Page 170 of By A Thread

“No one is fired,” Candace said dryly, sliding the pair of contracts toward us. I reached for mine, my sweaty fingers leaving smudges on the pristine glass beneath.

I skimmed over the first page looking for words like “termination” and “pack your shit” and “security is being called.”

“Since you two managed this budding relationship in a professional manner, the HR department is not opposed to allowing it to continue with a few caveats.”

Dominic squeezed my hand hard.Professional manner?He must not have mentioned me watching him masturbate in his office after-hours or me giving him a lap dance in his disclosure document.

“Which are?” he asked crisply.

“Ally will be transferred out of her current position and into a new placement at her current level of pay and benefits but further removed from your direct management.”

“Is that really necessary?” he asked, looking annoyed.

“It’s quite necessary,” she insisted.

I was busy scanning my document for the pertinent information. Graphics. I was being transferred to the graphics department. I was going to work for one of the premier publications in the world as a graphic designer,andI got to keep my hot boyfriend.

“I accept,” I said quickly.

All three of them looked at me, eyebrows raised.

A laugh bubbled up in my throat, and I covered it by choking on my coffee.

Dalessandra looked amused.

“In that case, Dominic, you’ll be assigned a new assistant until Greta returns,” Candace continued, peering over her glasses at him. “You and Ms. Morales will be expected to maintain a professional demeanor at all times during work hours.” Her gaze lingered on our linked hands. When I made a move to pull away, he merely tightened his grip.

“We’re not interested in creating any workplace drama,” Dominic said smoothly. “We are both serious about this relationship. I’m confident we can continue to do our jobs without allowing our personal lives to interfere.”

“Yeah. That,” I said, nodding effusively.

Dominic’s mouth quirked, and I knew he was going to tease me mercilessly for this student-principal interaction.

“Then I’d suggest that you speak as little as possible about this situation. We certainly don’t want to set a precedent that makes the rest of the staff feel like the rules are up for debate.”

They’d given us everything we could have wanted, but it still felt like a censure.

And I wasn’t cut out to be anyone’s secret girlfriend. I wasn’t going to lie to my friends just to make human resources more comfortable. There had been more than enough secrets kept within these walls. I was already shaking my head when Dominic met my eyes. He sighed.

“Ally and I would both prefer to be up front about this with our coworkers. We’re not interested in keeping secrets.”

Anymore.The word he hadn’t said hung in the air between us, shimmering like a neon sign that I hoped Dalessandra and Candace couldn’t see lest they start questioning us about the particulars of our relationship.

They shared a look.

“While our preference is that our employees keep their private lives private, perhaps a simple statement acknowledging the relationship and the reassignment will head off any unnecessary speculation,” Dalessandra suggested.

Dominic looked my way again, and I nodded vigorously.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll draft a statement and run it by HR.”

“Good enough for me,” Candace said. “Now, if you two will just sign those contracts stating you won’t let this relationship interfere with your working environment, we can all get back to work.”

I got the feeling Candace was annoyed that my silly love life was dragging her away from employee reprimands and benefits paperwork.

Hastily, I scrawled my signature on the contract, trying not to worry about words like “terminated” or “breach of contract” or “If for any reason you feel you are unable to adhere to the terms of this contract, please alert a human resources representative immediately.”

Dominic signed his contract without any outward reaction.