At 6:03 p.m. on Friday the all-staff email went out.
Subject: Building maintenance – 47th floor closed until Monday 8 a.m.
Remote access disabled. Do not attempt entry.
— C. Reid
By 6:17 the elevators were locked to our floor only, by 6:25 the cleaning crew had been sent home with triple pay, by 6:30 the entire 47th floor belonged to just the two of us.
Callum found me in the photocopy room, sleeves rolled up, unbuttoning my blouse one torturous button at a time.
“Strip,” he said. “Everything off except the heels and the collar I left on your desk.”
I hadn’t even noticed the thin black leather band until that moment. Velvet on the inside, steel on the outside, a tiny silver ring at the throat. I fastened it with shaky fingers while he watched, eyes dark.
Then the clothes hit the fl
