Sexual Integrity

by J. A. Dennam

  But what if he was wrong? If he stormed into the darkroom to find it empty, would he be so gung-ho to tell the truth? Fuck yeah, the thought of delaying the inevitable didn’t sit well anymore. This needed to happen, especially before she made a huge mistake with Roger. That doughboy wasn’t right for her, and the only reason she wanted him was because she thought he was someone else.

  Before he made it to the hallway, a flustered Brooke burst onto the scene. “Don’t even think of trying to steal my clients,” she snarled in passing.

  Ethan stopped in his tracks and watched her storm toward her desk. The impact of seeing her and what she’d said to him left him floundering in a fog for a moment.

  Oh, she’d been in the darkroom alright. She’d heard him with her clients through the paper-thin wall. The question, though, was what exactly had pissed her off? Was it the thought of him horning in on her territory, or was it because she’d just found out her “lover” wasn’t whom she thought?

  When Brooke made it to her desk, Ethan studied her carefully. Her face was flushed, and her brows were creased in angst. She disappeared behind the partition for a moment. There was a suspicious “thunk” before she reappeared with her portfolio tucked under her arm, and then she headed to the conference room. As soon as the door opened, her somber expression morphed into a dazzling, professional smile.

  Since she would be busy for a while, Ethan decided it was a good time to get some answers. First, he needed to know what exactly had made that “thunk.” He took a look at her desk and found that the flowers were gone. He moved her chair, pulled out the wastebasket…and there they were.

  Yes, she was definitely pissed. Ethan decided it was time for a one-on-one with Roger to find out just how involved he’d become in the growing monster Shannon had created. When she’d approached him Monday morning in hopes of a little forgiveness, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to oblige. He knew now it was because he was coiled up inside, waiting for the bigger shoe to drop, and that her only shot at forgiveness would be in how well she fixed her mistake.

  His mistake. Hell, even Brooke’s mistake. After all, the woman did choose to have sex in the workplace.

  As Ethan pushed Brooke’s chair back into place, he caught sight of Roger entering the administrative department. The man was on a mission, headed straight for him.

  Ethan met him halfway and backed him up a few steps toward the break room.

  “Get the hell off me, Wolf,” Roger grumbled as he tripped backward through the swinging door.

  “You wouldn’t happen to be looking for Brooke, would you?” Ethan asked, blocking the only escape route.

  Roger heaved a few breaths, clearly in a state of distress. “Yeah, so what?”

  “She’s with clients. Is there something I can help you with?”

  “It’s none of your goddamned business.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Ethan stepped closer and saw the worry in the other man’s eyes. “Were you in the darkroom with her just now?”

  Roger squinted. “What? No.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, I’m sure!” he snapped. “I tried finding her for some appointment we were supposed to have and I couldn’t. I finally gave up looking, and the next thing I know she storms into the server room and tells me to go to hell.”

  Despite how good that made him feel, Ethan’s suspicions only grew. “So you didn’t send her the roses?”

  “What roses?”

  It was starting to smell like a setup. Ethan ran a hand over his mouth and began to pace. “Shit.”

  Shannon walked in with a handful of quarters. As soon as she processed the scene, she attempted to back out without a word.

  “Hold up,” Ethan growled, halting her retreat. “Why don’t you fill in some blanks for our friend here before things get worse.”

  Shannon glanced at Roger. Roger glanced at Shannon. The signals were flying wildly enough for Ethan to get a clue. A disgusted laugh broke from his mouth. “He already knows, doesn’t he?”

  She moved a shoulder. “I filled him in last Friday after work.”

  Ethan whirled around and fixed Roger with an incredulous stare. The man glared back. “Don’t judge me, Wolf. I didn’t see you rushing to tell Brooke the truth.”

  “I was still reeling from the blow!” Ethan shot back. “You’re her friend, what the fuck are you doing conspiring with Shannon?”

  “I’m not conspiring. Shannon just wanted me to be informed so that I’d know how to deal with Brooke.”

