into the room, she takes in everything with wide eyes before asking, “What’s going on here?”

Eyes still boring into Chad as if he’s daring him to try something, Bry grits out between his teeth, “I just fired Mr. Pennington for sexually assaulting Miss. Adams. Call security and have them escort him from the premises.”

“Sexually assaulting?!” Chad scoffs. “She’s a whore! She was asking for it!”

Bry looks as if he’s going to lunge at Chad and murder him, but Ariel grabs him by the arm, stopping him at the last second.

“Shall I call the police too?” Ariel asks.

At first Bry just looks through her, then he finally nods his head.

“Yeah, go ahead and call the police!” Chad blusters, looking flustered. “So I can tell them all about Ms. Adams soliciting her services here in the office.”

Jesus Christ, he’s really sticking to this whole prostitution thing. I look to Bry, expecting him to defend me, to tell Chad and the entire office that I’m not a prostitute…

But he completely ignores it.

What the fuck is going on?

“Perhaps we should discuss all of this in private,” Ariel says, keeping her hand firmly on Bry’s arm.

She looks to me then to the crowd still watching all the drama play out.

“Perhaps that would be best…” Bry hisses. Shaking Ariel’s hand off, he turns to the crowd. “Show’s over. Everyone back to your desks.”

When no one makes a move to leave, Bry snaps out, “Those who don’t return to work will be escorted from the building permanently!”

That threat gets everyone’s butts moving.

“Why?” Chad calls out as the crowd thins out. “Don’t want everyone to know you hired Zoe as your personal prostitute?”

Fuck my life. I wish he would just stop.

“If he doesn’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to feed him all his teeth before the police get here,” Bry warns Ariel, once again letting Chad get away with calling me a whore.

But maybe I’m being too hard on him. He did just rush to my defense, and it seems like it’s taking a lot of his self-control to keep himself from pummeling Chad.

So I decide to speak up for myself. “I’m not a fucking whore, Chad! You’re just a slimy fucking creep who doesn’t understand stop or no!”

Bry glances at me, and god help me I can’t tell what that look on his face is at first. I stare into his eyes and then I see a flash of something. Something that looks a lot like pain.

What the fuck? Seriously, what the fuck?

Chad laughs and leans around Bry to taunt me. “I know all about your little deal. Where did you two meet? On the street corner?”