Contract of Shame Read online

  He pulled the contract out of his briefcase and thought of Harry and Scarlet. Without giving himself time to process his thoughts, he brought up her employment details. The need inside him was getting harder to ignore. He couldn’t just invite her on a date. She was an employee, after all.

  The details on her form were not great. Female, never been married. No current next of kin. Scarlet, according to the minute information, was alone in this world. An emergency note lay at the bottom. Richard recognised the doctor. An old friend from high school. While Wayne, Tony and he had kept in touch from their circle of friends, a few others had gone off and formed their own paths. John Barnes had been much older than them but still one of their friends. A pediatrician.

  He picked up the phone and dialled the number on the form. Adrenaline was running through his veins.

  “John Barnes, pediatrician, how may I help?” The man picked up on the first ring.

  “John, buddy, how are you doing?”

  “Well I’ll be damned. This can only be one of three people I know, Richard, Wayne or Tony.”

  “Richard,” he said with a laugh.

  “How are you doing?”

  He enjoyed catching up with a very old friend. They talked about the intervening years and what they’d gotten up to. Richard learned his friend was married with a few kids of his own.

  “I take it this isn’t a social call,” John finally said.

  “I’ve got a new employee, and it lists your name as an emergency contact for her son. From an old friend to an old friend, what’s wrong with her son?” he asked.

  “Richard, I can’t discuss a client with you.”

  “The name of Scarlet Hughes.”

  “For fuck’s sake. Leave that poor girl alone. She has enough to contend with. If I know you then I know you’ve got some fucking plan in mind.”

  “I take it the boy is bad?”

  His friend cut him off and eventually hung up. It didn’t matter because after doing some investigating of his own on the internet from the medical words in her employee file Richard discovered her son suffered with asthma.

  The medications would cost through the roof.

  Richard hated his plan, but he had just thought of the perfect way to make his contract work.

  As the day progressed, Richard got through his work with Opal appearing every now and again. He noted she spent a lot of time at Scarlet’s desk. A spark of jealousy struck him when he saw Scarlet laughing at something Opal said.

  His parents’ driver arrived around five in the afternoon to take her home. He waited while she hugged Scarlet and then him before going with the driver.

  Other colleagues were beginning to leave.

  A knock sounded at his door, distracting him. Scarlet stood with several files in hand.

  “Hey,” he said, sitting up and stretching out the muscles in his back.

  “I’ve got the files on the Temple divorce.”

  “Come and put them on my desk,” he said to her. Richard got up, intent on working out the kinks in his exhausted body. “I’m sorry about my sister and earlier today.”

  “No problems. Opal is a lovely young woman, and in all fairness people who see me with a child get quite a shock.” She bowed her head and made to move away.

  He panicked. Richard didn’t want her leaving so soon.

  “Why?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Why did you have a child so early?” he asked. He was not sure why he was taking such an interest when he intended to have this woman anyway.

  “Let’s just say I got it handed to me and had no other way out.” A red blush stained her cheeks, and he could read how uncomfortable she’d become.

  “Well, Opal sure likes you. She could use a role model right now.” He thought of his sister’s earlier comment about a diet. Scarlet was a full, gorgeous woman. She wouldn’t need to diet.

  “I don’t think as a teenage pregnant mum I’d be the best role model.”

  Richard reached out and caught her hand bringing her in close to him. Her heady scent of cinnamon invaded his nostrils. She smelt like a spicy ripe peach.

  “Opal is having a few problems at school. She’s sixteen and thinks she needs to diet. Her friends are calling her fat among other things.” Richard opened up. He never talked about his sister with anyone, not at work anyway.

  “She’s adorable, and soon she’ll see how gorgeous she is.” Scarlet made to move out of his touch, and he stopped her by keeping a firm grip on her hand. “Why won’t you let me go?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to,” he said honestly.

  “I’ve got to collect Harry,” she whispered. He noticed her eyes droop, and she tilted her head back to look at him. She appeared confused as if her reaction was natural and not forced. For so long the women in his life were fake. Fake tits, fake laugh and fake responses.

  Scarlet epitomised all things natural and earthy.

  “You can grab him in a second. I just don’t want to let you go.” Richard felt the pull in the pit of his stomach. Her beautiful hair was tied up in a ponytail. He hated it and wanted to see the long blond strands flowing down her back.

  He grasped the band and pulled it out of her hair. She winced from the pain of his rushed tug, but she didn’t pull away.

  The layers of blond hair cascaded and tumbled around her face.

  “You’re fucking gorgeous,” he growled. Richard couldn’t help himself. Scarlet was a drug in his veins. When he started tasting, he’d always want more.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Having you.” Not allowing her to respond he slammed his lips down on hers. He pulled her roughly against his body, the need for full body contact a hunger he could no longer deny.

  Her small hands wrapped around him, and in the process he unbuttoned her jacket and thumbed those hard nipples.

