Love Bound Read Online Free PDF

all things, and I like to explore the farther edges of passion
and desire in what I write. What interests me now is not so much the things
people do, but how they feel about what they do—male and female dynamics, how
we connect to ourselves and each other and to the world at large. I tend to be
intense and my writing shows that, but I really value my sense of humor above
all, and I expect it to sustain me should the fires of sexual passion ever burn
out.”

Office Games
    By J. E. Taylor
     
    “Hey what-cha-doin?” I smiled into the
phone when he answered, being my facetious pain-in-the-ass self.
    “Getting ready to head home, why?”
    “Just wanted to give you some grief.” I
chuckled. “Besides I’ve got another stinkin’ hour to burn before I head to a
late meeting. I’m the only one down here and it’s really creepy.”
    My office was one of thirty high
walled cubicles in the dead center of the building. Marble hallways lined the
room on all four sides, creating an almost sound proof area leaving it
unearthly quiet. Mornings alone in this closed off space never bothered me, but
then again I knew eventually someone would come in. But after the last of the
staff went home, this room took on an eerie, morgue-like quality, silent air,
broken only by the constant cool flow from the air-conditioning vent above.
    I shivered.
    “Perfect opportunity for you to come
scare the hell out of me.”
    His laugh traversed the phone line. “I’ll
be right down.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah.”
    Relief washed over me when Jake stepped
into the room and crossed to my desk looking around. “You were right, it is
kind of creepy.”
    I spun my chair in his direction and
waved to the seat lining my back wall and he parked there. Only a foot
separated the distance between our knees and I was aware of every last inch of
that space and I swiveled nervously in the chair. Utterly alone, we were
utterly alone and just a few inches from trouble.
    My concentration crumbled and I
rambled, talking a mile a minute about everything but what was really going
through my mind, talking about everything but the desire flooding my veins. Having
him this close was as intoxicating as a dozen shots of tequila and equally as
hot.
    Conversation tapered off and he smiled
a knowing smile, the one that sent shivers from my toes to the tip of my head,
tripling my heart rate and the temperature in the little cubicle skyrocketed. Hell,
if there was a sprinkler system, the current between us would have tripped it.
    “I should be going.”
    I returned his smile, a little disappointed.
This situation, no one in the office, secluded, cut off from everyone, didn’t
happen, not in the place we worked. It was like all the stars aligning for that
brief span of time, the weather patterns falling into place to form the perfect
storm. Exactly the situation we both dreamt of and yet all I could muster was a
lame “Ok.”
    He paused, getting ready to stand but
not quite. “You surprised me.”
    My eyebrows rose in response. “How
so?”
    He waived his hand, a silent comment
on the sheer emptiness surrounding us and then flashed that smile again.
    Oh my god, he thought I’d make the
first move. That’s why he shot downstairs so fast. I almost laughed out loud
but I kept the question in my eyes.
    “You’re all talk, aren’t you?”
    I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”
    He nodded, settling back in the chair.
    “What we need is some conference to go
to, a couple drinks . . .” I let the rest go unsaid, our imaginations
wandering.
    “That would be particularly
dangerous.”
    My turn. I cocked my head and teased
with a bite of my lower lip before I spoke. “How so?”
    “A hotel room . . .” A single eyebrow
rose, the insinuation complete. Jake let that hang in the air for a moment,
glancing around the empty office. “You’re all talk.” He grinned. “No one’s here
and yet you didn’t even broach the subject.”
    My smile faded. “That’s because