Not Safe for Work(88)

“No.”

I blinked. “No?”

“No.” He folded his hands tightly on the table and glanced at his business partners before glaring at me again. “Let’s get one thing perfectly straight here, Mr. McNeill: Rick Pierce is the client who will make or break this firm. We cannot afford to lose his account. Am I clear?”

I nodded, my throat constricting.

“So whatever this is”—Forsyth gestured at the image, wrinkling his nose—“must continue.”

My jaw fell open. “I beg your pardon?”

“I think you understand us.”

“Are you…” I swallowed hard. “Are you telling me that for the sake of the firm, and the Horizon account, my job now hinges on whether or not I keep my boyfriend happy?”

Forsyth cringed, disgust radiating off the old bastard.

“You’ve chosen to get…involved with a client,” Mitchell said coolly. “Like it or not, you are a part of this firm. And since this firm needs to do whatever it takes to keep Rick Pierce happy, so do you.”

I coughed to get my breath moving. “This is our personal life. It—”

“It ceased to be private and personal when you brought it onto company property.”

“That was a lapse in judgment,” I said through my teeth. “It doesn’t give Mitchell & Forsyth jurisdiction over my bedroom.”

Forsyth made a subtle gagging noise. Then he rose. “Mitchell, I think you have this handled.” Without waiting for a response, he walked out and let the door slam shut behind him.

Mitchell and Sam exchanged scowls, and Mitchell turned to me again. “The last place Mitchell & Forsyth wants to be is in an employee’s bedroom. However, you’ve complicated the situation by choosing to get involved with our biggest client. Mitchell & Forsyth cannot afford to lose Horizon Developing’s business, which means you, Mr. McNeill, cannot afford to upset the relationship we have with them.”

“Which means maintaining the one I have with him,” I said through tightly clenched teeth.

“Exactly.”

I just stared at him, disbelieving we were even having this conversation. This couldn’t be legal. They couldn’t… Could they?

“I think we’ve made our point.” He clicked off the image on the screen and set the remote down. “We’ll see the both of you at this afternoon’s meeting.”

And just like that, he and Forsyth got up and walked out.

The door banged shut behind them. I was alone with my shock. And my boss. Slowly, she turned toward me, eyes narrow and lips pulled tight. I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to the punch and growled, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I—”

“Could you have maybe given me a heads-up?”

“What if I had?” I asked. “What would you have told me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’d have smacked you over the head and told you not to kiss the guy at the office while you knew you were on camera!”

I swallowed. I’d known damn well there were cameras in the garage, but I’d been so raw in that moment, I’d gone ahead anyway. In an impulsive, needy moment, I’d thrown the dice and chanced a kiss on company property. Getting caught was a gamble I’d been willing to take right then, but in all my wildest dreams, I’d never imagined the consequences being…this.

I exhaled. “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say.” When had my hands started shaking? “It just… It happened. We started seeing each other, and we wanted to keep it on the down-low. Up until now, we did. Then yesterday…” I closed my eyes, goose bumps prickling my neck at the memory, and the pit of my stomach sinking as if to remind me how I’d felt when he’d pulled me aside in the parking garage. Sighing, I met my boss’s gaze. “I didn’t think anyone would see it.”

I didn’t think anything could taint that kiss. I didn’t think anything could kill my mood today.

Oh God, Rick’s going to be here today…

Marie’s expression softened. So did her voice. “For the record, I think this is bullshit. They have no right to put you in this position. I don’t even think something like this is legal.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not, but what can I do about it?”

“Not a whole lot. Aside from going to HR.”

My shoulders slumped. “Even if I go to HR, it’s not going to change anything. All three partners are on board with this. HR can tell them to back off with that ultimatum all they want, but the fact is, if Rick takes his business elsewhere, I’m out of a job. They’ll find a reason.”

Marie’s resigned sigh didn’t instill much confidence.

“It’d be like if they wanted to fire me for being gay. As long as they don’t come out and say it…” I half shrugged.

“Except they’ve given you the ultimatum. If they fire you, you’ve got a damned good case.”

I laughed bitterly. “Yeah, well. In this state, as long as they’re not firing me for being in a protected class, there’s nothing I can do. And last I checked, ‘in a relationship with a powerful client’ is a Facebook status, not a protected class.”

Marie rubbed the bridge of her nose. When she dropped her hand, she said, “I’m sorry, Jon. If I’d known…” She shrugged apologetically. “I mean, I didn’t even realize you were gay.”