The Reed Security Relationship Manual: A Reed Security Romance - Giulia Lagomarsino (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

exactly what’s going on. For example, you can say, Baby, I’ve been thinking about what we were discussing, and I think you should tell me again how you’re feeling about this, just so I’m clear. If the tears are really about something you said in your last conversation, she’ll have no problem telling you exactly what’s she’s feeling, and you’ll have your answer. If you didn’t actually do anything, she’ll most likely look at you funny and tell you she has no idea what you’re talking about. If this is the case, make some shit up and fly with it. You’re off the hook. There’s not much you can do to fuck this up, unless you open your mouth and say something stupid. Don’t say something stupid.”

“Wait, so you apologize for something you may or may not have done, all to try and get to the bottom of what the real problem is?”

“Exactly. But, like I said, if you do it wrong, you’re fucked.”

“How would you do it wrong?” I asked nervously.

“By offering too much information. Baby, I’m really sorry about what happened earlier. I swear, when I saw that woman walking down the street, I only stared because I thought she was you.”

“But you’re admitting to watching her,” I said in confusion.

“You’re also confessing to watching another woman. She’s not going to hear that you thought the woman was her. She’s only going to hear that you were watching another woman. That’s how you fuck it all up. Like I said, you need to really know what you’re doing. And since you’re such a newbie at all this, I would suggest you stay away from that route.”

I nodded and thought about everything they had told me. “You know, after hearing all this information, I have to be honest. I don’t feel any more informed about what the fuck to do than I did when you walked in here.”

They stared at me in confusion and I flipped them off, walking away from them and their convoluted advice.

Chapter Eight

Jules

I walked into the conference room, checking my phone again. The alert didn’t request Ice and Chris to be here, so what the hell was this meeting about? As I looked up, I saw Claire, Ivy, Emma, Cara, and Raegan sitting at the conference room table. This couldn’t be good.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re still waiting on others to arrive,” Ivy said, sitting up straight in her chair.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I took the stance that said don’t fuck with me. “Who exactly are we waiting on? And what’s this for?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Ivy smirked back at me, tilting her head in that cute way that said she was up to something, and it was never good.

“Whatever it is, the answer is no.”

“That’s why there are others coming,” Claire grinned. “And just in time.”

I turned to see their husbands walk in, each of them looking just as confused as us. And then Cap walked in, actually looking a little angry.

“Since when do I get a summons to meetings? Last I checked, I run this company.”

“This company, yes.” Emma stood, pulling at the suit jacket she wore. I realized then that all the women were dressed like they were attending a meeting. Emma walked around the table, her arms full of papers. “Gentleman, please take a seat so the meeting can begin.”

I looked at the guys and then took a seat. What the hell else was I supposed to do?

“As you know,” Emma stated, placing a pamphlet down in front of me, and then moving on to the next guy. “Our business has been booming over the last few years. The sex toy industry is really pushing the boundaries, with all the romance novels out there really pushing kink.”

I flushed bright red, my ears burning as she talked about this. “Uh…you know, I’m not really sure I need a spreadsheet,” I said, looking down at multiple photographs of sex toys. Hell, I wasn’t a prude, but this was something I only wanted to discuss with my wife, and definitely not around other men.

Cap cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m with Jules. I think this is something…maybe someone else…more…girly can help you out with.”

“I’m on board,” Sinner grinned. “Wow me with your sex toy knowledge.” He winked at Cara, who winked back at him.

“As I was saying,” Emma continued. “Books about domination in the bedroom have really set the groundwork for kink to be the new normal. What was once thought of as private and sinful, are now every woman’s— and man’s fantasy. I’m sure you all know that each of us has an array of toys that each of you have benefited from at some point or another.”

I thought back to just last night when Ivy pulled out her new addition to our toy box…a vibrating cock ring. It was amazing. Glancing at Ivy, by her smirk, I knew that’s exactly what she was thinking about. She had played me last night, bringing out that toy in particular to use against me today. And as I looked around at the other guys, I realized the same thing had happened to them. Except, maybe Cap. He just looked like this was business as usual. A very uncomfortable business.

“If you’ll turn to page two in your pamphlets, you’ll see a business plan we’ve laid out for a storefront in town.”

My gaze shot up to Emma’s, but Burg beat me to the question. “Whoa, you want to build a sex shop in town?”

“Precisely,” she smiled. “As you can see, we’ve already found a location that is very suitable. It’s just a block from the police station, and also down the road from the fire department. Every single business on this street already has working security cameras installed. The shop has two exits, but I’m sure you’ll think of a way to make it even more secure. Of course, we would expect that you would want to install every last gadget that you can think