Dangerous Obsessions

By R.A. Baker

Rebecca Connelly is comfortable in her life as a new editor for one of the best publishing firms, she takes it upon herself to take care of Heath when he arrives. Heath is young and considered a genius--or at least that's what the rumors claim him to be. He carries scars- both literally and emotionally after trusting in the wrong woman. Rebecca won't stand for his overly aggressive behavior towards her and makes sure to put Heath in his place. When Heath's former mistress returns Rebecca is left to pick up the pieces that Heath cannot do on his own, taking care of the boy and man. Rebecca learns about the world Heath had been introduced to and attempts to piece him back together, while fulfilling his desires and beginning to realize her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.A. Baker
• Release date: Apr 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310087950

R.A. Baker

A post grad in English Literature.Lover of documentaries and research of all things taboo.Constantly trying to improveWants to bring good material to the audienceOutspokenTries to be braveWants to make a change via literature, no matter how smallAmbitiousHates stereotypesAnimal lover

Book preview

Dangerous

Obsessions

Copyright 2015 R.A.Baker

Published by R.A.Baker at Smashwords

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Chapter one

Monday mornings are definitely not my favourite. The sun shines too brightly, the birds chirp and I feel like my head is about to split into two. I bury my head under my pillow, hoping and praying to get a little bit more sleep before getting ready for work. My alarm goes off, and I hear one of the latest top ten songs of the week blasting at me in greeting. With a groan I reach over and try to switch it off, only to become frustrated and knock it over. I hear a crack but the god-awful sound stops so I figure that it is a win for me. With a sigh I get out of bed and drag myself to the shower.

Feeling marginally better I get dressed, managing to get a few bites of a health biscuit (and by the way if the box says that they taste good, you are in for a world of disappointment), and dash out the door for a taxi. Checking my watch I realise that I am early, then realise that being early is better than the alternative of receiving a warning. I never in my life have received a warning of any kind. In fact when I was in school I was labelled as the goody two shoes that everyone loved and hated at the same time. I was the polite young lady that everyone liked and got good grades, the fact that I managed to not mess up made them hate me. Then it continued through university and the image has still yet to be tarnished. Even in my own family I am the considered ‘Golden Child’ above the others.

Flagging down a taxi I give the man the address only to receive a grunt in reply. As he whizzes through traffic I hear a familiar tone from my bag. Checking my phone I switch off the calendar reminder. My boss is retiring from the publishing firm his father has created. Today however is the introduction of the future of the publishing house rather than his date of retirement. He wants to introduce the staff and his protégé and help him settle in. I have been working in R.A.W Publishing since I could manage to get myself hired at 18 (R.A.W stood for Real Artists Worldwide), as a mere coffee girl and managed to get my degree in English Literature. Now at 29 I have moved up the ladder and recently become an editor. However the entire thing cannot be because of my hard work alone. My boss has been the one to take a chance on me and I owe everything I am to him. It does seem rather foolish to see him in such a noble light; however one cannot be ungrateful to those that believe in you and your abilities and those that support you. He is one of those people I could rely on in times of need. In return I want to help him with helping his protégé to be as comfortable as possible. If old Gerald stresses himself too much and has a heart attack, I just know that his wife would blame me for it.

She is a shrewd old lady. She has a business degree and runs everything in regards to the financials of the publishing house. Even now that she has retired she continues to be a presence when the audits are being done by our accountants and poor Dylan the shy man that he is has no way of telling her not to behave like a dragon hoarding gold.

The taxi arrives and I pay the man his fee and barely manage to get out of the cab before he is zooming off once again into traffic. I shake my head in exasperation. They never really learn until they’ve been in an accident. I make my way to the entrance and the doors slide open to reveal the lobby. At the front desk is our receptionist, Michael. He is a rather lovable character when he is on a good day, which means that he was able to twist his boyfriend’s arm around to buy him what he wanted that weekend.

His story is rather weird if I do say so myself. Apparently he had met his boyfriend at a party of a mutual friend. Michael had gotten his number but never ended up calling. It was a few months later they met at a bar and started talking that lead to a few dates over the course of a few months. According to Michael it was a year but according to his better half it was merely six months. After this period of dating Michael became worried at the lack of sex in their relationship and began asking most of us at work whether or not he was sexually attractive. After soothing his nerves that yes he was attractive, even to straight women, he went ahead and had a long talk with the boyfriend. Which lead to the big reveal of the boyfriend having previously been a woman, which lead to a drinking binge at the irony of it all. She had been going through the most major parts of her change and could not risk botching anything up therefore the lack of physical intimacy that Michael craved. Michael called it quits then, saying that such a big secret had been hidden from him, showing the lack of trust in their relationship. They did end up getting back together two weeks later, with a lot of grovelling and begging, and thus now that all her treatments have gone splendidly well, they are rather sickening to watch. According to Michael, it doesn’t matter what packaging his boyfriend came in, as long as he had him all was right in the world.

Good morning Michael, any messages for me?

