To Love and Submit (2 page)

“I’ll think about it.” She smiled at Mandy, wishing she was more like her. Whereas she was petite and skinny, Mandy was tall and statuesque with gorgeous tanned skin and brown eyes, compared to her own pasty pale complexion and green eyes. Whether it was her height and striking cheekbones that gave Mandy so much confidence, Rachel didn’t know, but she envied her flatmate’s ability to make friends so easily and the way she had men falling over themselves to go out with her.

Mandy reached out, took Rachel’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Hey, I’m really glad you’re thinking about sex again. It’s been over a year since you and Paul broke up, so it’s about time.”

“Mandy…” At the mention of Paul, Rachel stood up and dumped her plate and mug in the sink. She hated talking about him so that meant the end of that particular conversation as far as she was concerned.

“Okay, I know, I mustn’t talk about
him
. Anyway, I’m off. See you tonight.” Mandy blew her a quick kiss and grabbed her bag.

“Yeah, bye.”

Rachel didn’t move for at least ten minutes after Mandy left. Her mind was racing with thoughts about this online dating stuff. The idea of meeting some gorgeous hunk who would introduce her to a new world of erotic play, maybe tie her up—spank her even—sent a shudder of excitement through her entire body.

She sighed as memories of Paul returned to haunt her. Would she ever get over him? Mandy was right, it was more than a year since he’d so cruelly dumped her, with tragic consequences, and yet the pain was still as strong as it had been then. Well, there was no way she would ever let a man get to her like that again. If she did meet someone through one of these sites, it would be strictly sex only. Love was seriously off the menu, and until now that had meant sex was as well, but, as her dreams were so persistently reminding her, maybe it was time to give her body a little treat.

Forty minutes later, Rachel tiptoed past her boss’s office in the vain hope that he wouldn’t notice she was ten minutes late. She had been so preoccupied on the Tube that she’d missed her stop and had had to walk back to Holborn, stopping at Starbucks on the way of course. She carefully put her coffee cup on her desk and slid into her chair, silently congratulating herself for not getting caught, when she heard Joe call, “Rachel!”

Damn, he sounded angry. As she scurried towards his office door, she wondered why he was so rattled about her being a teeny bit late. He wasn’t normally so anal about her timekeeping.

“Hi, Joe,” she called brightly, as she burst through the door. One look at his face confirmed her fears—something was definitely wrong. His normally calm composure was gone—instead he looked like he might want to kill her. She tried to recall what had happened yesterday and was just about to reassure herself that she hadn’t made any personal calls or done anything she shouldn’t have, when she remembered the search on her computer.

She’d only wanted to check one tiny little thing, something that had been bugging her for a while that she couldn’t wait to know the answer to. Oh God, she’d done a search on BDSM and what the letters stood for and Joe must have found out. She’d known what the S and M stood for and guessed that the B must have been for bondage, but she hadn’t been sure about the D. She had felt a delicious warmth spread through her body as she’d read the description of discipline and dominance, but she hadn’t had time to finish reading it all so she’d bookmarked the page intending to finish it later. Shit, how was she going to explain that one? She put on her best ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ smile and said, “Anything wrong?”

“Yes, Rachel, very fucking wrong.” Joe stood up and started pacing the small office, his red, round face glowing with rage.

“I was only checking for a friend…” she stammered.

“Fucking Adam Stone,” he interrupted before she could finish. “He may be the CEO of this company, but what gives him the right to steal other people’s staff?” He stopped suddenly and gave her a hard stare. “Checking what?”

“Oh, nothing. Train times.” She could feel her face flush, but he was too angry to notice.

“Come and sit down,” he said, with a sharp edge to his voice.

She was seriously worried now. She had never seen her normally placid boss so agitated. She quickly sat down without another word and waited for him to tell her what was going on.

He returned to his chair and sat down opposite, glaring at her before his eyes softened slightly. “I’m sorry, Rachel, it’s not your fault. I’m just so bloody angry, you know?”

No, she didn’t know, he hadn’t actually told her anything yet. “Joe? What’s happened? Why are you so mad?” Her voice was gentle. She liked Joe and hated seeing him this upset.

