Tempted heart - karl coldron (best books to read for knowledge txt) 📗

No, no, no,” she muttered under her breath. She thought briefly of pushing the ‘close doors’ button before sighing and holding the door instead.
He slipped through the elevator doors and nodded his thanks. As the doors closed and the elevator hummed its way down to the parking garage, he glanced at her. “You’re working late this evening, Ms. Reid.”
She smiled stiffly at him. He was the reason she was working late when she should have been out celebrating Amanda’s birthday with the rest of her friends. She sighed and brushed at a speck of lint on her skirt.
It wasn’t that she hated her new boss. She just really, really disliked him. Jason Young was by far the most arrogant, egotistical jackass she’d ever had to work for. It didn’t matter that in the last six months he had taken their small, unassuming website and turned it into one of the most-viewed websites of the year. Nor did it matter that he had secured so many new advertisers that everyone in the office had received a bonus and ten percent raise. She knew he was good at what he did - it’s why he was hired in the first place. The problem was that she was a damn fine copy editor and she worked her ass off for the company, but for some mysterious reason Jason Young loathed her.
Today was particularly brutal. She had stayed positive only by reminding herself that it was Friday, and she could forget the day with a few, well-timed tequila shots at Amanda’s birthday party. Of course, thanks to Mr. Young, that plan was shot after lunch.
She sighed again and glanced at her cell phone. It was only eight thirty. She could go home, change into something slinky and sexy and still meet the gang at the pub. She realized that her boss was standing a little closer and staring silently at her.
She shot him a dirty look before returning her gaze to her cell phone. She was off the clock. There was no need to be friendly or polite with him.
“Ms. Reid, do you have a problem with me?” He asked suddenly.
“Why would you think that?” She asked.
“Because you - ”
He stopped as the elevator came to a sudden, grinding halt. The lights went out, plunging them into darkness, and she was thrown against him. Her cell phone flew out of her hand and hit the elevator wall with a crunching noise that made her wince.
She shrank against him, her heart thudding in her chest. With a low buzz, the emergency lights came on and bathed the elevator in a dim red light. She was still pressed against him with panicked intimacy. He was holding her with his large hands clamped around her full hips, and she flushed and shoved at his hard chest.
“Let go of me.”
“Just wait a minute, I think - ”
She gasped as the elevator made another groaning lurch and dropped a few more feet. Her stomach dropped with it, and her fear made her clutch to his broad shoulders.
“What the hell?” She whispered.
He frowned. “The elevator seems to be broken.”
She pushed again at his chest. “Let me go, please.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there. His stare, combined with the warmth of his hands on her hips, was making her skin tingle and she licked her lips nervously. His gaze darkened and his nostrils flared, and she stared mesmerized at the dark stubble that covered his lower face

