Free Quiver: Watched by Shadows (Quivering Shadows Book 2) by Livia Rook

Chapter One

    T wo weeks had passed since my world was turned upside down; shaken to the core I no longer felt like myself anymore. I was on edge and distracted and in danger of losing my job if I didn’t pull myself together.
    He hadn’t returned for any of the information I’d been able to gather, not that there was much, and I was beginning to think his whole spy act, or whatever it was, was exactly that: A ruse to get me to take my knickers off, a line he used to reel me in. And like a sap I’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.
    But still I couldn’t concentrate. I daydreamed at my desk and got no real work done; the filing was piling up, and people were starting to notice.
    It would be extremely corny to say that I was unable to sleep, but it was true; I’d lay awake in bed, the sheets tangled around my legs from all the turning, thinking only of him.
    I’d replay that night over and over in my head, scrutinising and reliving each moment, every kiss, every moan. Had it been just a dream?
    He took me to new heights, and I feared that I would never reach them again.
    “Earth to Kate?” Max said. I’d been staring off into space, my gaze fixed as I was trapped in another mental rerun of that splendid night.
    “Huh?” I replied, blinking away the carnal images.
    “I’ve been standing here for the best part of minute trying to get your attention. Are you OK? You had the weirdest expression on your face, like you were…” He blushed, trailing off.
    Max is my friend and boss. Well, technically my supervisor. Not a tyrant like his dad, Terry Quadrello, or as some like to call him (behind his back of course) Terry the Brick, who was the real head honcho. Terry doesn’t deal with the day-to-day monotony of the office; it’s not his style. But he does come in for a chat every so often, window shopping, to peek at what the other office girls have on display for him; in their skimpy outfits, they know exactly how to get his attention. Max though, is his polar opposite. A sweetheart, cute, dependable… But once you get him going, he does tend to ramble on.
    “Everything is fine, Max,” I said, still thinking of the paused images playing in my mind. I knew I had to stop doing that, but the movie was on a loop, whether I wanted it or not.
    “Did you need something?” I asked.
    He rattled the keys he held and shifted his feet. “Well, yes,” he said as he looked around, “everyone else has already left, gone for the weekend, and I need to lock up.”
    “Oh, shit, sorry. Let me grab my coat, and I’ll be out in a jiffy,” I said.
    “There was another thing,” he paused. He seemed unsure on how to proceed and grabbed the nearest chair, placed it close to mine and sat.
    “Look, there’s no easy way to say this, but it’s been… how would you put it? It’s been noted that, well…”
    “It’s OK. Max. Just tell me,” I interrupted. It would be the only way to get him to his destination without going around all the houses.
    “You’ve been here long enough now, but your performance. It’s dropped… a lot,” he whispered, indicating the piles of files stacked high on my desk.
    “I’ve tried to cover for you over the last few days, but a few of the others have come to me. Worried,” he said.
    Those treacherous bitches. I guessed, though, that they did have a point. This low paying sit-on-your-ass-all-day job was still a position I couldn’t afford to lose. And fantasies of one guy – and let’s call it what it was: a one night stand – had to stop getting in the way of paying my real-life bills.
    “Don’t worry, I’m not going to fire you,” he smiled and leaned close, placing a hand on my knee. He had kind brown eyes with crackles of burnt orange flecks, warm like the beginning of autumn. His hand rested upon my knee. I had to tell myself not to read anything into this innocent gesture. He was just being friendly.
    “Thanks, I promise to do better,” I said.
    “Fancy grabbing a