To Michael that is the code for gossip currently about the office. I don’t blame him, there is only so much one can do at the front desk without getting bored out of one’s mind. I remember I was there too once.

Darling you won’t believe what words have been spread around the office since Friday afternoon!

Michael easily gushed over things, which makes it really hard to tell whether or not he was greatly exaggerating certain incidents that happen in the office. The one time someone opened a bottle of champagne and he mistook it for a gunshot, the time when he thought the janitor was a ghost that was going to chew on his innards, as well as the lady on third that was eyeing his boyfriend. Okay so the last one was a bit true considering that I have seen the way she looks at him reminds me of an overly predatory housecat trying to catch a wild mouse. Disastrous is the only word I can think of in regards to the imaginary passes she might make at him.

Do tell, and don’t leave out any of the juicy bits

Well guess who is going to be our new boss come September. Go on I promise you won’t guess it

All I could remember was a thick stack of curriculum vitas belonging to several applicants that seemed good enough for the job. That didn’t mean that I had a chance to take a peek at any of them. Gerald had been rather mum about the whole thing, which in turn made everyone at the office suspicious at who may be chosen for the role. I shrug my shoulders in invitation to continue

Word is that the man getting hired is actually Gerald’s son

That does make sense, after all the publishing house had been inherited by Gerald after the death of his father, it would only be logical that Gerald would want his son to inherit the legacy. Realising that Michael had taken a pause and was not going to continue I nudged him along

Well does this son have a name? Or is he a man of the night, a dark caped crusader that shall not be named due to the fear that has been struck in your heart?

Michael rolls his eyes

His name dearest is Heath ‘McHottyPants’ Hale. According to my sources he graduated a year ago with a degree in English Literature as well as business, both of which were done con-currently. Graduated top of his class.

Wow that must have been a lot of pressure

Apparently he still had the time to squeeze in rugby and baseball in there on the weekends, as well as golf when his dad felt for a round

Wow, the guy had absolutely no social life outside of his dad. Who played golf with their dad in their spare time rather than go out drinking? But then again I should not be judging him at all; I spent most of my university life in contact with my dad and we would challenge each other over the latest mobile game that was available. What a sad life I live.

I could barely manage to hit the gym with all the courses I had been taking, I wonder how he managed it all

I heard that he is kind of a baby genius, according to Jenna on fifth, the boy was writing his own music before he turned five

I roll my eyes this time. How these rumours manage to get so out of hand is beyond me. You say something simple like ‘I want Mac n Cheese’ and somehow it manages to warp into you having a fetish in which the person that you sleep with has to bath in it before you get intimate. With Michael rumours have very little evidence to prove true and sometimes I wonder if he would have done better for a magazine, writing up the gossip column and making spontaneous accusations.

Jenna is from the fifth floor, a really loud individual that loves fashion and gossip. Every bit of gossip Michael knows comes from Jenna and her elephant ears. Blonde and two metres tall made Jenna the centre of attention every time she walked into a room. She however mourned the lack of tall, rich, young, respectful, blue eyed, dark haired men with the body of a wrestler to suit her desires. I on the other hand think she needs to be taken down a peg or two in regards to her overly high requirements in her search for a groom. Not that I don’t want her to be happy, but very few men actually respect a woman who has slept with almost all of the powerful men that walk through these doors. Not to forget the idea that she thinks one of those married men would leave their wives for someone they’ve used for a tumble in the hay.

You know better than to take her word for it

Oh I know, that why I cross referenced with Sammy on eleventh

I smile at him indulgently and let him continue about the young man’s hobbies which included horse riding, bungee jumping as well as camping out in the wilderness. As Michael kept talking I find the rumours to be more and more ridiculous. Turning slightly I catch a glimpse of someone getting onto the lift.

Hold the doors for me

I manage to say a quick goodbye to Michael and barely manage to leave him back to his actual work for the day.

Thank you

The man next to me merely nods and reaches for the pad at same time that I do. Blushing furiously after we mistakenly touch I allow him to go first. He presses the button for tenth, and I reach for the twentieth. I stand as far away as possible, not wanting to be in his personal space nor did I want him in my own.

I look at him from the corner of my eye and the first thing that catches my attention is the broad shoulders. He is wearing a suit and a rather large watch, which could only prove that he had some kind of influence or he lives on a credit card. His shoes could blind someone had he been standing in the sun. I shift a bit and the doors open, he steps off and before the doors close he looks over his shoulder. I catch a glimpse of steel grey eyes and a smirk.

Chapter two

I step off the lift and make my way to Gerald’s office only to find him standing outside of it already. I see Katherine, an advocate that has been a friend of Gerald’s during their time at university. Most thought of them as being actually in love rather than good friends and I don’t blame them. There is a softness in Katherine’s eyes whenever she speaks of Gerald or to him. Anybody that first encounters her thinks of her to be rather hard and unfriendly. I am one of the few that actually greeted her and managed to get a smile and occasionally a conversation if she has the time for it.

Gerald keeps a photograph of her on his desk in the office. It is of when they were still students. He told me that