When Lucy woke early the next morning, dread descended over her body and mind. She had to go to work today and face Mr. Bars. She shivered at the thought as she climbed out of bed. Elijah still lay asleep under her flowery comforter. She smiled. The sight of him made her feel safer.

She showered and dressed and went to the kitchen to make herself coffee before heading to work. Elijah came out of the bedroom in his boxer shorts, his beard a touch more full and his dark hair ruffled from sleep. Could a man look sexier?

She could see the hint of morning wood inside his shorts. She raised her eyebrow over her cup of coffee. If she only had time.

“What’s the plan for today?” he asked, scratching the soft black hairs on his chest as he slid onto a stool at her counter.

“Work. I have things I have to deal with.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No!”

“I can smell you’re scared. I can help you. I’ve got kung fu skills.”

She giggled. Even though he sounded as though he was joking, Lucy had a feeling he was serious. “I don’t think kung fu is going to help this situation.”

“You’d be surprised how many situations it actually does help in.”

“I’m sure it does. Just not office politics. I’ll be home after five. Then we can talk about how to get you home.”

“Home? I thought I was moving in,” he said pouring himself a cup of coffee. She slapped him gently with the back of her hand and gave him a sideways look.

“No. You have to get home, and I have to go on with my life. I’m glad you came with me. Maybe we can, you know, have a long-distance thing. I wouldn’t mind coming to visit, but we can’t be more than that. My life is here and your life is there. Plus, I still haven’t forgiven you.”

Elijah suddenly sank to his knees in a comically exaggerated way. “Lucy Zimmer, I beg for your forgiveness. I was a fool. I accept any punishment you require.”

“Get up,” she said, rolling her eyes. He was kind of cute on his knees for her. She could see the hint of an erection still inside his underwear. He stood and gave her a wolfish grin. “Okay. I forgive you. But I still can’t go back to Mystic Harbor. I have things to deal with.”

“Okay. I can accept whatever you decide, Lucy. I respect your autonomy.”

She laughed at him and sighed. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk about this later.”

She grabbed her bag and hurried out the door. Lucy got in her car and stared out the front window. The last thing she wanted to do in the world was to go to work today. Not only had she not answered any of his messages, she’d missed a day of work without calling in.

She might not even have a job when she went in to work today. Gritting her teeth, she turned the key in the ignition and backed out of her parking spot.

She made it to work a few minutes early and poured herself another cup of caffeinated courage from the break room. Slowly she made her way to her supervisor’s office. Ms. Cavendish was in her office already, filing papers.

“Ms. Zimmer,” her supervisor beckoned, waving her hand for Lucy to come into her office. “What happened yesterday? I called you several times. Were you ill?”

“My car broke down on the coast, and I was stranded. I just got back to civilization last night.” The half truth slid off her tongue with ease.

“Oh, that’s terrible. Did you get everything sorted out with your car?”

“Yes. It should be fine now.”

Lucy left Ms. Cavendish’s office with a sigh of relief. Lucy hadn’t taken more than one sick day in the two years she’d worked there. This infraction would be easy for Ms. Cavendish to forgive, but she doubted it would be for Mr. Bars.

She sat at her desk and set her coffee down beside her computer. A stack of research files sat in her file bin. She groaned and started to flip through them. An entire day’s worth of work to catch up on. Might as well get to it.

Just as Lucy began sorting the files, she heard a voice from down the hall. “Ms. Zimmer. My office. Now,” Mr. Bars commanded. A wave of cold blew over Lucy’s shoulders, making her shiver. This was it.

She gulped and stood, taking a pad and pen with her in an effort to appear professional.

She entered his office and left the door open, knowing that he would do something lascivious if they were left in private. He looked up at her from behind his desk, and his eyes narrowed at her from under his bushy eyebrows.

“Close the door and have a seat, Ms. Zimmer,” he said with a smirk.

Lucy sighed and closed the door, feeling her heart doing flip-flops in her chest. At that moment, she wished she’d stayed on the farm with Elijah and Caleb. She gulped as she approached Mr. Bars’s desk. Having Elijah back at her apartment gave her a small sense of safety.

She sat, her fight-or-flight response on high alert. Why had she come back to work? Gritting her teeth, she pulled out her pen and looked Mr. Bars in the eyes. I’m stronger than this. She’d survived a night in the woods and had a threesome with two werewolves. Mr. Bars was just some old pervert schmuck. Nevertheless, she couldn’t keep her hands from shaking.

“Ms. Zimmer. I left you numerous messages telling you to come in to work over the weekend. Then you missed Monday without a single response. That is an offense worthy of termination.”

“I told Ms. Cavendish why I was absent yesterday. My car broke down on the coast far from a phone. It was a serious emergency. Sorry I didn’t make it in to work on the weekend when I was stranded in the middle of nowhere,” she said, with an edge in her voice.

“Don’t play games with me, little girl. You won’t win. Now, stand up and lean over the desk or you’re fired.”

“No,” she said, her hands trembling.

“What? You realize that if I fire you, I won’t give you a reference.”

“You realize that what you are doing is completely illegal. I’m not going to let you rape me to keep a crappy entry-level job, you freaking disgusting old man,” she said, standing. She couldn’t keep her voice from wavering, but she’d said it.

Mr. Bars stood and pounded his fist on the desk, growling at her and showing his yellowing teeth. “You’ll never work in the law again,” he shouted.

“I’d rather work at McDonald's than let you touch me.” She turned toward the door and yanked it open. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she felt close to passing out as the blood rushed to her organs and away from her extremities, leaving her hands cold and numb.

“Get out of this office immediately,” he yelled behind her.

“You don’t have to worry about that!”

Lucy dumped out the wastepaper basket and poured her personal items into it before grabbing her little fern and a picture of her at the beach taken a few years ago.

She had no idea what she would do next, but she knew for damn sure she would never let a man treat her so badly, ever again.