  Through the fabric of her blouse and bra he felt the full round tips pucker for his touch. He wanted to get his lips on them, to be sucking them. He pulled her roughly, moving a hand behind her head to hold her in place as he kissed her mouth. Richard feasted at her lips.

  They were heaving and gasping, and Richard pulled away when he heard a noise in the distance.

  He had to remember where he was. Work wasn’t the place for a seduction.

  Scarlet jumped back from him and looked around her. Her hands were shaking, and when she saw her jacket undone she began to button it up. He saw the erect points of both buds. Each of her moves was erratic and jerky. Such a shame for her to hide such beauty behind those clothes. If it was just the two of them, he’d have her walking round the office all day naked.

  Richard stared at Scarlet, at her huge tits heaved over her tight blouse. The jacket she wore buttoned up emphasised her small waist and full rounded hips. Her ass was thick, and he wanted to peel back the skirt and smack it, kiss it.

  The pent-up lust was doubling him over. He walked behind his desk and sat down. The boner he sported would not do any good in their working environment.

  “I’m sorry for kissing you,” he said, even though the words were a lie.

  “Can we just forget it and move on? I don’t want to think about what happened.” Her hand wiped over those red swollen lips. Richard wondered what they would feel like wrapped around his cock. His thoughts were becoming too fucking explicit.

  “If that’s all, I think you should leave,” he said to her in a harsh tone. Scarlet went bright red as the blush spread through her, and she left his office, closing the door on her way out. He watched as she picked up her son and left. She didn’t bother to glance back at him.

  In the privacy of his office, he lost his temper. The computer and all of his files fell to the floor when he swiped a hand over the desk. “Fucking useless,” he yelled.

  He didn’t want to forget about it. The kiss had started up a chain reaction within him. Scarlet was going to be his, and he knew exactly what to do to achieve it.

  “Someone come and clean th
is mess up,” he shouted.

  Richard placed his briefcase back on his desk and stared at the contract. His father had warned him to never let anything go and to always use the resources at his disposal. By the end of tomorrow Scarlet was going to be his.

  Chapter Three

  Scarlet put Harry to bed as soon as he finished his tea. At four years old he’d be going to school next September. She had several months to wait until that time.

  Would Richard have kissed her if he didn’t know about her being a single mother?

  She shook her head and growled at her reflection. For the past four years she’d dealt with all the insecurities of being a single parent. She couldn’t justify one insane encounter down to Harry.

  Looking away she went through her small apartment and cleared away all of the mess left behind from the night’s activities. Pasta with meatballs had been a big hit with her son. She checked the date on his prescription and made a note to ask for some overtime at work.

  His asthma treatment cost a lot of money, and during this time when money was tight, food prices rising and gas at the cost it was, she could only just afford the rent.

  Once she’d had a quick wash and changed into her nightwear she went back to her sitting room and began reading a course book she’d paid pennies for at a bargain sale shop. When she heard Harry coughing, she went back and woke him to administer another shot from his inhaler.

  Only when he settled and she went to bed did she allow her mind to drift to the night’s events. She ran her fingers over her lips. His kiss had been rough, and she was shocked at how much she liked the possession of his mouth.

  What would have happened if they hadn’t heard that scurrying in the distance? Would she have let him take her in the office? Scarlet couldn’t answer the question. Her heart raced when she thought about him. He was over ten years older than she, but she liked his ruggedly handsome appearance and the smattering of wrinkles near his eyes. Even though to her he seemed like a workaholic, he must spend some time with others to make him have some laughs.

  His lips had been firm and demanding. Hands, oh god, his hands. She wanted them everywhere on her body, and she didn’t care how sluttish that made her sound. For the first time in her life she could clearly see and feel why women allowed men to have anything so long as they kept touching them, making sweet love to them.

  Scarlet wrinkled her nose. She shouldn’t be thinking about that kind of action with a man. The only reason he kissed her was because she was the first available female. Richard could have anyone. No one would want her. She was too big, her breasts too large, and worst of all she was broken inside. At least she thought she’d been until Richard had kissed her.

  Could she even stomach a man’s touch? Silly question after being in his arms, a slave to his kisses. When the clock ticked over ‘til gone ten, she put away her bits and pieces and switched off the lamp at the side of the bed. She was nervous about going to work the following morning. With Harry at his usual day-care, she wouldn’t have to worry with constantly looking over her shoulder.

  She lay down in bed, and her last thoughts weren’t of work and her five year plan. They were of a man with brown hair with a few flecks of grey.

  Richard Shaw dominated her thoughts and her fantasies.

  ****

  Scarlet dropped Harry off at nursery. She was happy with the good news she’d received earlier in the morning. . He’d been accepted in one of the best schools in the area and would be starting in September. The school had agreed to accept him and administer his medicine with a proper regime filled out by the doctor. For all intents and purposes, she was one happy woman.

