Page 35 of Pure Recklessness

With a very naked Mr Devlin inside it.

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What a fucking day.

As the hot water from the rainfall shower drenched my hair and cascaded down my body, I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my stress levels to reduce.

There was no way I could’ve gone ahead with that dinner with one of our new authors and her agent tonight. My stress levels were through the roof, so I had no option but to cancel.

I’d already tried running off my frustration on the treadmill in the company gym and that hadn’t worked. So after a five-mile sprint, I’d returned to my office and now I was in the shower about to try the only other thing that helped to relieve my stress: blowing my load.

I couldn’t be arsed to call any of the women I had on speed dial for hook-ups. It’d take too long arrange to meet and I needed to release.

Now.

If I could stop my brain from whirring, I’d be able to think more clearly. I’d find a solution for resolving the massive problem the company was facing.

Heath had told me earlier that there were rumours that the long-standing supplier we used to manufacture our lingerie had been exploiting workers, by paying them below minimum wage and forcing them to work in conditions that were unsafe.

At this stage, it was just rumours and Heath and Oscar were already investigating their validity. But if they were true, the ramifications for Sated could be catastrophic.

Being associated with that kind of manufacturer could damage our reputation beyond repair.

Lingerie sales were a valuable part of our business. And any negative media coverage and social media backlash could result in customers boycotting our brand, leading to job cuts, store closures and a drop in revenue which would be disastrous.

The board and our investors would be livid.

It’d break Mum’s heart if we had to close any stores.

And the idea of job cuts was gut-wrenching.

Some of our staff had worked at those stores for decades. They relied on us. Trusted Sated to keep their jobs safe so they could feed their families. Now there was a chance that everything could go tits up.

After what happened last year under my watch, our competitors would have a field day.

There’d be more scrutiny. And more negative stories like the one that Eleanor had mentioned in her presentation.

Eleanor.

An image of her sitting at my desk popped into my head.

As I thought about the way she hadn’t held back from telling me how much I’d fucked up and that the company was losing market share, my dick twitched.

I liked that she hadn’t been afraid to speak the truth, even when she could see that it pissed me off.

A flashback of her walking away in that hideous brown skirt invaded my thoughts.

That vision alone should’ve instantly made my dick deflate, but for some reason, it had the opposite effect.

I got harder.

Fuck.

It wasn’t right for me to think of her like that.

Especially because she was clearly so pure.