Shayla Warren stared at her top of her desk, phone in hand, a stunned expression on her face. Surely she’d just misunderstood her boss, hadn’t she? She looked at the phone as if it were a snake, then dropped it on her desk, the loud noise clattering through her otherwise silent office.

She picked it back up quickly, to make sure she’d hit the disconnect button and hadn’t just filled her boss’ ear with the reverberating clatter. When she saw all was clear, she set the phone in its cradle, then exhaled deeply, the shock not yet gone from her body.

Had she really just been told that the open position for head of the new accounts department for Smith and Jones was now down to a choice between two candidates, herself and Terrance Haskell?

She looked back at the phone. Terrance would be getting the same phone call right about now; either that or he’d received it right before her own. Was he feeling the same thing she was? Shock, mixed with giddiness, and just a little bit of dismay? Of course she wanted this job, but she thought Terrance did, too. They’d never really discussed it fully, because they’d thought the current manager, Mac Davis, would stay here forever.

What would this do to their relationship? In the back of her mind she could hear her mother’s voice, warning her against dating anyone from the office. It’ll lead nowhere, Shayla, always remember that. Sooner or later it will end, as all relationships do, and then you have to work with him. Plus, if you date someone who’s your boss, you’re accused of trying to sleep your way to the top. And if you date someone under you, they’ll be accused of using you to get what they want.

You’re right, mother, you’re right, she said silently. But what happens when it’s two co-workers who are on the same level, both working in new accounts as advertising executives? And what happens when the relationship just didn’t start out as a relationship but as a spanking?

Shayla closed her eyes and thought back to that night in Seattle, when she’d been so nervous about their pitch to a new software vendor that she’d thought she would hyperventilate. They’d been in her hotel room and Terrance had tried to calm her down by talking, by reminding her they had a great presentation and knew what they were doing. When that hadn’t work he’d thrown her on the bed, lifted her skirt and spanked her until she screamed out for him to stop.

It had stopped her worrying about the account, true, but it had made her so angry with him she could have slapped him. Instead, she’d stuck her finger in his face and told him that when they returned to New York, she was going directly to management and demand his termination.

He’d reacted by kissing her. She could still remember the smug look on his handsome face when, at dinner, they’d aced the presentation and closed the deal, bringing a half a million dollar account to Smith and Jones.

“Don’t think this had anything to do with the fact you spanked me,” she’d said in the rental car. “I’m still demanding that you be fired.”

“Right.” He’d clasped his hands on the wheel, and she’d wanted to slap the smug expression off his face. “If I hadn’t spanked you, and calmed you down, there is no way you would have been so composed during dinner. You refocused your nervous aggression on me, and that allowed you to do your job without thinking something was going to go wrong. Admit it. It helped you remain focused.”

“Bull. I’m going to tell the bosses you need to be canned.” She remembered the glint of amusement in his dark eyes, and the way he’d stood there, his tie loosened, the top button of his shirt undone, his suit jacket hanging loose. He wore his dark hair just a little longer than most of the men at the office and he’d always teased her and told her it was his creative side coming out. That night he’d looked particularly wicked as he’d grinned at her. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought about how handsome he was, but it certainly was the first time she’d thought about him as anything other than a co-worker. She’d still planned on turning him in to management, though.

But she hadn’t, and the next month, when they’d had to travel to Atlanta, he hadn’t even waited for her to get nervous and start to pace. He’d come to her room an hour before the presentation and spanked her again, calling it preventative medicine.

And, as much as she knew it was wrong, that she should hate him for what he’d done, when he kissed her this time, she’d kissed him back. They’d aced the presentation again, this time acquiring a million dollar deal with a new clothing manufacturer.

Management called them the dream team. They kept their private relationship secret, meeting after hours at their apartments, or taking trips together to cabins in the Catskills. For seven months now they’d been lovers. And now, with Raymond’s announcement about the promotion, that could all come crashing down.

If management found out they were sleeping together, they could both be fired. Everyone knew the higher ups frowned upon fraternization between their employees in a sexual manner. And it was absolutely forbidden between a boss and his or her subordinate.

That would mean their relationship would either have to end, or one of them would have to quit. Shayla signed heavily, then licked her lips, rubbing them together until they dried out, then she licked them again.

“This can’t be happening.” She wasn’t sure exactly what she should do. Should she call Terrance now and let him know about the phone call, or had he already received one of his own identical to hers. And if he had, why hadn’t he called her? Of course she figured he was wondering the same thing, of why she hadn’t called him.

