Play With Me

struck me silent. “I trust you.” A moment
later he disappeared around the corner.
    My chin rested
on my chest with no intentions of snapping my mouth shut. Trust me, my arse! He
must be nuts if he thought I could be trusted. With a snort, I rose from the
linoleum floor and strode in the direction of the exit. But I bounced into a
solid wall of bad conscience.
    “Dammit.” I
kicked the wall to my right. The rubber-sole of my boot left a black mark on
the white surface. I shouldn’t even have to think about it, so why in the world
did I hesitate? And for a stranger?
    The exit had
never looked better, and yet invisible shackles prevented any further step in
its direction. Breathing became increasingly harder, and anger burned like a
flame through me. I didn’t understand this stranger’s inexplicable hold over
me. I shouldn’t waste another thought on him. After all, I didn’t ask him to
remove the handcuffs.
    But he took them
off anyway. And he trusted me.
    Argh. A growl
rumbled out of my throat. I shot a pissed glance heavenward and raked clawed
fingers through my hair. With a helpless sigh, I returned to the spot where
he’d found me. Standing with my back against the middle column and arms crossed
tightly over my chest, I awaited his return.
    Only seconds
later, footfalls announced his approach in the hall behind my back. The steps
slowed, and a hardly audible sigh of dismay drifted around the column to me. I
grinned to myself, savoring this sweet, however short moment of victory. Then I
shoved away from the post.
    Relief washed over
his face at the sight of me, the corners of his mouth tilting up. “It’s good to
see you again.”
    Blimey, and just
how nice it is to look at your beautiful face. But I steeled my expression and
ground my teeth. I spun on my heel, trudged back toward Abe’s office, intending
to hire Quinn as my bodyguard to keep this goddamn Good Samaritan at arm’s
length.
    “Damn you to
hell,” I muttered as I went.
    He laughed
behind me. “Oh joy.”
     
    * * *
     
     
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of HER GAME, HIS RULES on Amazon.com

 
     
     
     
    A native Austrian, PIPER SHELLY always had an unexplainable passion for English. She doesn’t remember the last
book she read in her native language, but she swears it must have been sometime
before her graduation. Always a kid at heart, she loves to travel to enchanted
places like Disneyland or romantic Paris in spring with her husband and son.
    Please visit her website at www.pipershelly.com or write to [email protected]
    She would love to hear from you!