Safeword Quinacridone (34 page)

Travis nodded, feeling better, and changed the subject. “Cara wants to see someone being pissed on and forced to drink it.”

Paul smiled. “It’d be a turn-on for me to make Meg do it in front of her. We’ve only done it around others at kinky camp so far, and the couples around us were doing it, too. It’ll be harder for Meg if she knows Cara’s never done it.”

“How do you want the evening to play out?” Travis grinned. “I can have the two of you over for the entire day, or just an evening, or for an overnight.” He grumbled in frustration. “Normally, I’d say we’d be safe using the side section of the backyard, but the paparazzi have been buzzing us at odd hours via helicopter.” He rolled his eyes and sighed. “It’s so much easier when you can just let it soak into the ground in an off the way area, but I’ll order some tarps to line the garage floor.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t created a gadget to disable any helicopters flying too close to your house.”

“The thought’s crossed my mind.” He shook his head, rolled his eyes good-naturedly this time, and smiled. “It’s scary how well you know me sometimes.”

Paul didn’t say anything, so Travis answered his unasked question. “I could do it easily enough, but would risk knocking out my own electronics, along with theirs; and it’d endanger too many lives — pilot, paparazzi, and whoever the ‘copter crashed into. I’d hoped they’d move on by now, but they’re positive of a juicy story and they’re as tenacious as a pit bull, assuming if they keep at it we’ll screw up and give them a million dollar scoop, but I don’t want to talk about them. Would you like to plan a scene? How should the evening to go?”

Paul raised an eyebrow as he considered the question. “Do you want to piss on her, too? Fuck her? Either way, once I get her really deep I like to keep her there, so all day would be better.”

Shaking his head, Travis said, “No, I won’t fuck or use anyone else. I need Cara to know she’s important, and part of the way I’ll show her is by fucking only her. The other men didn’t see her as a person, just something to screw. I need to make sure she sees me as different than
...
the others.”

“I see. It makes sense, and your intuition’s probably right on this one. Okay then, two separate couples, with no switching? Hmmmm, let me think a moment.”

“There’s nothing to say the two of us can’t objectify Cara together, and if you want to use her, that’ll play into her kinks. I just don’t want to have sex with anyone else.”

Paul’s face broke into an evil smile. “What if we objectify the two of them together? We could create a tableau of the pair, something to objectify Cara and debase Meg, and cover both kinks with one fell swoop.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cara sat at the conference room table and used the pointer to review the presentation and refresh her memory. Travis
had
hired two graphics designers from a local firm that’d gone out of business, and Cara and Timothy were supposed to bring the new people up to speed on the project so they could hit the ground running. However, Timothy had called to tell her he was caught in traffic
and
she’d have to start without him.

The interstate was apparently a parking lot, with a jackknifed truck blocking all lanes in one direction. She’d hoped the women were in the same gridlock, but they were coming from the north and would
arrive
on time.

Nervous, she reset the presentation to the beginning and walked into the alcove to grab a bottle of water. The conference room door opened and closed, and she was about to step into the room and introduce herself when she heard two women talking.

“I’m not so sure, Connie,” said a woman in what Cara thought might be a Russian accent. “I mean, Travis Winslow doesn’t seem the kind of man who’d give someone a job because she was screwing him.”

“Maybe not just for fucking him, but who knows what kinky stuff he makes her do? If I’d known I’d have to work under a bitch with no clue what she’s doing and only has the job ‘cause she’s boning the boss, I’d have turned down the position. But now, if I quit, how will it look on my resume? I’m stuck, dammit all.”

“Just give her a chance. Travis Winslow seems too business savvy to put someone incompetent in charge.”

Cara didn’t know what to do. The only way out of the alcove was back into the conference room, but she didn’t want them to realize she’d heard their conversation. Timothy was still ten or fifteen minutes away, so she’d have to think of something.

She briefly considered stepping into the room and confronting them. Travis would likely back her if she fired them, even though technically she was sure she didn’t have the authority
;
but she’d also seen their work and knew they were good, and could be an asset to the project.

What would she say if she confronted them? That Timothy had hired her before she’d started dating Travis? That Timothy was in charge and they’d report to him, not her?

Unhappy with everything she could think of to say, she silenced her phone and texted Tricia.
Please meet the 2 new ppl in the conference room and show them the restroom & break room — tell them us girls have to stick together or... whatever, just make it not seem odd.

She hit send and tapped:
Please. Will explain later.

Tricia texted back a quick
Sure
, and less than a minute later stuck her head in the door, introduced herself, and whisked the two of them away.

They were only gone a few minutes and Cara was seated at the conference table when they returned. She smiled and said, “Tricia! I’m glad you’re here, Timothy’s running late — want to help me bring these two up to speed?”

“Sure, but I’m wondering why neither Travis or Timothy felt it necessary to mention the two new people are women. Until you came along I was the only female on this end of the building, now there’ll be four of us.”

Cara laughed. “You forget I don’t have my own office
,
it’s just the three of you.”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself, the one you’ve been using is yours and you may as well bring stuff in to personalize it. They’ve set up another guest office for visiting consultants.” Without giving Cara a chance to respond, she rushed into introductions. “Petra and Connie, this is Cara Jamieson. She’s a kick-ass artist and gives us great images to work with. Sometimes I think she and Travis can see into each other’s imaginations, so she’s the one to ask if you aren’t clear on how best to bring a concept to life.”