She picked up the phone and dialed his extension, wishing for the first time in ages that his voice mail would pick up. She wasn’t quite sure what she would say right now.

“Haskell.”

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” His deep voice sent shivers up her spine, and she remembered the spanking he’d given her just last night, for not being ready when he’d come to collect her to go out to dinner. She’d done it on purpose, they both knew it, and he’d given her a few swats before they’d gone, then promised the rest for dessert when they returned.

He hadn’t disappointed her, and she savored the way her bottom felt today, a constant reminder of his hand slapping down against her bare bottom until she cried out for him to stop. Then he’d made sweet love to her and they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

This time he’d even stayed the night, something he never did on a weeknight. He’d gotten up very early to take a shower and travel back to his house to change clothes before work.

“So, got any good phone calls lately?” She worried her lower lip with her teeth, grinning as his deep chuckle filled her ear.

“Besides the one I’m on right now? Um, yeah, as a matter of fact. Raymond called just a few minutes ago. What about you?”

“Yup, me too.” She exhaled loudly. “Terrance, this could...”

“Shush. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Don’t worry about it? Do you realize what this means? Our secret is about to come out, lock, stock and barrel. Everyone’s going to find out.”

“Is that so bad?”

She sighed, running her free hand over her hair. “It is if one, or both, of us ends up unemployed. Have you looked at the papers lately? Finding a job right now would take an act of Congress.”

He chuckled again and she wanted to reach through the phone line and shake him by the shoulders. He wasn’t taking this seriously enough. It was almost as if he thought it was a joke. But then again he was the more laid back of the two of them. Still, she didn’t think it was too much to act for him to show a little concern.

“Terrance, we need to come clean with them, right now, before they put us through interviews for the promotion. It would be best if this came out now rather than later.”

“Don’t do anything yet,” he said softly. “Since tonight’s Friday, I suggest I come over around eight, with lots of little white cartons full of food. We can talk about it then.”

“I’ll place the order.”

“You know what I like.”

“Yes, I do.” It was her turn to chuckle. “I’ll order from Ming’s.”

“My favorite. See you tonight, baby.”

She hung up the phone, then put her head on the desk, contemplated slamming it down, then sighed. How could he be so calm?

There was a huge part of her that wanted to march into Raymond’s office right now and come clean. Part of her wished she’d done it while she had him on the phone, when he was singing her praises and talking about what a tough decision it was going to be, choosing between his two favorite, and most productive, employees.

But she knew doing that would be a betrayal to Terrance, and the feelings they shared for each other. They needed to talk about it first, to decide together what to do. She sat forward and rubbed her fingers against her aching backside. She hoped tonight wasn’t a spanking night. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d spanked her two nights in a row, but it wasn’t something she liked.

The second night’s spanking always hurt, coming on top of the aches from the first night. Of course if he thought she was overreacting to the situation then it would be a spanking night. His tried and true practice of calming her down was spanking her.

And now that she thought about it, it would probably do her a world of good.

*****

Terrance ran his debit card through the reader, then punched in the pin number. He was well known at Ming’s, since the restaurant wasn’t far from Shayla’s apartment in Manhattan. They usually had the food delivered, but he’d voted for pickup tonight, simply because arriving with food would give them something to do when he got there, instead of talk about Raymond’s phone calls that afternoon while they waited for the food.

He wasn’t sure how much he should tell Shayla. For instance, he worried about how she’d handle the fact that he’d told Raymond that Shayla would be the better candidate for the job. She was much better organized than he was, and truth be told, she was more ruthless, business wise. He was too laid back to be a boss. He didn’t want the hassle of management meetings and doing reports. He didn’t want to have to fill out evaluations on his fellow workers, or tell them they’d screwed something up, or could do better.

Of course he didn’t want Shayla to have to do those things, either. He wanted things to stay exactly as they were, with the two of them together, working on accounts, pulling in customers by traveling to different cities and meeting with new people they could dazzle with their advertising brilliance.

He wondered how she felt about the situation, what she had been feeling all day long. He knew she’d wanted to discuss it this afternoon, but he’d wanted to wait until they were alone, and there was no chance of anyone walking into either of their offices, or overhearing the conversation.

This was something they needed to talk about while they were totally alone. And he prayed this wouldn’t be the end, or put a huge dent, in the best thing that ever happened to him.

He put the paper bag full of food on the front seat of his car and edged into traffic. He hoped to find a spot on the road to park, but he fully expected to have to use the parking garage that was about a block from Shayla’s apartment.

