What He Craves by Tawny Taylor Page B

You’ll have to leave
immediately.”
    Stunned into silence, I shook his hand and followed him out
to my cubicle. He stood to one side and watched me gather the few personal
items I’d kept at my desk. The picture of my mother and me when I was five. The
snacks I’d stowed in a drawer. My purse. Then, saying absolutely nothing, he
escorted me to the human resources office where I filled out a mountain of
paperwork--exit interviews. Medical insurance forms.
    Within an hour of arriving at work, I was standing next to
my car bawling my eyes out.
    I was officially unemployed.
    Although I was tempted, I didn’t call anyone as I drove
home. I knew if I did I’d fall apart and might end up in a car accident. No, I
waited until I was safe in my living room before I dialed my best friend Jill’s
number. I left her a short message when she didn’t answer. Then, I skimmed my
list of contacts.
    It was very short.
    There was Jill.
    There was my brother. He’d be no help. I hadn’t spoken to
him in ages. A longtime alcohol and drug addict, his life was a train wreck and
mine became one whenever he was around.
    And there was Shane Trant.
    I hadn’t called Shane before. He’d always been the one to
call me. Despite the fact that we’d recently been…spending time together.
    Perhaps, looking from the outside, the arrangement we had
between us seemed a little one-sided.
    He was the one who called me.
    He was the one who made all the plans.
    He was the one who, more or less, controlled every aspect of
our relationship. But, with a few exceptions, I’d been okay with it that way.
    Until today.
    Until now.
    I needed a shoulder to lean on. Jill was at work. I was
panicking.
    I hit the button, calling him. But before the first ring, I
cut off the connection.
    No. If I called him he’d probably feel some obligation to
fix my problem for me. I didn’t want that.
    Sure, I was scared. I was petrified I wouldn’t find another
job. But already I knew that he’d probably offer me a job working for him. I
couldn’t work for him. Not now. Not ever.
    What if this thing between us ended badly?
    Needing to burn off some nervous energy, I dragged out my
old laptop and powered it up. The first thing I did was register for unemployment.
I was going to collect peanuts, but what the hell? Peanuts were still better
than nothing. Next, I scoured the internet, looking for help-wanted ads in the
area. I found a few promising websites but absolutely no positions I was
qualified for. So I opened a new document in my word processor and started
drafting a new resume to take to the employment agency I’d used to get the job
with Tamby.
    Three hours later I had a pretty decent looking resume. I
emailed it to my contact at the agency and refreshed my inbox a dozen times (or
more) before becoming disgusted and frustrated and depressed. Just as I was
about to fall into another bout of self-pity, my phone rang.
    Shane.
    I jumped to my feet and stared down at the glowing screen. I
took a moment to compose myself before answering, “Hello?”
    “You called?”
    “Oh…yes. I did…I just wanted to say hi,” I lied, running my
hand down my neck to work out the knots.
    “Mmmm. Hi.”
    “Hi.”
    “What are you doing?” he asked, voice low and sexy.
    I glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes to five o’clock.
If I hadn’t been fired today, I would have been at work. I would be counting the
minutes until I could leave. How I wished I was there now. “I’m…erm…at work.
I’m getting ready to head home. Why?”
    “Just asking.”
    “Oh. Okay.”
    After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “Are you sure
there isn’t something going on? You don’t sound like yourself.”
    “No, I’m fine. I’m just…tired. Someone kept me up late last
night, past my bedtime.”
    His chuckle did some pleasant things to my insides. I
imagined him sitting in his limo, eyes sparkling, corners of his lips curled
into that devilish smile that made certain parts of my