All Chapters of Inappropriate Conduct : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter Two Julian Julian Black didn’t usually make mistakes. He operated on structure, routine, precision. His days were blocked in color-coded segments on a digital calendar that synced across every device he owned. His inbox reached zero by noon without fail. He didn’t forget things—not client deadlines, not names, not faces, not the exact phrasing of a verbal agreement made six years ago in a dimly lit bar. And certainly not Jamie Reyes. He had allowed himself—naively, stupidly—to hope that Jamie wouldn’t remember him. That the night in question would dissolve into the kind of hazy, one-off memory people politely erase the morning after. They’d agreed on the rules before clothes even hit the floor: no names, no numbers exchanged, no follow-up texts, no strings. Anonymous. Clean. Final. Julian had slipped out of the hotel room before sunrise, leaving only the faint imprint of his body on the opposite side of the mattress and the ghost of his cologne on the pillow. He told hims

Chapter Four Julian Julian Black didn’t believe in fate. He believed in structure. Discipline. Forward motion. Systems that could be measured, audited, improved. He had built his career like scaffolding—each promotion stacked methodically, each project executed with surgical precision, each perfectly filed report another layer reinforcing the image he had spent twelve years perfecting: untouchable. Impenetrable. The man who never slipped, never faltered, never let emotion override judgment. And then Jamie Reyes walked into his office and cracked something in him wide open. Julian had told himself—repeatedly, forcefully—that the night was over. One lapse. One surrender to impulse after months of celibacy and stress. He had walked away before dawn, left the hotel room without a backward glance, even deleted the address from his phone history before the elevator reached the lobby. It was supposed to end there. Neat. Anonymous. Forgotten. But then Jamie appeared at new-hire orienta

Chapter Six Julian Julian knew he should stand up. He should thank Jamie for the walkthrough, walk him to the door, and end the night like the professional he was supposed to be. He should say something neutral—good work, see you Monday—and let the moment dissolve into the fluorescent hum of the empty office. But he didn’t move. Jamie sat across from him, laptop now closed between them like a closed chapter. Shoulders tight. Eyes flicking between Julian’s face and the desk surface, as though he was trying to decide whether to bolt or lean in. The air had thickened—too quiet, too full, heavy with everything they weren’t saying. Julian’s hands curled slowly into fists in his lap, nails biting into palms just to keep them still. “You said it wouldn’t happen again,” Jamie said. His voice was soft. Not accusing. Just… reminding. A quiet statement of fact that landed like a stone in still water. Julian met his eyes. “I meant it.” Jamie’s lips parted—like he wanted to argue, to pus

Chapter Eight Julian Julian should’ve canceled the trip. He should’ve pulled rank, invented a scheduling conflict, cited a sudden client emergency, or simply delegated to someone—anyone—else on the creative team. The warning bells in his head had been deafening for days: three consecutive nights of staring at the ceiling, the ghost of Jamie’s breath hitching when Julian’s thumb had brushed the pulse point at his throat during that one unguarded moment in the hallway last week, the way Jamie’s eyes had darkened and held his for half a second too long. But he didn’t cancel. He got on the plane anyway. And now he was standing in the polished marble lobby of the executive suite hotel in Chicago, gripping the check-in folder so tightly the edges bit into his palm like it had personally offended him. “There seems to have been a booking error,” the front desk clerk said, offering an apologetic smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Only one room is confirmed under your agency name. King b

Chapter Ten Julian Jamie kissed like he’d waited years for it. Desperate. Open. Starved. And Julian God help him gave in. No second-guessing this time. No internal lectures about boundaries, power dynamics, or the dozen ways this could end in disaster. Just hands and teeth and heat, raw and immediate. He hauled Jamie closer, one hand gripping the back of his neck to angle him just right, the other sliding beneath the hem of his faded T-shirt. Skin met skin. Jamie gasped when their chests pressed together, and Julian felt the sharp arch of his back, the involuntary tremble in his thighs as he settled fully into Julian’s lap, straddling him on the hotel carpet. His heart slammed against his ribs so hard he could feel it in his throat. This was happening. It was already happening. Jamie was grinding down against him in slow, needy rolls, mouth hot and slick, tongue sliding against Julian’s like he was trying to crawl inside him. Julian’s self-control cracked like thin glass unde