Heat swept down to his crotch when he thought about Shayla, beautiful, sweet Shayla. He remembered the first time he’d seen her, and the way she’d looked. She’d come into the conference room on his first day at Smith and Jones, wearing a very professional suit that hugged her beautiful curves. She was medium height and busty, and the thing he liked the best about her were her curves. He liked a woman with meat on her bones. More to love, and more to spank was his motto.

She’d been professional, but cool, to him, and he wondered if she’d felt threatened by the new kid on the block, if she thought he’d try to take over her accounts, or push his way in front of her for new accounts. He’d been more than thrilled when Raymond had immediately put them together, saying they would be the perfect couple to charm the clients, and he’d been right.

At first, she hadn’t been thrilled with her new partner. But that all changed after they’d worked together for a while, especially after Seattle.

That had been the turning point. She’d been angry after her first spanking, true, but when he’d pointed out that it’d had its desired effect, she’d stared at him, her mouth open. Then she’d stalked to her room and slammed the door, leaving him standing in the hallway of the hotel, threatening to report him to Jones. She hadn’t done it, of course, and she’d been in a horrible mood during the plane ride back. But after a few days, her mood had improved, and she’d started to look at him just a little differently.

He wondered what sort of mood she was in tonight. She’d been nervous that afternoon, he knew, and if he hadn’t had a four o’clock appointment with Jarvis from accounting he would have gone to her office, locked the door and given her ass a few hard slaps. That never failed to calm her down.

Even the first time he’d spanked her had calmed her, despite the fact she’d screamed at him during, and after. She’d still been calm by the time the meeting started, and she’d put on a perfect show for the client, which had been the point of the spanking.

He hadn’t expected it to ever happen again. But he’d loved it; loved having her across his lap and loved the reaction. It was just something he couldn’t pass up again. Now, before they had a big presentation to make she always asked for a spanking the night before. He’d told her one time that it would be more effective to give it to her right before the meeting, telling her they could lock the door of her office and he’d slap her ass a few times, let her center her nerves on the sting of the swats and away from the presentation.

But she hadn’t gone for that idea, saying that she didn’t want to risk someone hearing them. He knew that she was probably right, but his goal, before the first of the year, was to spank her in her office. Since it was getting close to Thanksgiving he needed to act on that goal, very soon.

Maybe this promotion talk was just the thing he needed to make his goal. She’d be very nervous before the interviews with the senior staff members. And he’d be around to provide her with the very thing that calmed her down: a good spanking.

He’d make sure to make his plans clear to her tonight, so that she had time to think about it, time to let it sink in. One way or another she was going to be spanked at the office before Thanksgiving. And she was going to love it.

*****

Shayla buzzed Terrance in, then took the few minutes it took him to ride up in the elevator to pour him a glass of wine. She opened the door before he knocked, wine glass in hand and exchanged it for the bag.

“You ordered a ton,” he said with a laugh. “I think the ladies at Ming’s thought we were having a big party tonight.”

“I eat when I’m nervous, you know that.”

“Maybe we should let the food gel while I spank you.”

“No.” She unpacked the sack, setting the numerous cartons on the counter. She had ordered a lot, more than she usually ordered. It was always great to have leftover Chinese food, true, but this would last for several days.

Maybe. With the way her nerves were jumping around she might just eat the whole thing right now.

“Shayla.”

“Yes, Terrance?”

“Bare your bottom.” The commanding tone of his voice made her shiver, and she turned to him. He still wore his suit, but the tie was undone and he looked very much like he had the first night he’d spanked her, wicked and wonderful.

“No.”

“Shayla, don’t make me tell you again. Pull you panties down. You know the rest from there.”

Yes, she did know, and it was one of the reasons she still wore the dress she’d worn to work that day. She did want a spanking, but she didn’t want to give in too early.

“I think that...”

“Now, Shayla.”

“The food will get cold.”

“Now you’re just making excuses. The harder spanking will come later, and you know it. This is just a few swats so that you’ll focus and we can talk. I can tell you’re way too nervous to talk right now.” He had his hands on his hips and was shaking his head slowly. “There won’t be enough time for the food to get cold. Besides, there’s a microwave if we need it.”

She exhaled loudly. “Terrance, I...”

“Right now.” She could tell by the tone of his voice he’d reached his breaking point. She shouldn’t argue about it anymore.

