Surrounded By Temptation(13)

“If you reject employment because she’s a woman, she can sue you. It’s discrimination,” Krista said, not looking up from what had to be a law book in her lap.

“It’s not that I think her being a woman makes her incapable of working here. It’s just too dangerous with Rob and Jack.”

“I know that, Josh. We all know that, but we can’t tell her that. Just tell her it’ll be a few months before we’re ready to hire anybody.”

“But I want some help now, kitten.”

“If you hire someone now and she finds out, she can make a stink,” Krista said, finally looking up. “If you tell her you’ve already hired someone but didn’t actually hire a person until later, then she can still scream foul. I think your best bet is to consider hiring her for something that wouldn’t cause her to interact with the other guys and tell her that she has to earn your trust before you bring her in to the company completely.”

Josh growled. “So I’ll be throwing away money on her when she’s not really working?”

“Maybe you can have her work her father’s old land, the part that borders their property. It can be her probationary work. If she does well, then we can bring her on. By then the meds should be fully tested.” Mikaela looked at Ariel. “Right?”

Crap. Ariel hated giving timelines on projects. Not that she didn’t like deadlines, but because something always happened that pushed back those original dates, making her look incompetent. She took a deep breath, considering her response. “I think it’s highly likely everything will be completed by then. However, this process could essentially be going on indefinitely. We have no way of knowing at this point if the men will become tolerant of one of the chemicals in the compound. Immunity could happen quickly or over years. Or it may never be an issue. It’s really too early to tell.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Josh asked, arms crossed but eyes soft, genuinely seeking her opinion.

“I think it’s a risk you have to assess yourself, but if Rob and Jack haven’t ever worked over there and you keep them from that area of your estate, then I don’t see the harm. Technically she’s been over there all these years anyway, I presume. It’s never been an issue before, right?”

“True,” Josh muttered, nodding. Then he turned to his wife. “Okay, let me think on this. We’ll try to work something out, but I want to make sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed before I bring her on.” He looked over at Ariel. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the sooner you work out any bugs the better it’ll be for everyone…but I’m gonna.” He half-smiled at her.

“Understood.” She handed a package over to him. “I actually came in to have this shipped. It’s part of the research,” she added quickly when he frowned at her.

“I’ll make sure Jeffery takes it with him when he runs into town later.”

“Thanks.” She started for the door. “I need to get back to work. Um, is Rob too busy to help me?” She felt her face get hot and couldn’t elaborate on just what she was expecting from Rob. Although she knew everyone in this room had to know what she was talking about.

Josh chuckled. “Rob’s number one job right now is to be at your beck and call. I would say go easy on him, but you just do what you gotta do.”

“Right, okay. I’ll see you guys later. Maybe at dinner.” She shrugged as she left. Honestly, she didn’t know if they’d make it to dinner. Her next test was sure to push all Rob’s buttons.

Ariel quickly walked back to her cabin, not really taking in her surroundings like she’d done before. It was hard to focus on other things when her mind was racing, preparing her for her next seduction. God, if her biochem professor could see her now.

She pushed open the rustic door to her cabin and left it ajar. She pulled out the restraints she’d used yesterday on Rob, but as she stared at them, she knew she wasn’t going to use them. Josh needed her to finish her research as quickly as possible and she couldn’t do that if she was too scared to move forward. Keeping Rob tied up would only serve to keep her sanity regarding her safety and not further the testing along. Tossing them aside, she quickly grabbed her cell and selected Krista’s number.

“Ariel? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Why was she whispering? She cleared her throat. “I need you to contact Rob, have Toby do it if necessary, but I need Rob to think I’ve suffered some kind of crisis. Minor crisis. I don’t want to freak him out completely. Maybe tell him I called you because my bathroom door is stuck or something. In fact, yeah, let’s go with that.”