Good Girl (25 page)

She braced herself and went down to
watch the unloading of the sundial.

Chapter 17

Hunter was in his element. There was
nothing he liked better than moving around large pieces of metal. When Kali
came down to watch, that made it even better.

He had always known she was sensitive
and wouldn’t be easily won. But he was sure, in spite of this speed bump, that
she would come back to him. She would just have to do it in her own time.

The driver used the forklift on the back
of the truck to unload each crated piece. They were carefully placed near their
installation locations. He didn’t want to be moving them around a lot.

It took several hours to get the crates
unloaded and the construction fence buttoned back up again. The truck took off,
and Hunter was left alone, surrounded by crates forming the rough outline of
the sundial.

He could already see it taking shape in
the space, even boxed up and contained inside the plywood construction fence.
He had four men coming tomorrow to begin the installation. It would take days
to get everything unpacked and bolted into place.

He was surprised when Kali walked
through the blue gate. He hadn’t expected her to come to him so soon, and he
wanted to reach out to her, to wordlessly take her into his arms so they could
forget everything that had happened. But one look at her closed-off expression
told him she was here on business.

“Selina Stern was fired today,” Kali
told him. “I’m not sure if you checked your email but a notification went out
earlier.”

“No. I didn’t see that.” He laughed, and
said, “I can’t say I’m sorry to hear it.”

“I’ve been put in charge of the sundial
project. So now you’ll be reporting to me.” Her eyes slid away from his.
“SunTech policy doesn’t allow supervisors to date employees in their direct
chain of command.”

“That’s okay. Nobody knows about us. And
they won’t find out.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do it,
Hunter. If I’m caught, I could be fired, too.”

“It’s only for two more weeks. And I’m a
contract employee. Nobody will care what we do.”

“I care. I’m not going to break the
rules I agreed to when I was hired by SunTech.” She was so unemotional as she
spoke, that he could hardly believe this was the same woman who had cried his
name out as she climaxed over and over again.

“Kali, what are you talking about?
You’re not going to break up with me over this. We’ll keep it low key, and
won’t go out anywhere public. But you can’t stop seeing me because of a silly
rule, not when we’re already in a relationship.”

“I’m not sure what we’re doing,” Kali
told him. “After yesterday, I don’t know what to think.”

“You know I’m not seeing Minx.” At her
alarmed expression, he lowered his voice. The windows overlooking the plaza
were glinting in the late afternoon sun, a reminder that people could be
watching from the SunTech offices. “I don’t want to see Minx. I want to be with
you. I’ve barely been out of your sight, so I could hardly see anyone else
without you knowing about it.”

“You want something different than I
do.”

“I want you.”

“Then why do you keep pushing and
pushing me until I feel like I can’t breathe!”

Now he gestured for her to be quieter. “I
thought you liked it. I’ll slow down. I promise. I know we can make this work.”

She looked at him like she wanted to
believe him, like she wanted to agree. But she shook her head. “I’m your
supervisor. I can’t do it.”

Hunter couldn’t believe it. He could see
the desire in her eyes, the way she sparked to him and her gaze lingered on
him. But she was resisting him, like she always did.

“If you want to break up with me because
Minx was at my place yesterday, then just say so. Don’t use this stupid corporate
legalese as an excuse.”

“I’m leaving now.” Kali turned to go
back to the gate.

His hand shot out and he grabbed hold of
her arm.

She gasped, looking up at him. “Let go
of me!”

He couldn’t. He physically couldn’t. It
was like something had taken over his body, a big defiant NO! He couldn’t let
her leave him.

Kali glanced up at the windows of
SunTech. “Let go of me right now, Hunter.”

His fingers spasmed, and he let go. He
was breathing faster, feeling like a fool. What was he doing? That was the best
way to scare her off. But he couldn’t control himself. It was spiraling away
from him again.

She couldn’t leave him.

Kali disappeared around the blue plywood
fence without looking back.

That wasn’t what Hunter had expected.
Kali couldn’t walk away from him like that, not on such a flimsy excuse. Sure
she was mad about Minx and she was afraid he was cheating on her. But deep down
she knew she could trust him.

Didn’t she?

***

The next day and all the next, he kept waiting
for a break in her façade of cool civility. But her eyes didn’t spark to his
anymore, as if she had locked down her real self inside of a Kali-like shell
that went about her work, calmly taking care of everything to prepare for the
launch party as the installation of the sundial continued.

It was excruciating waiting for her to
break.

But she didn’t.

By Thursday, she still hadn’t reached
out to him. Hunter knew he would be alone over the weekend if he didn’t do
something. At least during the week he could see her at work. He knew what she
was doing. He could watch over her.

She couldn’t be happy this way. He
wasn’t.

Hunter waited for her to leave work on
Thursday evening, positioning himself so he could bump into her. She couldn’t
turn down an offer to talk. She must be ready by now. He wouldn’t push it. He
wouldn’t touch her, not until she made it clear she wanted it. He wanted to
make her beg for it to pay for this week, to prove to her that this temporary
separation didn’t mean a thing.

The minutes stretched out until an hour
slipped by, then another. He was afraid he had missed her leaving, but she had
been staying late almost every day because she had to do her job and Selina’s.
When he asked the security guard if Kali Jones had left, the guy said no, and
gave Hunter a searching look. He must have seen him hanging around waiting for
her on the security cameras.

