Zach and Mary laughed. J.P. patted Zach on his shoulder and excused himself to the restroom.

“You’d like to go home, wouldn’t you, Zach?” Finley said, slapping his hand on Zach’s back. Zach repressed a shudder and turned to face him. Of course, Thomas would wait until the second J.P. was gone to start in on him. “England, I mean. I don’t know if L.A. is safe for you. Have you ever had a tan in your life? Probably not. No tanning in a fog.”

“I plan on working in L.A., Thomas. Not playing.”

“Working like Faulkner?” he asked with a smarmy grin. “How many affairs did Faulkner have while out in L.A.? Three? Four? Of course, you’re not married anymore, Zach, so I guess they won’t count as affairs. Oh, wait…you’re still married, aren’t you? I’d forgotten. Hard to tell sometimes. So I guess Nora Sutherlin was number one.”

Zach locked eyes with Finley. “I am not, was not and have not slept with Nora Sutherlin. She is, was, one of my writers. I try to respect that line.”

“Writer? She’s a whore, Zach, and we both know it.”

“You don’t know anything, Thomas,” Zach countered. “Call her whatever you want—she’s still one of the most promising writers I’ve ever worked with. I’d far rather work with whores than hacks any day.”

“Hacks?” Thomas took an angry step closer. “None of my writers are whores. And they’re definitely not hacks.”

“I wasn’t talking about your writers.” Zach heard a collective gasp from around the room as the implication of his words sunk in.

“You son of a bitch.” Before anyone but Zach could react, Thomas raised his arm to take a swing at him.

But Zach had more fights with drunken football hooligans under his belt than he cared to admit, thanks to his days as a bartender in university. He ducked and swung back, making fierce, hard contact with Thomas’s chin. His head snapped to the side and Thomas went down in an instant.

There was a long silence as the room seemed to take in the scene that had just played out before them. And then it was filled with applause and laughter.

“Mary,” Zach said. “Did you know that the first rule of S&M is to hurt, but not harm?”

Thomas wiped blood from his mouth.

“Looks unharmed to me, boss.”

Without waiting another second, Zach ran from the room and headed for the elevators.

“Where are you going?” Mary called out as she raced down the hall behind him.

“I’m getting my writer back. Or at least her book.”

Mary grinned at him.

“Good luck, Zach. Just so you know this is why you’re my favorite boss of all time.”

Zach fled the building, his right hand throbbing, and hailed a taxi. Suddenly he realized he wasn’t sure what he was doing.

He gave the driver his address to his own flat. He’d try calling Nora again from there. If she didn’t answer he’d go to her house. And if she wasn’t at her house, well, he’d hunt her down any way he could.