Mal: Then you'll do it.
Lacey: You know how to bribe a woman.
Mal: I do what I can.
Lacey: What if I don't quit tomorrow?
Mal: Then we can't celebrate.
Lacey: This is sexual blackmail.
Mal: And?
Lacey: It's effective.
Mal: I know.
All day, I avoid any conversation with Danielle.
I write five different resignations and delete them all.
I write ten different notes on scratch paper and tear up every one.
I need to do this.
I should have done it as soon as I accepted the offer to shoot the video.
But that doesn't help steady my hands.
Mal taunts me with his texts.
He promises to tie me to the bed.
To make me come until I beg him to stop.
Until I pass out.
To fuck me so hard I can't breathe.
He sends me a picture of his under-the-bed restraints.
Of his riding crop.
Of him, from his nose to that v just below his hips.
God, I want to trace every line on his body—the muscles and the tattoos. I want to feel the weight of him sinking into me. I want to taste his lips and his neck and his cock.
Danielle's voice pulls me from my dirty thoughts. "You can head home as soon as you've finished with those emails."
Right. Emails. I smile like I'm paying attention.
Only Danielle is reaching for her purse. She's about to leave for her last meeting.
I have to do this now.
"Danielle." I push up from my seat. My stomach rises up in my throat. Holding her gaze is making this impossible.
"Yes?" She clears her throat and makes that you're wasting my time noise.