It was almost nine before Kali appeared,
checking her big bag full of folders as if making sure she hadn’t forgotten
anything. “Oh, it’s you,” she said.

“I waited. You must be hungry. Let’s go
get something to eat so we can talk.”

She was already shaking her head. “I
told you, Hunter. We can’t date.”

“It’s not a date. We’re two co-workers
having dinner. People do it all the time.”

“Yeah, right. After what we’ve been
doing, you want me to act like we’re just work buddies? Lie to myself
and
my job? No, thanks.”

“You can’t leave it like this between
us. You’ve got it all wrong about Minx. I need to explain it to you.”

“I understand, Hunter. Better than you,
maybe. Oh, I doubt you cheated on me with Minx, but you can’t deny you’re still
in a relationship with her. You’re still her master, and pushing her away to be
with me is just another part of your power dynamic with her. The point is—there
will always be another Minx. You want other women in your life. And I can’t do
that.”

“It’s different with you. I want to be
with you, and if it has to be monogamous, then I can do that. You have to give
me a chance.”

“If that was it, I probably would try, Hunter.”
She blinked and looked away for a second. “But when I found out you were
training me to serve you. And I didn’t even know it… you kept saying we had to
be honest with each other. But I just can’t be what you want! I’m so afraid
you’re pushing me into a role that will eat me up alive.”

He shook his head, reaching out to her.
“No, Kali! That’s not it—”

But she pulled back, warding off his
hands. Her glance up at the camera sealed it. “I’m going home,” she said.

He started to go with her, but she stopped
and warded him off again. “Not with you.”

“Kali, for Christ’s sake, it’s late. Let
me go with you on the subway, at least.”

“No!” She glared at him. “You don’t
always get your way, Hunter. I’m going home. Alone.”

“Kali!” he called after her. “This is silly.
I have to take the same subway.”

“Not with me, you don’t,” she called
over her shoulder.

He couldn’t follow her. Not after that.

Very aware of the security guard
watching through the cameras, he pulled out his phone and checked it casually, as
if nothing was wrong. Maybe they understood everything from Kali’s defiant body
language, but he wasn’t going to give them anything else on him. But he still
didn’t think anyone would care if they had dinner together. Or if they were
having sex, in fact.

So why was Kali doing this?

After a few minutes, he also left. He
wanted to speed up to catch her, but that would only aggravate her more. He
probably shouldn’t have tried to talk to her so soon.

He caught sight of her on the platform
of the L train, but she didn’t see him. He boarded a few cars back and stayed
out of sight. He was tempted to get off at her stop, but if she caught him it
would set him back even further. So he forced himself to stay on the train and
go home.

His studio had never felt so empty. All
of his art work looked flat and contrived. The sounds of sirens outside never
seemed to stop for long. The thumping of music through the walls was like his
pounding brain.

He still couldn’t believe that she
really meant to end it. She was just trying to get control of the situation, so
she could feel more comfortable. He was challenging all of her preconceived
notions. It was bound to be frightening.

He would have to wait her out.

***

Friday evening, he was surprised when
Kali left around her normal time. She was with a bunch of SunTech people.

Hunter pulled back behind the
construction fence in time so she didn’t see him. But he saw her. She was
laughing.

He slowly trailed them around the corner
and saw the group go into an Irish pub at the other end of the block.

She was laughing.

Before he knew it, he was standing in
the doorway, scanning the pub. The SunTech people were gathering at a back
table, pulling out chairs. He slipped onto a stool at the front of the bar and
ordered a beer.

Kali was sitting between two guys.
Talking and laughing. They were all having fun. She had told him about the
Friday bar nights, but they had never gone together because they were on the
down-low.

Hunter had never seen this side of her,
among her own friends. Going back to Jefferson wasn’t the same—she was an
outsider there now. But here, she was just Kali. Not Hunter’s new submissive,
or her mother’s daughter. He should have known he was missing something. Some
crucial piece of information about Kali.

Then one of the guys leaned in closer to
Kali and whispered in her ear. She shot him a wide-eyed look, one he knew so
well, then giggled with her hand covering her mouth.

A wave of red anger burned through him.

No!

They were flirting! His hands clenched
and he wanted to march over there and drag the idiot away from her. He knew it
was madness. He could ruin everything with one stupid move. But there was a
compulsion to go.
Just do it. Pop him one...

Hunter knew he was staring. Knew his
emotions were running high, and he was letting it happen. He wanted to smack
his own face and order himself to shape up! Walk out!
Stay away until the
girl says yes…

He was on his feet. He didn’t remember
how.

Then he jerked. Hunter forced himself to
take a step, then another, turning to the door. His joints felt locked, like he
could hardly move. But he made himself walk outside.

On the sidewalk, he took a deep breath.
It was easier now that he couldn’t see them, with the guy’s nose buried in her
hair. Her quick glance at him, that shy smile.
Kali…

He jerked again, and forced himself to
take another step away. If he went back in, he would do something that could
ruin his life. He was going crazy! He had to save himself.

Like a drowning man, he fought for each
step to get to the subway. But he couldn’t go home. He couldn’t get off the
train.

He rode it all the way to the end, to
Canarsie in southern Brooklyn, where the train sat for ten minutes with the
doors open. The fresh breeze smelled like the ocean, and he took his first real
breath since seeing Kali with that guy.

It was only then that the numbness
washed away, the protective shield that he had used to get away.

Then he got mad.