She was struck by the urge to kiss the dark shadow, to lick it with her tongue and feel it prickle against her lips. She was actually leaning forward when he gently pushed her away.
She turned away, utterly mortified by her behavior, and wondered briefly if she could pry the doors open and climb down the elevator shaft to get away from him. Instead, she walked gingerly across the elevator to rescue her cell phone. He opened the control panel door and picked up the black telephone receiver that was attached to it. He held the receiver to his ear, waiting patiently.
Lucy stared at her cell phone and muttered a curse. The screen was shattered but she pushed a few buttons, knowing it was pointless but trying anyway.
“Shit,” she muttered.
He scowled at her and made a shushing gesture with his hand. “Yes, hello? This is Jason Young from the twenty-seventh floor. It seems our elevator has broken down.”
She shoved her phone into her purse and tried not to think about the fact that there was no way out. Already her chest was tightening and the air in the elevator seemed too warm. She wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but it was useless to deny that tight spaces made her uncomfortable.
She fanned herself with the top of her blouse before unbuttoning her suit jacket and removing it. She placed it neatly on the floor of the elevator as he hung up the phone.
“Are they sending someone to fix it?” She asked.
He shrugged out of his own suit jacket, and she ignored the way his white dress shirt clung to his powerful shoulders and accentuated his wide chest.
“Apparently the power is out to the entire block - some kind of power surge. Until they can get the power back on, we’re stuck in here.”
“Shit,” she muttered for a second time.
She looked up at the ceiling panels. “Can’t they send in, I don’t know, firemen or someone to open up the ceiling and let us out that way?”
He gave her a wry look. “I doubt that two people stuck in an elevator is a top priority for them right now, Ms. Reid.”
She flushed at his condescending tone and fanned herself with her shirt again. Sweat was starting to trickle between her breasts and she unbuttoned the top two buttons and stuck her head down her top, blowing lightly to try and cool herself.
* * *
Jason watched as Lucy unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt. He nearly groaned out loud when it revealed her smooth, pale skin and a hint of cleavage. He’d had numerous fantasies about seeing her round, full breasts. But in the six months since he joined the firm, she had never worn anything that didn’t button nearly to her throat. She favoured tailored business suits that hid her breasts and downplayed the generous curve of her ass.
He had realized how temptingly full and ripe her breasts were about a month after he started. It was another late night and he was on his way home when he had glanced casually into her office as he walked by. She was standing in front of the window, her jacket and shoes lying forgotten on the floor and her hands in the small of her back. She was stretching, and he had gotten an immediate and embarrassing erection at the sight of her large breasts straining enticingly at the fabric of her shirt.
He had stared at her for a few moments, memorizing every line of her curvy body before hurrying down the hallway with his dick throbbing and his pulse pounding. Since that night, hecould barely be around her without wondering what it would be like to pull her jacket off, slip his hands under her silk blouse and cup those magnificent breasts.
As she blew down her shirt again, he let his eyes drift over her face. She was an attractive woman. There was something about her cheekbones and the curve of her full lips that just about made his heart stop. Her dark hair was pulled into its usual twist, but by this late in the evening a few strands had escaped and were curling around her neck. He wondered how long her hair was. He wondered if it was as silky as it looked, and wondered how it would feel draped across his thighs as she used that generous mouth to –
He groaned to himself and dragged his gaze away from her, willing his erection to go down. He had never acted inappropriately with an employee before, and he was annoyed by his lack of self-control around her. She wasn’t just beautiful, he thought. She had proved to be smart and efficient at her job and her direct supervisor, Jerry Hanson, couldn’t say enough good things about her. Still, he fought his growing attraction to her by being cold and rude, and she had responded with her own chilliness.
Lucy cleared her throat and stared at him, her dark eyes wide with nervousness. “How long do you think it will be?”
He shrugged and loosened his tie, pulling it over his head and dropping it to the floor next to his suit jacket before unbuttoning two buttons of his own shirt. “I don’t know.”
* * *
Lucy’s eyes dropped to Jason’s chest. She could see a hint of dark, curly hair, and she moistened her suddenly-dry lips with her tongue. Sweat beaded up on her brow, and she wiped her palms against her skirt.
Why did he have to be so goddamn attractive, she thought irritably. It would be much easier to ignore him if he wasn’t the typical tall, dark and handsome type that regularly invaded her dreams. Not that there was any point to dreaming about him. Guys like Jason Young didn’t fall for girls like her.
He would favour the tall, thin and blonde model types with their flawless tanned skin and perfect hair. At 5’9” she fit the bill for being tall, but her thick, dark hair was impossible to tame, her skin pale and prone to blotchiness when she was nervous, and her chunky body would never be mistaken for a model’s.
She could and did attract plenty of male attention. She dressed for her body shape and she was proud of her curves. Her thighs might touch and her stomach might not be perfectly flat but she knew how to work with her assets - especially her breasts. No one here would know it - at the office she preferred to wear clothing that downplayed her chest - but outside of work she wore tight shirts with low neck lines that showcased her firm cleavage.
She had an active dating life. Or did, she amended. Since Jason was hired six months ago, her sex life had died out dramatically. It was hard to get laid when you were spending most of your free time at the office. It was yet another reason to dislike him.
She sighed and leaned against the elevator wall. She seemed to be the only woman in the office who didn’t like him. He could be, and was often, charming to the other women. And when he chose to use it, his smile weakened the knees of every female employee in the building. Even Carol, the fifty-seven-year-old receptionist who had a grudge toward almost every man she came across, giggled like a school girl when he turned on the charm.

She snorted to herself. About two months ago, a bet was started among the ladies she worked with. The goal, of course, was to see who could bed their new boss first. They had even pooled their money to buy a prize - a weekend of pampering at ‘Heaven’s Gate Spa’.
They hadn’t bothered to invite her into the betting pool. His rude behavior toward her, the extra pounds she carried, and her absolute refusal to wear anything that was even remotely suggestive had them convinced she wouldn’t have a chance with their handsome new boss.
She was both appalled and a little amused at their behavior. Despite her dislike for him, her brain was quick to inform her that it was inclined to believe the prize was pointless. That, in fact, the prize itself would be getting to bed Jason Young. To find out what it was like to have him between her legs, and to feel his