Cara would have to ask about the office later, but not in front of the new people. She waved at the chairs and said, “Please, have a seat and get comfortable. Timothy was caught in traffic so I’ll get us started. I understand one of you is especially skilled with animation?”

Connie nodded and gestured to the other woman. “That’d be Petra. She has mad skilz. My animation talents lie more in filming a person doing an activity and mapping the movements to the CGI character.”

“Well, welcome to the group.” Cara smiled. “I’m told both of you’ve signed the necessary non-disclosure paperwork, so it’s time to tell you about the project.”

Cara began the presentation and asked Tricia for input several times. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt important sh
e make friends with these woman. S
he didn’t want them to think of her as the idiot bitch fucking the boss
, but
wanted them to see someone who knew what she was doing and who had her job because she’s good, not because she’s doing kinky stuff with the owner of the company.

When Timothy finally arrived she tried to hand him the pointer but he insisted she finish since she’d started, and he mostly sat and listened, only offering input when Cara asked him for it.

Timothy called the rest of the team in for a meeting once he felt the two were caught up, and they had their regular weekly status update and brainstorming session. Cara was thankful Travis sat across the table from her and kept things businesslike without treating her different from anyone else.

When the meetings were finally over Cara found herself not-so-subtly dragged back to Tricia’s office, with the door firmly closing them in.

“Okay, spill,” said Tricia, her arms folded over her chest as if she knew Cara would want to pretend nothing had happened.

The two had become good work friends, and Cara sighed and fell backwards
i
nto one of the huge-assed beanbags Tricia chose instead of the loveseat in most offices on this end of the building. “It’s nothing, really. I was getting a bottle of water when they came in, so they didn’t realize I was there, and they were speculating about me. I just figured it’d be best if they didn’t know I heard them.”

Tricia dropped her arms and scowled. “Speculating? What do you mean? What’d they say?”

“Can’t we just skip this? It’s not important, really.”

“I disagree. The company works so well because we all get along. I never wondered if you knew what you were doing, and was never jealous of or threatened by you, even when it came out you were dating Travis. I liked Petra, wasn’t so sure about Connie, but figured she’s probably nervous and overwhelmed so I’d give her some time. The last thing we need is two catty bitches screwing up how great we all work together. Tell me what they said so I can help keep an eye on things. I’ve got your back, you know that, right?”

Cara sighed. “It wasn’t the two of them. Connie said she didn’t know she’d have to report to me, and if she’d known she’d be under someone who didn’t know what they were doing and only got the job ‘cause they were screwing the boss, she wouldn’t have accepted the position.” She shrugged. “Petra told her to give me a chance.”

Tricia rolled her eyes and looked exasperated. “That’s why you kept trying to downplay your role. Shit Cara, it wouldn’t hurt you to stick up for yourself. I’m pissed off on your behalf, and I’m sure Travis would fire her o
n the spot if he knew what she
said.”

“Don’t tell him!” Cara said it louder than she meant, and lowered her voice to continue. “They’re both very good and I don’t want it my fault we don’t have their talents.”

Tricia crossed her arms again. “Did you know they were women? When you reviewed their work, were there any names attached?”

Cara shook her head and Tricia said, “What’s up with that? I saw a bunch of examples but the files were labeled as numbers — no names.”

Happy to change the conversation, Cara said, “Travis and Timothy thought it odd they picked the two women, and worried they were trying to balance things out in their subconscious.
T
hey removed anything that might identify gender from the portfolios, questionnaires, and resumes; and numbered each person so we could keep them straight. Think about it, if you’d known there were ten males and two females, wouldn’t you’ve second guessed your choice if you’d picked the two women?”

Tricia sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ve no idea if they’re who I recommended or not, but I know Timothy and Travis took our opinions into consideration when making their final decision.” She tapped the leg of her desk a few times with the toe of her scuffed black army boot and looked up, her voice solemn. “I’m not promising to keep my mouth shut about this. I’m not planning to immediately blab, but if I see any issues with Connie I’ll have a talk with Timothy.”

“Dammit Trish, if there’s any chance Travis might find out later I need to tell him now.” She rolled her eyes at Tricia’s pointed look. “I wasn’t planning to lie but I hoped I could just
...
not tell him.”

Tricia dropped onto the other gigantic beanbag, facing Cara. “I have a feeling ya’ll don’t keep much from each other.”

Cara shook her head. “No, we talk about pretty much everything. I don’t know how to tell him about this, though.
He’s so damned protective of me
and I don’t think this should get Connie immediately fired.”

“Yeah, this is a tough one. It’s not the kind of thing you’d take to a boss under normal circumstances, but it’s the sort of thing a boyfriend will expect to be told about.”

“Do you think it’s wrong for me to work here? I’ve let Travis convince me we could manage without it getting weird, but—”

Her cell phone rang and she dug it from her pocket. It was Travis, of course.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Tricia’s office. What’s up?”

“I’m just down the hall
;
be there in a sec.”

He clicked off and she dropped her phone into her lap, sighing as she said, “He’s coming.”

“What’re you gonna do?”

She shook her head, shrugged. “Tell him, and hope he doesn’t overreact?”

The door echoed two soft knocks and opened. Travis stuck his head in first, then stepped in, leaving the door open but stopping a few steps into the room, considering. He looked at Cara, then Tricia, and turned to close the door.

“Since I’m in Tricia’s office I think it’s appropriate to borrow her terminology.” He leaned back against her desk, propping a hip on it, both hands braced over the edge. “Spill.”