  The day went by quickly. When Richard came through, he smiled and went to his office. As usual his door was left open. A blush stained her cheeks, and she pushed down the memories of his lips on hers, the taste of him as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth. Her pussy quivered, and not used to the sensation she ran to the bathroom to splash cold water on her cheeks. She was acting like a school-girl with her first crush.

  How she managed to get through the rest of the day without constantly staring at him amazed her. But as the clock struck five she began packing away her things. Harry’s day-care centre was only twenty minutes from work.

  “Miss Hughes, can I see you for a second?” Richard called from his office.

  Scarlet went in and closed the door as he asked when she entered.

  “Please take a seat.”

  Her hands were sweaty. Was he about to fire her? She licked her suddenly dried lips and waited to see what he had to say.

  “I want to be extremely blunt with you. I’ve never done anything like I did last night. I make it a policy to never get involved with work colleagues,” he said.

  She smiled. “I understand, and I know last night was a big mistake and won’t happen again.”

  “That’s the thing. I want it to happen again. Every time I see you I want a flat surface and to bend you over it.”

  Scarlet opened her mouth and closed it again, not sure what process to take.

  “I don’t understand. If you don’t get involved with employees why are you doing this? Are you trying to make me uncomfortable so I’ll quit?” She loved her job, and even though money was tight at the end of the month she couldn’t do without the pay.

  “No, I don’t want you to quit.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “I want so much more from you than that.”

  “What exactly do you want?”

  “One week.”

  She frowned and Richard handed over a file. Not sure what else to do, she opened and discovered several pieces of paper with his legible writing and signature on them.

  A contract. She held a contract with her name and his name. She began to read, some of the words confusing her muddled brain.

  “I get what I want one way or the other. I want you, Scarlet.”

  She understood his words, but his intent was way off. This couldn’t be what she was thinking.

  “You want me to agree to give you my body for one week?”

  “That’s exactly what I want.”

  She began to shake.

  “Can I be blunt?” he asked.

  At this point she didn’t see the use in sugar-coating anything. “Please do.” She’d rather hear every sordid detail from his lips than on a piece of white paper.

  “I don’t do relationships or love. I go after what I want, and to put it bluntly I want you for nothing more than a fuck. You’ve got a child without a father on the scene. You should understand.”

  His words cut deep. Why did people think she wanted to have sexual relations just because the father wasn’t in the picture?

  “I’m sorry, but what you’re asking for I can’t agree to.” She flipped the file closed and handed it back to him.

  “I don’t think you should do that. I want you to think about it,” he said.

  “There’s nothing to think about. I don’t do this sort of thing.”

  “I can make your life hard, Scarlet. Every day of your life. I’ve got the power and the contacts to do this.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Scarlet gasped out as she gazed down at the contract in her hand. The trembling of her hand shook the paper.

  “If you don’t agree to this I’ll make sure you can’t find a job. I’ll guarantee you’ll lose this one and every other you try for,” he said.

  “You can’t do that. It’s sexual harassment!”

  “Whom do you think a court is going to believe? Me, an upstanding lawyer with friends in high places or you?”

  Similar words had been spoken to her four years ago. She was cornered, and she had no way out. Why couldn’t men ask her out like they did every other woman? Did she have doormat written all over her forehead? Or did they like displaying their caveman freak thing with her?

  “What do you want?” she asked. No point in beating around the bush. She didn’t have a choice.

  “It’s quite simple. You’re a woman of
the world. I want you. I think last night made that clear.”

  She wanted him to shut up. To stop saying the awful words. Why did her having a child suddenly make her a woman of the world? He’d laugh in her face and think she was lying if she admitted she’d only ever had one sexual experience. The statistics had been right. It could only take one time to fall pregnant.

  “You can’t do this to me,” she said, placing the sheet back onto the desk. The thing burned her more than any shame. That was what he offered, a contract of shame. Her shame.

  “I want you to come away with me. Be mine for the next week, and in return I’ll pay you a million pounds.”

  Blood pounded in her ears.

  “You don’t have that much money,” she whispered. Scarlet glanced back to the door wondering when she could make her escape.

  “Actually I do. Even without being a successful lawyer, my family are extremely wealthy. We can buy and choose anything our hearts desire,” he said. He sounded so cocky and arrogant.

  “And I’m next on the menu?”

  Richard moved from behind his desk and stood in front of her. His grey flecked brown hair and roguish good looks seemed so out of place with the despicable contract he was serving her. He placed a finger under her chin, and to further her shame her body responded.

  The emotions and physical responses he drew from her body baffled her. In the way he was dealing with her, she despised everything he stood for.

  “I want you, Scarlet. My blood boils with the need I have for you. I get everything I want. Trust me, the million pounds will set you up for life and guarantee Harry and his asthma are taken care of.”