He sighed, as if finally resigning himself to the fact that there was nothing he could do. “Adam Stone’s PA is pregnant,” he stated, simply.

That was it? What did Lucy being pregnant have to do with Joe? Oh no, surely not… “Rachel Porter, I can read you like a book. No, I did not get Lucy pregnant!” Despite his anger, his lips curled up into a reluctant smile and he visibly relaxed a bit.

“Why is Lucy’s pregnancy such a problem for you?” she asked, frowning.

“Because there have been complications and she’s been ordered bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy, with immediate effect.” He was staring at her as if that would explain his outburst, but of course it didn’t. Then the bombshell fell. “Stone wants you to replace her.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped. “What? Me? Why?”

“Stone hates temps, refuses to work with them. He has a policy that if Lucy is ever off work, one of the other senior PAs fills in and their boss gets the temp. But Brenda is on sick leave and Hilary leaves at the end of the week.” Joe glared at Rachel with resentment as he spat out his next words, “You’re next in line.”

“But… Joe, I don’t want to work for Mr Stone.” The truth was, Adam Stone scared her shitless. He had a reputation for being ruthless and had reduced many a PA to tears. In fact, she was close to tears herself right now.

Joe smiled at her, not a warm, reassuring smile, but a bitter, defeated one that told her it was no use trying to make him change his mind. It wasn’t his decision to make. “I’m sorry, Rachel, but the boss has spoken and the rest of us have no choice but to toe the line. You’re to make your way up to his office immediately and I wouldn’t take too long about it. Stone is not a man who likes to be kept waiting.”

Rachel felt tears sting her eyes. This was turning out to be one hell of a shitty day and she had a really bad feeling that it was about to get a hell of a lot worse.

Chapter Two

As Rachel stepped into the executive lift that would take her to the top floor, she felt her legs grow weak with nerves. She wasn’t the right person for this job. She was just a secretary who happened to have worked for the same boss for over six years. It was a comfortable and unchallenging role, made even better because she got on well with Joe, her easy-going and undemanding boss.

It was well known that Adam Stone demanded perfection, in every aspect. Lucy, his present PA, was a stylish graduate whose cool efficiency had the respect of every employee at Stone Media. How the hell was she going to fill shoes like that?

She couldn’t do shorthand and her organisational skills left a lot to be desired. Last month she had accidently booked Joe onto a flight to Geneva when he was meant to have been heading to Genoa for a big conference. She had been blissfully unaware of her huge blunder until she’d got a furious call from Joe, who had been stuck at Heathrow watching the Genoa flight take off without him. God, he’d been mad, but she had just about managed to save her skin by getting him on the last Genoa flight out of London, which he’d made with about a minute to spare.

Well, Genoa/Geneva—they sounded almost the same—surely anyone would have made that mistake? Well, maybe not, which was why she wasn’t the right person to do this job. Joe had eventually forgiven her—just—but imagine if she did that to Adam Stone? Her stomach clenched into a tight knot just thinking about it.

The lift came to a stop with a little ping and the doors opened, exposing the lush reception area of the sleek top floor. She hesitated briefly before stepping tentatively out into the line of fire.

“Oh, there you are,” Hilary, the Finance Director’s PA, snapped at her. “Come on, I’ll show you to your office. Mr Stone is out so you’ll have a few minutes to orientate yourself. I’ll be around till the end of the week if you need anything, but then I leave and you’ll be on your own. You’ll have to show my replacement the ropes as you’ll be the most senior PA so you’d better get to grips with the work quickly.” Her tone was brisk and efficient, a bit like her polished, businesslike appearance. She stopped at a glass fronted office and gestured for Rachel to go through the open door.

“This is your office. The password to Lucy’s computer is written in a notebook in the top drawer of the desk and the kitchen for tea and coffee is opposite the lifts.” With that, she walked off, leaving Rachel staring after her like an abandoned puppy. She wanted to run after her and beg her not to leave her alone, but Hilary clearly had her own boss to get back to. Besides which, she didn’t want to appear completely useless in front of her new, and less than friendly, colleague.

