Under His Control (For His Pleasure, Book 18) by Kelly Favor Read Free Book Online Page A

uneasy.
    She decided to make a cup of tea and try to get her thoughts straight.
    Don’t call him because you’re hoping for something more. If he cared about you at all, really cared about you, he’d have checked in by now.
    Kennedy watched her teapot slowly come to a boil, standing in her claustrophobic kitchen and staring at the flame from the gas burner as it tickled the bottom of the pot.
    Finally, the pot started to squeal, whistling in a high pitch that subsided as she removed the teakettle from the flame and poured the water into a mug. She let it steep for a few minutes, still considering her options.
    By the time she was sipping at the piping hot mug, Kennedy knew she had to call Easton first.
    She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for Easton. Who knew how or when he would bother to tell her what was going on?
    Kennedy put down her mug on the counter and picked up her phone. She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders.
    Nicole told you that you might still have a job, and you have every right to find out if that’s the case.
    Having determined her own rights, Kennedy felt just a little bolder and ready to stand up to Easton if he tried to make her feel bad for calling him.
    She dialed his number and waited.
    He didn’t pick up. Instead, it went to voicemail after a handful of rings. She pictured him sending her to voicemail, staring at his caller ID with a look of disgust on his face.
    She imagined him in a meeting with a beautiful woman who he was interviewing to replace Kennedy.
    The thought nearly drove her mad with desperation and jealousy, even though she knew she was being crazy.
    She hung up her cell and decided to send him a text instead. That way, Kennedy thought, she could be fairly certain to get some sort of response from him.
    I should have texted him to start with.
    Kennedy’s pulse was racing and she was sweating lightly, as if she’d been doing some exercise before picking up the phone.
    What to say? How to phrase it to give the right impression of professional interest without letting Easton know just how badly she wanted his response?
    Just keep it honest, simple, and solely related to the job .
    Yes , Kennedy thought, nodding her head. Keep it simple and honest.
    She wrote a very elegant, professional text to Easton and sent it before she could second-guess her decision. It read:
    Hi, it’s Kennedy. I met with Nicole Jameson today and she told me that I might still have my job with the company. Please let me know when we can discuss.
    She read it back over and over, making sure that she hadn’t written anything that would come back to haunt her or embarrass her in some way.
    After a dozen rereads, Kennedy felt more and more confident that she’d written Easton the perfect text. There hadn’t been even the slightest whiff of emotionality or unprofessionalism. He had to respond, didn’t he?
    But as the time drew on, and her tea cooled, and she sipped and sipped, refilling her mug more than once, waiting next to her cell phone.
    Nothing.
    Maybe Easton’s in a meeting .
    But after hours went by, and then afternoon descended into early evening, and early evening into night, Kennedy realized that Easton was ignoring her.
    The thought simultaneously terrified and angered her. What right did he have?
    She was an employee, and one who it could be said had been sexually harassed by her boss—( well, it’s not harassment because you wanted it at least as much as he did )—and yet that same boss had the nerve to ignore her.
    Kennedy’s frustration was growing, but she didn’t know what to do about it. If Easton wouldn’t respond to her, about the only thing she could do was to show up at the office and confront him.
    Bad idea.
    Yes , she thought. Bad idea. But he’s leaving me no choice.
    Now you’re just talking crazy.
    She decided to sleep on it. In any case, she was growing tired. Meeting with Nicole and Riley had taken a lot out of her.
    Kennedy got in the bath and tried to