I, Porn Star(48)

I half-snort as I change into uniform for my last day. Miguel is nowhere to be seen, which is a little surprising, but I secure my locker and head for Sully’s office.

The middle-aged man listens to me, a thoughtful frown in place, and shrugs when I’m done thanking him. “It’s no big deal. What I did for you, I hope someone else would’ve done for my kid. I’ll have a job on my hands to get someone for Mr. Blackwood though. He seems taken with you.”

My heart skips a beat. “I don’t think so.”

Sully smiles. “You know how many times the man’s had lunch in his office since he took over from his father three years ago?”

I shake my head.

“Far less than you think. And certainly not every day for a week like he has this past week.”

“I…I don’t think that was because of me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Elly. The best things come in small packages. Or so my wife tells me.” He waves me away. “Go on, now. Make the best of your last day. And don’t forget to come pick up your pay when you’re done.”

The morning rushes by, probably because time, like the rest of my life, is determined to give me the finger, and before I know it, I’m standing in front of Quinn’s frosted doors. His EA, a sylph-like brunette with an expression as neutral as Switzerland, aims a remote at the door to release the lock.

“He’s not in yet, but he’s on his way up. He wants you to proceed as normal.”

I start to nod, but she’s already re-engrossed in her task. I wheel in the trolley and unload today’s offering of sushi and accompanying dishes. I’m setting down the crystal goblet containing bluefin tuna topped with Osetra caviar when I sense him behind me.

“Elly. Hello.”

I swallow and turn around. “Hello, Mr. Blackwood.”

Eyes as bright and deadly as the sun rake me up and down before they settle on my mouth. “Call me Quinn, please. Mr. Blackwood is a man who has the unhealthy habit of wanting to make his employees do things they may not want to,” he divulges in a stage whisper, sexy and pulse destroying.

My breath reacts accordingly. “Things like what?” I ask before I can stop myself.#p#分页标题#e#

He half-turns and throws his coat over the sofa. “Things I deem wise not to introduce before lunch, in case it turns your stomach.”

“I’m not delicate.”

For some reason, that reply invites that terrifying deathly stillness. Only his eyes move. He tracks my lips to my racing pulse. From my breasts to my hips to my feet and back up.

“Do you know how I feel about you, Elly?”

I actually gasp in shock at the unexpected question. “I…no, I don’t.”

He nods, as if we’re discussing the price of Kobe beef. “That’s fortunate because I don’t know either, save to admit that every time I hear you speak, every time you look at me, I want to reach for that cheap garment that has the audacity to lay against your perfect skin, rip it off your body and spend a considerable amount of time doing terrible things to you. So I’m most relieved to learn you’re not delicate.”

The latent power behind his words, the fierce focus propels me back a step. My hip bumps the dining table. “You can’t.”

He strides forward, his gaze merciless. “Mr. Blackwood most definitely can. Quinn undeniably wants to. But he’s prepared to listen to pleading arguments.”

“Do you often think of and refer to yourself as separate entities?”

A whisper of a smile threatens to transform his face, but a stronger force, a frightening force, devours it before it can live. “My shrink probably thinks I am. She finds me…challenging. In fact, she may have had a hand in this little vignette.”

My eyes widen. “She told you to tell me what you want to do to me?”

“She advocates laying one’s card on the table. The only card I’m interested in right now is the I-want-to-fuck-you-blind card. And since you’re not running screaming out the door, perhaps her idea has merit, after all?”

Blood rushes through me at the speed of lightning. My tongue is so thick in my mouth I have to maneuver my jaw before I can speak. And each word I’m about to utter feels like it’s riveted with spikes. “Mr.…Quinn, I’m sorry, but today’s my last day.”

He doesn’t blink. “Your last day.”

I swallow hard and nod. “Yes, I handed in my notice this morning.”

“Why?”

My teeth worry the inside of my lip while I fight to maintain eye contact. Looking away will rat me out. “My position was never permanent and I…I need to take some time off for personal reasons.”