Read Online Lord of the Bears (Wild Ridge Bears Book 1) by Kimber White - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kimber White
Ads: Link
every advantage God gave
me.
“I’ll make this brief,” he said. “I don’t like ugly scenes. My son came
to me last night with some concerns about your work as of late. These are
concerns I don’t personally share. I’m hoping you can see your way clear to
ignoring my son’s boorish behavior.”
Damon turned and grabbed an envelope off his desk. He handed it to me. My
fingers shook as I took it. I opened it to find a check for five hundred
dollars.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to stand here and pretend this is
something else. You’re firing me because your son has figured out that I don’t
want to date him. That’s quid pro quo sexual harassment by any metric. You
can’t fire me for that. It’s against the law.”
Damon’s shoulders dropped and he pushed his wire-framed glasses further
up his nose. Until this moment, I hadn’t noticed how much Aaron really did look
like him. They had the same hooked nose and downturned mouths. Damon’s hair had
turned cotton white and stuck out in tufts at his temples.
“Miss Gentry, you misunderstand me. No one is firing you. To the
contrary. I told you I don’t share my son’s opinion of the work you’ve done so
far. I want to keep you as part of the Vista Foundation family longer term.
Consider that a bonus.”
My spine prickled. This was hush money. What in God’s name was Damon
Spence afraid of where I was concerned? I wasn’t sure how to play this. He
narrowed his eyes at me and took a different approach.
“You’re pursuing a business degree. This is probably the first job
you’ve ever had that didn’t require you to wear a hairnet. Am I right? The
Vista Foundation and the Spence family have impeccable reputations in important
circles. This is a good career move for you any way you look at it. What’s the
expression about not looking a gift horse in the mouth?”
I bit my lip to contain my anger. It would do me no good to lash out at
him. He also had a point, and the truth of that left a bitter taste in my
mouth. The Spences were worth millions. Aaron had a U.S. congressman for an
uncle, and they had businesses all through the state. Still, every instinct
inside me told me something was wrong about all of this. Aaron clearly wanted
me gone. Damon was bending over backward to keep me happy. I trusted neither of
them.
“Thank you,” I finally said. But I put the envelope back on his desk.
“But I’m not finished with the calendar project. Why don’t you hold on to that
until I am? Then you can decide if it’s worth the bonus you offered me. I just
need to get the SIM card back from Aaron so I can finish work on it.”
Damon stayed rock still but for a tiny flicker at the corner of his
eye. “I’d rather hang on to that,” he said. “It’s got some really impressive
shots on it. We’ll get you a brand new one and you can start fresh.”
My SIM card? Was he kidding? What could he possibly want with the thing?
“Okay, but it looks like Aaron packed up my company laptop. Could I at
least get that back?”
Damon smiled. He reached down into one of his desk drawers and handed
me my laptop. I clutched it to my chest and started to back out of his office.
The sooner I got out of there, the better. This whole thing was just beyond
strange.
“And why don’t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off? Aaron had
you working after hours for a few nights. You’ve earned it.”
Giving Damon a nod , I left and went back to my desk. Kim tried to look
busy as she watched me unpack. I was just about to leave as Damon suggested
when an idea came to me. I’d made a copy of the pictures from the other night
on my hard drive. I had a flash drive in my purse and stuck it into the USB port.
As the desktop fired up, I sighed with relief to see the pictures file I made
was still there. I transferred a copy to the flash drive and stuck it back in
my purse.
It might be a small thing, but a swell of satisfaction rose up in me.
There was something so
me.
“I’ll make this brief,” he said. “I don’t like ugly scenes. My son came
to me last night with some concerns about your work as of late. These are
concerns I don’t personally share. I’m hoping you can see your way clear to
ignoring my son’s boorish behavior.”
Damon turned and grabbed an envelope off his desk. He handed it to me. My
fingers shook as I took it. I opened it to find a check for five hundred
dollars.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to stand here and pretend this is
something else. You’re firing me because your son has figured out that I don’t
want to date him. That’s quid pro quo sexual harassment by any metric. You
can’t fire me for that. It’s against the law.”
Damon’s shoulders dropped and he pushed his wire-framed glasses further
up his nose. Until this moment, I hadn’t noticed how much Aaron really did look
like him. They had the same hooked nose and downturned mouths. Damon’s hair had
turned cotton white and stuck out in tufts at his temples.
“Miss Gentry, you misunderstand me. No one is firing you. To the
contrary. I told you I don’t share my son’s opinion of the work you’ve done so
far. I want to keep you as part of the Vista Foundation family longer term.
Consider that a bonus.”
My spine prickled. This was hush money. What in God’s name was Damon
Spence afraid of where I was concerned? I wasn’t sure how to play this. He
narrowed his eyes at me and took a different approach.
“You’re pursuing a business degree. This is probably the first job
you’ve ever had that didn’t require you to wear a hairnet. Am I right? The
Vista Foundation and the Spence family have impeccable reputations in important
circles. This is a good career move for you any way you look at it. What’s the
expression about not looking a gift horse in the mouth?”
I bit my lip to contain my anger. It would do me no good to lash out at
him. He also had a point, and the truth of that left a bitter taste in my
mouth. The Spences were worth millions. Aaron had a U.S. congressman for an
uncle, and they had businesses all through the state. Still, every instinct
inside me told me something was wrong about all of this. Aaron clearly wanted
me gone. Damon was bending over backward to keep me happy. I trusted neither of
them.
“Thank you,” I finally said. But I put the envelope back on his desk.
“But I’m not finished with the calendar project. Why don’t you hold on to that
until I am? Then you can decide if it’s worth the bonus you offered me. I just
need to get the SIM card back from Aaron so I can finish work on it.”
Damon stayed rock still but for a tiny flicker at the corner of his
eye. “I’d rather hang on to that,” he said. “It’s got some really impressive
shots on it. We’ll get you a brand new one and you can start fresh.”
My SIM card? Was he kidding? What could he possibly want with the thing?
“Okay, but it looks like Aaron packed up my company laptop. Could I at
least get that back?”
Damon smiled. He reached down into one of his desk drawers and handed
me my laptop. I clutched it to my chest and started to back out of his office.
The sooner I got out of there, the better. This whole thing was just beyond
strange.
“And why don’t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off? Aaron had
you working after hours for a few nights. You’ve earned it.”
Giving Damon a nod , I left and went back to my desk. Kim tried to look
busy as she watched me unpack. I was just about to leave as Damon suggested
when an idea came to me. I’d made a copy of the pictures from the other night
on my hard drive. I had a flash drive in my purse and stuck it into the USB port.
As the desktop fired up, I sighed with relief to see the pictures file I made
was still there. I transferred a copy to the flash drive and stuck it back in
my purse.
It might be a small thing, but a swell of satisfaction rose up in me.
There was something so
Similar Books