  Quarters dropped through the coin slot. “It was the best way to fix the problem, Ethan,” Shannon said from the vending machine. “That’s what you wanted, right?”

  The only problem was that Shannon’s plan kept her from facing the consequences of her actions. “If you were so intent on fixing the problem, why did you send Brooke flowers that were supposedly from Roger?”

  Roger turned to Shannon with his mouth agape. The woman fished her soda out of the machine and straightened up. “Look at it this way. She won’t be after Roger anymore, will she?” The can opened with a wet smack.

  Roger sucked in a breath as the pieces fell into place. “Only because she thinks I stood her up,” he said loudly. “She hates me now! Why would you do that?”

  “Because you’ve done nothing but fret about the whole thing since I told you,” Shannon explained. “You obviously don’t know how to deal with pressure, Roger. This way is better. Eventually, she’ll forgive you and you can be friends again.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Ethan snapped. “You did it to get her back for yesterday.” Shannon waved away the notion, which Ethan took as more of an admission. “Did you think she had no right to retaliate for that bucket of water you paid what’s-his-name to throw on her?”

  “What makes you think it was me?” she asked and took another sip from the soda can.

  Ethan rolled his eyes. “Come on, you’ve been fueling this war between me and her from the start.”

  “Because I know what she’s up to!” Shannon shot back in a sudden burst of indignation. “Even you know it, but somehow her crimes are less offensive than mine!”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Roger asked.

  “She’s cheating, Roger. She’s sabotaging Ethan’s high-end bids so that she can win VP.”

  Roger’s face puckered in disbelief. “Brooke wouldn’t do that.”

  “My God.” Seething with attitude, Shannon headed for the door. “Whatever. Go ahead and be mad at me, but I refuse to feel bad for a few stupid pranks when she’s breaking the law.” She turned to Ethan. “And if that cheating bitch is the reason you end up back in South Dakota, I hope Jackie Jackhammer makes your life a living hell.”

  In the wake of her exit, the room grew painfully quiet aside from the hum of the soda machine. Both men stood there, absorbing the impact of her words. “She’s crazy,” Roger mumbled in a daze.

  Was she? At that point, Ethan didn’t know what to believe. “She’s just mad at me. I haven’t exactly been myself lately. Well…for a while.”

  “Then you need to get her off Brooke’s case. You’ve done enough damage having sex with her in the first place.”

  Ethan noted the lack of resentment behind Roger’s words. “You don’t sound pissed enough for a guy who wants her for himself.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Now the bitterness emanated from Roger in acrid waves. “Any chance I had was blown to shit when you moved in and performed like some god in the sack. I’m not about to try and follow that. And don’t get all cocky about it because she hates you, remember?”

  Ethan wiped all expression off his face. “I wasn’t getting cocky.”

  “Bullshit. I can almost see the testosterone oozing from your pores.”

  “I don’t take joy in the fact that I had sex with Brooke,” Ethan explained, his patience wearing thin. “Shannon duped me too.”

  Roger snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you hated every minute of it.”
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  “Fuck you, Kerrigan. I thought she was someone else; it’s not the same.”

  Roger jammed his fists into his pockets. “You know what I think?”

  “I don’t really care—”

  “I think you’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

  “What?” How many times had he denied that very thing over the last four days?

  “I’m not blind, man,” Roger continued ruthlessly. “You were ready to chew glass when she was making eyes at me yesterday.”

  It almost sounded as if the asshole was accusing him of being jealous. “Did you think that could just be good old-fashioned rivalry?” Ethan said with sarcastic flare.

  “Do you always get a boner from good old-fashioned rivalry?”

  He swore under his breath. “Every guy with a pulse had a boner, Roger. There were three women draped over my car.”

  “But only one you’d been intimate with.”

  “Lay off!” His itch to throw a punch must have shown because Roger backed up with his hands raised. Ethan took a few breaths and calmed down a bit. “When I tell her the truth, she’ll be disgusted enough with the both of us, and then I’ll be lucky to leave with any junk to spare.”