So she remained where she was, alone in the silent office, glancing helplessly around. The carpet was a deep blue colour, plush and very expensive by the looks of it, and she felt it squish under her feet as she crossed towards a large mahogany desk by the back wall. A couple of pictures of Mr Stone meeting important people hung on the perfectly painted white walls and she stopped and studied them closely. He was a formidable man, not only in reputation, but in appearance as well. He easily towered over the other men in the pictures and the cold blue eyes that glared into the camera commanded uncompromising respect. She’d met him a couple of times at corporate parties, and, despite his cold and tough demeanour, she’d had a bit of a crush on him as she’d watched him from afar.

She turned away from the pictures to face her new desk and felt a wave of despair. How the hell had she ended up in this position?
I don’t want to be here
, she cried silently. It took all her strength not to run back downstairs and hide behind Joe’s desk. Now, there was a thought—maybe she could convince Joe to refuse to let her go. Surely he had some say in this? But the memory of his defeated face told her that he hadn’t wanted her to go any more than she had, and she knew it would be pointless trying.

Suddenly, the phone shrilled, shattering the silence and dragging Rachel’s mind out of Joe’s office and back to her new one. After an initial moment of panic, she rushed forward and grabbed the receiver before it could divert back to reception. “Mr Stone’s office, can I help you?” she said, as efficiently as she could.

“Lucy?”

“Er, no, Lucy is on leave, this is Rachel Porter.”

Rachel heard an exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh. This is Linda, Lord Granville’s PA. Are you Lucy’s replacement?” The voice sounded impatient and ultra-confident, and Rachel tried to echo Linda’s tone in her reply.

“Yes, that’s right. How can I help you?”

“Lord Granville needs to see Mr Stone today at three o’clock. Is he available?” Linda’s curt tone gave the impression that a negative answer was not an option. But Rachel wasn’t even logged on to her computer yet so she couldn’t access Mr Stone’s diary.
Oh, dear, not a good start
, she thought with a sinking feeling.

“I’m sorry, Linda, I can’t give you an answer right now as there’s a problem with the computer system. IT are looking at it as we speak, so can I call you back in a few minutes?” She bloody well wasn’t going to admit that she didn’t even know how to access Mr Stone’s diary yet, and at least this would give her a few minutes to acquaint herself with Lucy’s computer before she called Linda back.

“Hmm,” came the disgruntled reply. “Don’t take too long, Lord Granville needs an answer.” And with that, the phone went dead before Rachel had a chance to ask for her number.

Rachel replaced the receiver and rummaged in the drawer for Lucy’s notebook.
I’ll show them I can be just as good as Linda, Miss Snooty PA of the Year
, she thought with new-found determination. In which case, it might be a good idea to get her bearings before Mr Stone came back as right then she didn’t know Mr Stone’s office from the stationery cupboard. There was a door in the frosted glass wall to her right and she guessed that would most likely be Mr Stone’s office so she headed there first. As she poked her head round the door she let out a small gasp.

Adam Stone’s office was beautiful—large, airy and very stylish. The office was situated at the corner of the building, giving the room two walls of glass looking out onto the London skyline. In the corner, where the windows met, stood an enormous mahogany desk, similar to hers—only much bigger and completely clutter-free. In the other corner was a suite of black leather sofas and chairs neatly placed around a glass coffee table. To the left of them was an open door leading into a small private meeting room and next to that was Mr Stone’s private bathroom suite.

Wow, how the other half live
, she thought, as she made her way across the office to look out at the view. And it really was exceptional—Big Ben towered proudly over the horizon, competing for dominance with the many grandiose spires and towers, and in the far distance she could just about make out the top of the London Eye.

Without realising it, Rachel lost track of time as she became mesmerised by the sight in front of her.

“Enjoying the view?”

Rachel’s stomach jumped at the same time as her body and she swung round quickly to find herself face to face with Adam Stone. His tall frame filled the doorway as he stood with his arms crossed, watching her with a bemused look on his face.

“I…er… I was just…” Rachel felt a rush of heat shoot up from her neck to her face. Oh crap, she seemed to have lost the power of speech as she squirmed under his intense gaze.

“Enjoying the view, yes, I think we’ve established that. I take it you’re Miss Porter?” His smooth, deep voice held a hint of humour as he watched her struggling to compose herself.