Shayla stepped away from the counter and crossed to the bar, pulling out one of the bar stools. She reached under her skirt and pulled down her panties, letting them fall around her ankles. Then she bent over the stool, and waited.

She didn’t lift her skirt, because she knew Terrance liked to do that. She’d learned very quickly when he said bare your bottom he really meant for her to take her panties off, and any slacks or jeans she might be wearing, but to leave the dress on, and hanging in place.

He was behind her in seconds, inching her skirt up over her hips. The movement always made her shiver and she bit her lip. When the skirt was all the way over her hips, and her ass was totally bare, her skirt resting above her hips, he gently caressed each buttock, his hand warm and firm.

“We’re going to eat our dinner and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about the promotion, aren’t we?”

Smack. The first swat always made her jump, and she clutched the legs of the stool.

“Yes.”

Two more swats landed and she exhaled loudly.

“I know you’re nervous about what Raymond told us today, and we’re going to talk about it, but we don’t have to let it ruin everything. We’ll work things out just fine.”

This time he delivered three swats to each side, increasing the intensity of each swat. The sting made her wince, and she moaned softly.

“Are we clear?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes, wondering exactly when she’d given herself so fully to this man, and how that would change if one of them became the other’s boss. It just wasn’t something she was prepared to deal with. It would end the relationship, she was sure of it, and she couldn’t live with that.

Terrance was too important to her, too much a part of her life now. She didn’t want to even think about having to work with him, and not being with him on the level they were now. It would be unbearable.

She must have made a moan, or a sound of dismay, because he swatted her again, twice more on each cheek, harder than the last ones. Her bottom burned and she turned her head back.

“Ouch. Short and not so heavy, remember?”

“Well, that’s what you get when you tell me you’re going to stop worrying, but then you keep right on thinking about what I just told you to put aside.”

When she opened her mouth to object, he held up his hand. “Don’t even bother to refute the fact, Shayla. I can read you like an open book. Turn back around.”

She did as he asked, his hand caressing her now throbbing ass. When she started to relax, he started to spank her again, the swats firm and hard.

Shayla didn’t object this time, just relaxed into the stinging sensation, letting her nervous energy flow out her body and float away into the air. She didn’t count the number he gave her, just let them flow through her.

The sound of his hand slapping against her flesh competed with their breathing, his light and even, hers a little ragged and elevated.

When he finally stopped, and ran his fingers over her aching behind, she sighed.

“I think we’re going to need that microwave,” he said, his voice low. “This lasted a little longer than I’d planned.”

She stood and stepped out of her panties, letting the cool, full skirt slide over her flesh. Terrance came up behind her, cupping the area he’d just reddened so expertly.

“Now, are you going to stay calm so we can eat, then talk about the situation we’re in?”

She nodded, leaning her head back against his shoulder.

“Good, because I can always take off my belt, if need be. You know that, don’t you?”

Oh yes, she knew it. That was one thing she didn’t like. Belt spankings. Terrance gave them sparingly, but when he did, they hurt like the dickens. She remembered very well the times she’d been bent over, waiting for a spanking, and she’d heard the clink of his belt being unbuckled.

The first time it had happened he’d been angry at her for yelling at a co-worker. He’d been right, of course. She’d lost her temper over something trivial and had really let the woman have it. That had been bad. She’d apologized, and Jessica had seemed coddled, somewhat, but Terrance was furious about it.

That evening he’d delivered a spanking the likes of which she’d never forget, giving her twenty hard strikes with the belt while he held her in the exact position she was in right now. The strikes had been swift, and hard, and she’d hated every minute of it, even if she did understand the reasoning behind it.

It wasn’t something she wanted to invite, in fact she would do anything she could to avoid it. She’d been sore for two days.

“I know, Terrance, and I’m calmer now. Let’s go and eat.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Yes, it’s a promise.”

He pulled her close and kissed her, his lips soft and gentle, his arms holding her close. He always did this after a spanking. Sometimes it turned into great sex, and sometimes it didn’t. She knew it wouldn’t right now, but maybe later in the evening.

She glanced at the bag he’d set down when he came in, and her heart quickened. Usually when he brought a bag it meant they were staying in for the whole weekend. That was perfect to her, because they had a lot to talk about, a lot to figure out.

“I made sure to order lots of egg rolls, and lots of shrimp rolls, too. Let’s put them in the oven to warm them up. Keep them crisper that way.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He kissed her again, then took her hand and led her toward the kitchen. Their talk could wait, but she had a feeling it was going to be a very intense discussion.