Explicit
Page 26
“And what do we have here? You must be my fresh”—his words linger and bile forms—“assistant. I’m very excited to meet you. I’m Matthew Lawson. Here, at Axis, we’re a small, intimate company. You can call me Matt.” He winks, and the emphasis on the word intimate isn’t lost on me.
Shit, I’m supposed to be his assistant. As great an opportunity as this is, the way he watches me has me on edge. “Hi, M-Matt, I’m Bridget. I-I’m excited to be here, too,” I muster, but I’m so damn unhinged, I actually stutter.
“Come with me. I need to have you sign a few papers.”
Together we walk into his office. With him in front of me, I do everything I can to pull my skirt as far down as possible.
Out of breath from trekking up the stairs to my apartment, I pull out my phone and dial Olivia.
“How was your first day?” she asks before I can even say hi. I knew the moment I got home I had to call her as she’d be dying to know how my job went.
I groan at her question. “I’m never going back.”
“Bridge . . .”
“The place is goddamn awful. I walked out.”
“You quit? On your first day?” Her voice echoes in surprise through the phone.
“Turns out he’s a pig. I refuse to work for him.”
I don’t tell her the full story. I don’t tell her that as I was signing intake papers, he stepped up behind me and I could feel that he was hard through his pants. I’m certainly not going to tell her that every time we bumped into each other, his body brushed against mine in a sickening manner that made me feel unsafe. So I just tell her he’s a pig and hope she doesn’t question what I mean.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
I let out a sigh of relief. She’s not mad. After what she did for me, I’d hate for her to be upset with me.
“I’m not going back.”
“Bridget, I know he’s a dick. Unfortunately, a bunch of men in his position are like that. I wish there was something I can do.” She sighs. “I’d love to give him a piece of my mind—”
“I know, and I love you for it, but it’s fine. I just won’t go back.”
“I totally understand. I’d do the same thing, but Spencer and I pulled some serious strings to get you in with this agency. You have to at least call them and say you’re sorry and see if they’ll place you somewhere else.”
“I know, I know. Karen’s just scary.”
“Time to grow up, Bridge.”
“Fine, I’ll call. But after that, I’m going to open a big bottle of wine and drown my sorrows.”
“I know it sucks, but you already said you aren’t going to ask Mom and Dad for help, which means you have to get a job. You cannot burn bridges along the way. Take it from me. If you burn too many bridges and your options are limited, you might find yourself in a horrible situation.”
I know she’s referring to her own life, but her warning rings loud in my ear. Both my sisters have gotten themselves into trouble. And even though they’ve changed their ways, I still feel like I need to prove to myself and my parents that I’m not like them.
“You’re right, and I’ll take care of it. Listen, I’m starving and want to grab a bite.” I walk toward my fridge and pop it open, searching desperately for some inspiration on something to nosh on.
“Okay. Don’t drink too much.”
A giggle escapes. My sister knows me all too well.
“Yeah, yeah,” I respond in a mocking tone.
“Love you, Bridget.” Olivia chuckles.
“Love you, too.”
When I hang up, I grab a small container of ice cream from the freezer. I feel defeated by my day. Karen isn’t going to take this well. If I still have my life at the end of this, it’ll be a miracle, but Olivia is right. I need to grow up. With that settled, I pull out a spoon from the drawer and scoop into the mint chocolate chip container. It’s cold and refreshing and makes everything better . . .
Almost.
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Imperfect Truth
Through Her Eyes
trans·fer·ence
Illicit
Clandestine
Sordid
Text ‘Harrison' to 313131 to get a text when I have a new release!
I want to thank my entire family. I love you all so much.
Thank you to my husband and my kids for always loving me. You guys are my heart!
Thank you to my Mom, Dad, Liz and Ralph for always believing in me, encouraging me and loving me!
Thank you to my in-laws for being so cool and supportive!
Thank you to all of my brothers and sisters!
Special thank you to Dr. D. Without your help, I wouldn’t have been able to make my readers cry!
Thank you to everyone that helped with Explicit.
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Thank you to Chad Johansson for the beautiful picture and thank you Blake Johansson for being the PERFECT Pierce!
Thank you Ena from Enticing and Give Me books
Thank you to my AMAZING ARC TEAM!
Thank you to my beta team! Leigh, Melissa, Livia, and Christine. Thank you for your wonderful and extremely helpful feedback.
I want to thank to ALL my friends for putting up with me while I wrote this book. Thank you!
Thank you to my smut moms!
Thank you to my Phi Girls for always being there!
To all of my author friends who listen to me bitch and let me ask for advice, thank you!
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Thanks to all the bloggers! Thanks for your excitement and love of books!
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Thank you to the readers!
Thank you so much for taking this journey with me.
Ava Harrison is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author. When she’s not journaling her life, you can find her window shopping, cooking dinner for her family, or curled up on her couch reading a book.
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