Read Love Bound for Free Online

when he finished
the question did his gaze find mine.
    “God I hope not.” I sat back. His
friendship meant a great deal to me, which was why I backed off last fall,
letting him be the one to take the lead into the hotter topics most of the
time. I didn’t always adhere to that, but I tried, because, while I was more
than willing to take the chance, he wasn’t.
    Until today.
    And for the briefest of moments, I
thought I shot myself in the foot. All I could imagine was him running for the
hills and my heart actually stopped beating for a second.
    He rolled his bright eyes and twirled
his finger, meaning the room. “No I meant do you think they’ll figure it out?”
    My heart resumed, lighter than a
moment ago, relieved. I shook my head. “As long as we don’t stop behaving like
normal, I don’t think anyone will be the wiser.” And normal for us was always
on the side of politically incorrect.
    He was glancing at the ceiling. “Think
there are cameras?”
    That made me laugh. “No just the damn air conditioning vent
blowing arctic air on my desk.” I tilted my head. “You know, this is the first
time I haven’t been freezing at my desk. I’m kind of grateful for that cold
flow right now.”
    The slow grin formed again, smoothing
out the worry lines in his forehead.
    “You know what else I’d actually
like?”
    “What’s that?”
    “A hug.” Yes, a very sappy request,
but I wanted to know what it felt like to be in his arms. I stood, breaching
the distance and leaned in to hug him. When his arms wrapped around me, damn,
it felt like coming home and at the same time, I was acutely aware of the extra
weight I gained over the holidays hovering on my hips and ass. I sighed and straightened,
almost at eye level with him, my arms still resting on his broad shoulders. His
hands slid down, giving my ass a squeeze. I felt the hot rush in my cheeks and
I rolled my eyes. Grudgingly, I stepped away, sliding back to my chair.
    “I should go,” he said, glancing at
the clock on the wall.
    “Yes you should.”
    A slight rosy hue crept into his
cheeks accompanied by a crooked playful smile as his eyes went from the clock
to me. “I should go,” he repeated.
    “You don’t really want to, do you?”
    The shrug and full bloom of blush
confirmed it without the almost imperceptible shake of his head. “You know,
with our luck someone would walk in.”
    “Probably.” He was trembling just as
much as I was trying to contain the wild urge for ripping fabric and skin against
skin. My eyes drifted to the nape of his neck and I bit back the need to run my
tongue up the strong line to his ear. If I did that, there would be no stopping
us, cubicle or not.
    Instead, I reached for the bottle of
water behind me on the desk, cracked it and took a sip. “So, you really should
go.” Unless of course, you want to rent a hotel room downtown and I’ll skip
the meeting. The thought didn’t make it past my lips; they closed around
the words, presenting a hint of a smile as I sipped the water again.
    He smiled, picking up his notebook,
but did not move and I started stammering again, something about how much his
friendship meant to me. I was painfully aware of the driveling but helpless to
stop it. The alternative would leave us naked and panting in a 9x9 fabric box.
    Shut up!
    The command from my mind ignored by my
mouth, just like a little child ignores their parent and he, of course, had all
the perfect response to every benign piece of nonsense that fell from my lips.
    God would I ever shut up?
    Dimples creased his cheeks and his
lips curved into a suppressed smile. “I know what you mean.” His eyes drifted
to the clock. “I really should go.” This time he stood.
    Damn it. Just ask him if he wants to
take this somewhere else! You’re such an idiot! “Yeah, you probably should.” BECAUSE
I’m a driveling fucking idiot!
    The Cheshire cat grin appeared and I
pointed at it.
    “We’re both gonna be smiling like that
for