  Roger’s look turned sour. “You’re seriously going to tell her the truth?”

  “I have to.”

  “No you don’t. It’s been fixed, remember?”

  The man was unbelievable. To think that Shannon wouldn’t keep milking the situation just proved how incredibly clueless Roger was. “Wow,” Ethan said. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

  “She’ll hate me for keeping quiet,” Roger groaned.

  “She already does hate you, remember?”

  The slump of his shoulders indicated defeat. “Then let me do it.” Really? And make it look like he had no balls whatsoever? “This is more between me and her, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, but she’ll believe me over you.”

  “Why wouldn’t she believe me?”

  Roger’s face went deadpan. “What are you going to say? ‘By the way, I’m the one who rocked your world in the darkroom last Friday.’ She’ll laugh in your face!”

  As much as Ethan didn’t want to admit it, Roger was right. Brooke, as stubborn as she was, would never believe or own the fact that she’d responded to him the way she had.

  But there was one surefire way to prove it. “When I’m done explaining,” he growled, “she won’t be laughing.”

  12

  PITCH BLACK SURROUNDED HIM ONCE AGAIN. Ethan waited for Brooke by the revolving door with the intention of leaving if she was even two minutes late. It was hard enough getting her to agree to meet “Roger” in the darkroom with the string of texts he’d sent her from the man’s phone.

  Roger: Meet me in the DR in ten minutes.

  Brooke: Drop dead.

  Roger: I’ll be there this time, I swear.

  Moody little shit: Enjoy the crickets.

  Roger: Just one more chance. I need to explain.

  Enough time passed to leave him steeped in doubt. Then finally: Last chance.

  Ethan was ready to get this over with. Let the competition between them continue without any more drama. The thought that this was the wrong way to go about it entered his mind more than once, but it was the quickest way. Once she could no longer deny the truth, he’d reveal it in a very calm, rational manner.

  Bullshit. You just want to prove that she has no effect on you.

  Yes, that too. He’d been just as wronged as Brooke, so why shouldn’t he get some closure?

  The conference room was empty this time, which meant that they could whisper without drawing attention; however, raised voices and screaming were out of the question, so they would be forced to handle things with some measure of civility.

  When he heard a noise beyond the darkroom, he briefly considered that it might not be Brooke. Then the revolving door began to spin. He braced himself as he waited for the opening to come around. When it did, he searched her out, pulled her into the darkroom and into his arms. The silky mass of hair in his hand confirmed that it was indeed Brooke, so he pulled her head back and kissed her.

  As soon as their lips met, she pushed him away and whispered, “I don’t want this anymore, Roger. You said you’d explain.”

  Frustration shot straight into his groin. “So, let me,” he whispered hoarsely. Before she could argue, he crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her with desire and demand. Within moments, she let him in and he tasted the sweet flavor of her mouth.

  Not sweet, he reminded himself. Venomous, that’s what she is, full of venom.

  But then she moaned and softened in his arms, erasing all bad thoughts from his mind. When she brought her hands up to his chest, his body instantly rose to the occasion, filling him with a kind of alarm that was completely and utterly foreign to him.

  Come on, you have more control than that.

  It must be the heightened emotions. Yes, that was it. Their natural propensity to tear into each other was a turn-on and the reason his dick was so hard right now. It wasn’t the way her body molded against his in a perfect fit. It wasn’t the soft sounds that came from deep within her throat. It wasn’t the feel of her inner thigh touching his own.

  He squelched the urge to reach down and explore that bare inner thigh with his hands. Her skirt was short and would have been easy to reach under, but that wasn’t what he’d asked her here for.

  Suddenly in a desperate hurry to confess, Ethan broke their heated kiss. “There’s something you should know,” he whispered.

  “I don’t care, just keep going,” she whispered back.

