Dungeon Time (Play at Work) Read Online Free PDF

is afraid of him or he harms her?”
    “Well, no, but….”
    “It’s hard to explain, and you will have to ask her yourself, but I can assure you he loves her very much. And he would never do anything to her that she didn’t want.”
    This time she did jerk away. “Are you saying she likes to be hurt? That she’s co-dependent and needs an intervention?”
    “No.”
    “Then what?”
    I’m making a real hash of this. And nothing in the conversation gave him an opportunity to say, “Hey, Anna, how about dinner and a movie?”
    Struggling to find another topic, he glanced at her car, which was stuffed to the rooftop with clothes and suitcases. “Going somewhere?”
    “Huh?” She followed his line of sight and jumped. “What a day this has turned out to be. I’m moving today. I need to pick up the key in—” She checked her watch. “—two hours.”
    Having shifted the conversation from Randolph and Mona, he made a mental note to remind his careless friend that Mona’s office was not soundproof. “Can you move in any earlier?”
    “I don’t know. I made the appointment for when I get off work. But there’s an onsite manager. I probably can.”
    “Moving day is always chaotic.”
    “Don’t laugh, but I am leaving home for the first time. In my mid-twenties.” She shrugged. “Lame, huh?”
    He focused on her pretty, heart-shaped face and glowing complexion, her curvy figure. His ideal wife—even if it meant he never darkened the door of a dungeon again. He pushed aside all thoughts of ropes and chains, kneeling girls, and St. Andrew’s crosses. His leather could go to a thrift store.
    “Could you use some help unloading the car at your new place?”
    “Mr. Masters, of course not.” Her amazement was not unexpected, and he would do whatever it took to convince her. He might not know how to deal with an ordinary date, but he hoped he could be her knight in shining armor. Or in black leather.
    “Do you have anyone else coming to help? Your brothers, maybe?”
    “Heavens, no. My family is very unhappy about my decision. They are old-world, traditional. Girls—and even boys—stay at home until they marry. Unless they join the army or something—the boys, not the girls. If I joined the military, I’d be disowned for sure. Girls don’t do that in my family.” She wrapped her arms around her torso. “Sorry for babbling. I took a big stand, and it will be a while before I can show up for Sunday dinner.”
    He nodded, more sure than ever he’d have to stick with a vanilla life if he chose Anna for his own. “So, you need me.”
    She smiled, and his world lit up. “It’s a third-floor walkup. Offer still open?”
    “Give me the address, and I’ll be over as soon as I can stop by my place and change.” What better way to get into the lady’s good graces—and her home. “We can send out for pizza after we finish.”
    They would be having dinner together after all.

Chapter Three
     
    Anna arrived at her new apartment in less than ten minutes. She could be at work in twenty by bike—if she owned one. And it would be one of her first purchases. She could ride on the nearby beach boardwalk on the weekends, too. Most of the women in her family started out curvy and ended up overweight, a curse she planned to avoid if possible.
    Already she’d lost one fiancé to a skinny blonde.
    With her clothes and boxes piled to the roof, she couldn’t see a thing out of the rear view, so she would use the side mirrors and be extra careful. Not tipsy at all, she still didn’t want to be pulled over, and the thoughts crowding her mind made it hard enough to pay attention to traffic. A quick call to her new landlord had confirmed her keys were waiting in the manager’s apartment, and the woman would be in all afternoon, so her move-in was a go.
    But her relocation, the biggest thing in her life until a half hour before, paled in comparison to her shock at the turn the afternoon had taken. Mr. Masters, her