Cover Me. Stephanie Bond

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СКАЧАТЬ attention for quite a while before he’d removed them with his teeth. The expensive un-dies seemed like a fair trade for the dress shirt.

      I dropped the panties on the side of the bed I’d slept on, glanced around to make sure I had my belongings, and walked to the door as soundlessly as I could. I looked back at Sam’s sleeping form and experienced a twinge of regret that I hadn’t shared enough information about myself or found out enough about him for us ever to connect again. And even though it was probably against the rules, I blew him a wistful kiss.

      I wasn’t very good at this one-night-stand business.

      And I was late for work. I took the elevator to the lobby and dashed through it with my head down, sure that everyone knew what I’d done. I walked faster and faster, which only brought into play more and more muscles that I’d overworked last night and aggravated my booming headache. And apparently Sam liked heavy starch—the collar of his shirt chafed my neck, and the fabric was wreaking havoc on my hives. Some part of me, though, felt as if I deserved to be miserable after what I’d done. Mind you, I’m not a virginal prude, but deep down I still wanted to believe that sex was a special, intimate experience with emotional fallout. To realize that I had so enjoyed the purely physical encounter left me questioning what I knew to be true about myself.

      I hailed a cab and slid into the lobby of the Woolworth Building a mere fifteen minutes late, but I felt as though the day had started without me. My nerves clanged and I wondered what Helena had manufactured for me to do today to make up for the fact that I’d left early yesterday. Fridays were notoriously busy so that those who would be working over the weekend could get the assignments that they had to complete for Monday morning. I wasn’t surprised when I walked into my closet-office to the tune of my phone ringing.

      I set my bag on my desk and yanked up the receiver. “Kenzie Mansfield.”

      “Well?” Jacki asked.

      One side of my mouth slid back. “Well, what?”

      “Well, how was the Eagle Scout?”

      “I knew I shouldn’t have left you that message.”

      “It was the safe thing to do. Did you spend the night?”

      I sighed. “Yes.”

      “And how was it?”

      “Great,” I admitted.

      “You don’t sound too excited. Did he refuse to be cast?”

      I glanced toward my bag where the lifelike dildo resided. “Uh, no, he was…up for the job.”

      “And?”

      “And it worked perfectly.”

      “I’m going to order a kit for me and Ted as soon as I hang up.” She paused. “Why are you so glum—was he…petite?”

      I laughed and dropped into my chair. “No, he was not petite. I’m just feeling out of sorts. My head is hammering, I woke up too late to go back to my apartment, I had to wear his shirt to the office—”

      “You weren’t supposed to talk to him this morning!”

      “I didn’t.”

      “You stole the guy’s shirt?”

      I mourned my pink Lejaby panties. “More like traded for it. Anyway…I don’t know, Jacki, it was really weird to sleep with this guy and just get up and leave, knowing I’ll never see him again.”

      “Maybe you will run into him again.”

      “He said he’s from out of town.”

      “He probably lied. For all you know, he could work in the mailroom of your building.”

      “Running into him would be even worse. How awkward would that be?”

      “Pretty awkward if he has you arrested for stealing his shirt. Wait a minute—do you have feelings for this guy?”

      I blinked. “No—unless itchy feelings count. I have hives.”

      “That sounds attractive.”

      “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be having any more one-night stands.” I fiddled with one of the buttons on Sam’s shirt. “I guess I want what you have with Ted.”

      “And you’ll find it,” Jacki said. “Last night was just an exercise to jumpstart your social life.”

      “I hope you’re right,” I mumbled.

      “And look on the bright side—you have the guy’s silicone portrait to remember him by.”

      I was minutely cheered. “I have to admit it’s one beautiful dildo.”

      A shadow darkened my door and I looked up to see Helena standing there, holding a stack of file folders. Wondering how much she’d heard, I fixed my face into a serious expression and adopted a professional tone to pretend I was on a business call. “I’ll have to look into that and get back to you later.” I hung up, made a bogus note on scratch paper, then turned a sunny smile toward my boss. “Good morning.”

      “You’re late.”

      “I…was caught in traffic. Sorry.”

      Helena squinted. “Is that a banker’s clip in your hair?”

      I stood and pointed to the files. “Something I can take off your hands?”

      Helena gave me a suspicious look, then nodded and handed me the files. “Could you please take a look at these circulation reports and have a summary for me by this afternoon?”

      I blinked because I didn’t realize the word please was in Helena’s vocabulary. “Sure, I’ll have a report for you ASAP.”

      Helena started to go, then turned back. “Kenzie, did you enjoy your time off yesterday?”

      I smiled at her cordial tone. “Yes, I did.”

      “Is there anything you’d like to…share?”

      My throat constricted. Was it that obvious that I’d recently crawled out of a strange bed and sponged the sex off my body before donning stolen clothes and sliding into the office late? “I…no.”

      She gave me another wary once-over, then turned and strode away. I was shaking when I rummaged in my desk drawer for an antihistamine tablet. Helena could be a demanding boss, but I admired her and wanted her respect. I didn’t have to consult a shrink to know that I had some kind of maternal projection complex where the woman was concerned. On the other hand, having a moral compass in one’s life wasn’t such a terrible thing.

      I was a bad, bad girl.

      But I’d had a good, good time.

      In fact, I could still feel Sam’s hands on my body, the rough texture of the calluses on his broad fingers—one of the reasons I’d doubted his story about being a doctor, although I couldn’t argue on the subject of his dexterity. СКАЧАТЬ