  It wasn’t until he felt the cool air on his chest that Ethan realized she’d unbuttoned his shirt. What the hell, a few more kisses would only strengthen his case. He dove into her mouth one more time, claiming her with a breathless kind of urgency. Somehow, his tie came off. Then his shirt was peeled down his arms. Her soft hands roamed his naked skin, sending goose bumps all over his body.

  Fuck! Why the fuck did she feel so good? This needed to stop before—

  Ethan ripped his mouth away from hers, regaining enough sense to see that he’d already undone the first three buttons of her blouse. The urgent need to feel the weight of her bare breasts in his hands had put him on autopilot, which would only end up with her bent over that chair again.

  “Brooke,” he rasped in desperation, “you don’t want this.”

  “If you stop now, I’ll implode,” she whispered back. Her soft palm skimmed across his belly and then moved downward to cup his aching erection in a firm hold.

  Well, he couldn’t let her implode. That would be…ungentlemanly. His zipper went down.

  No!

  He grabbed her wrist, backing away with a groan. “I’m not who you think I am.”

  “I know you aren’t Roger.” Her fierce admission stunned him for a moment, long enough for her to move in again. “But we’ve done this before, right?”

  “Yes,” he hissed, arching back when her teeth clamped onto his nipple.

  “Then you’re who I want you to be.” She whorled her tongue around the sensitive spot, sending him deeper into that sea of pleasure. Her words were like a drug. They meant she wanted him. She didn’t want Roger; she wanted what only he could do for her.

  And he wanted her more than anything, which was why he pushed her away in a desperate bid for clarity. He found the light switch and flipped it on.

  “I’m the last person you want me to be,” he panted, hating himself for depriving them of the opportunity they both craved. But he had a feeling, despite her words, that he’d be branded the villain if he didn’t.

  When he opened his eyes, it was in time to catch her look of horror. “I don’t believe this!” she whispered, buttoning her blouse with trembling hands.

  Ethan yanked his shirt up over his shoulders, fumbled with his own buttons. “I tried to tell you—”

  “Well, you should have tried harder,” she hissed.


  “I couldn’t get a word out with your tongue down my throat,” he argued.

  “You hate me as much as I hate you! How could you let it go that far?”

  Ethan’s anger rose at the implication that he was the only one at fault. “A man has no sexual integrity when a woman has her hand on his dick. As an adult, you should know that by now.”

  “You have no integrity of any kind, do you, Ethan?” She jabbed the bottom of her shirt into the waistband of her skirt. “You tricked me into thinking you were Roger, you piece of shit.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t expect you to get so violently aroused.”

  “Oh, please, you attacked me as soon as I walked through the door.”

  He grabbed his tie off the floor. “I was trying to tell you the truth.”

  “An email would have sufficed!”

  His fly went up. “You would have never believed me and you know it!”

  “You could have tried me! It would have been better than…” she gestured toward his crotch, “that!”

  “From what I hear, you’ve been dreaming about,” he gestured toward his crotch, “this since we did it the first time!”

  A vivid color of mortification stained her cheeks. Brooke walked up to him and punched him in the gut. As he doubled over, she stormed over to the rotating door, stepped through it, and spun it closed. So much for civility.

  Ethan took a deep breath, straightened his hastily donned tie, and followed her.

  AFTER STORMING INTO THE CREATIVE DEPARTMENT, Brooke heard the storage room door open and close behind her. Ethan was hot on her heels, but the last thing she wanted was to give him an opportunity to defend himself. All she wanted to do was march right into Ken’s office and scream sexual harassment so loud that all eight floors would hear it.

  Whispers followed her into the hallway along with the sounds of hurried footsteps. “Brooke!” Ethan hissed behind her.

  He was too close, so she made a quick detour into the ladies room. Three women chitchatted at the sinks and she pushed through them in a sudden, desperate need to wash her hands. The door flew open behind her. The women gasped. Brooke spun around, scattering water and soap as her eyes widened in shock. Ethan loomed in the doorway, an imposing figure of stormy rage.