Dungeon Time (Play at Work) Read Free

new document on her PC. Mona and Mr. Marks had become an item—although they didn’t seem to realize the fact.
    Anna Palladino, receptionist and best friend, was not about to tell them. They seemed to enjoy sneaking around, and who was she to deny them their pleasure?
    The two probably had a great sex life. Anna got that. But her own limited experience kept her from asking too many questions. She’d gathered they engaged in some unusual practices and had caught Mona rubbing her bottom one day after emerging from the boss’s office.
    Anna’s happiness for the couple was tempered with her own longing for someone special of her own. From her desk, she watched the other employees coming and going, discussing their relationships, the breakups and make -ups that filled their lives. During the two years of her employment at Marks and Company, two of her coworkers had married, three had given birth, and one had divorced—while she worked all day and lived with her parents. In the Palladino family, single women did not leave the family dwelling. Before purchasing her life-changing ereader, she’d had her naughty novellas—the source of many late-night fantasies—stuffed under her mattress like a horny teenager. Nice girls didn’t read stories about men in black leather binding girls to their beds and ravishing them. Maybe she wasn’t a nice girl.
    And that day, after work, she would move into her own apartment.
    Her declaration of independence had stunned her traditional mother and commanding father. As the eldest child, she would also be the first to leave the nest. Her sister would marry in a few months and move out too—but in an acceptable way. Cara’s engagement had lit a fire under her. First one sister then the next, then her brothers would marry and leave. Soon only poor Anna, victim of a broken engagement that had ruined her reputation, would remain at home—to take care of her aging parents. Sitting in their out-of-date living room until she aged into a dried-up prune.
    The phone rang, and she answered, passing the call along to Human Resources. Mr. Marks preferred the human touch, wanting the calls that came to the main line answered by a person, not a machine. Of course, anyone knowing the extension they wanted could dial it, but Anna still stayed busy. She also offered her assistance to anyone who needed data entry. Anything to make the time go by—especially today, while counting the hours until she could pick up the key to her new apartment.
    Nothing too elaborate, but it was near the beach and offered a pool and exercise room. She would work out every day and get thin like the blonde bimbo who stole Giovanni.
    The sweet scent from the bunch of deep-pink roses on her desk drew her attention and she pulled off a bruised petal. She’d miss spending Saturdays tending the garden with her mother, but independence had its price. She’d have her own flowers one day. Maybe even the florist business she dreamed of owning. Heirloom blooms for discerning customers….
    “Anna?”
    She glanced up, face heating at being caught woolgathering. “Mr. Masters, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
    His smile lit his dark brown eyes. “Hello, Anna, I’m here for lunch with Randolph. Will you please let him know I’ve arrived?”
    “Oh, of course.” She lifted the phone and dialed the boss’s extension. “He will be out in a moment, sir. Please have a seat.”
    “No problem.” Instead of sitting on one of the chairs across the room, he rested a hip against her desk. Tall, lean and handsome, Mr. Marks’ attorney attracted the attention of every woman in the office whenever he stopped in. She’d heard a few giggling about the possibility of “hooking the big fish.” Disgusting.
    Although he’d been named one of the most eligible bachelors in the state two years running, he was still a human being and not the trophy they implied. And although he never said more than a few words to her, his courtesy and kind