Free DowntoBusiness by Dena Garson Page A

luck.”
    Leigh laughed and headed toward the bank of elevators. Her
high-heeled shoes clicked on the marble floor as she walked across the foyer.
After hours, when people weren’t coming and going in droves, the sound echoed
loudly off the glass and tile walls. It always felt strange to be back in the
building where she had worked for ten years. There were lots of fond
memories…particularly the last couple of years when she and John had started
seeing each other.
    She sifted through memories as the elevator doors closed
behind her. If people knew half the things they’d done, they would be shocked.
She was still amazed that they had never gotten caught. But, then again, the
possibility of getting caught had probably added to their excitement.
    The elevator dinged, dragging her out of her reverie. When
the doors opened, she stepped out into the foyer and checked in both
directions. The main lights on the floor were off and she guessed that everyone
except John had gone for the day. She turned to the right and followed the
hallway through the cubicles toward John’s office in the far corner. Light
spilled from his doorway onto the path like a beacon.
    She stood in the doorway and took in the sight of John at
work. As usual there were neat stacks of paper covering most of his desk. His
jacket was off and the sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up at the cuffs.
He was partially turned away from the door and engrossed in whatever he was
typing. Her heart tripped around in her chest knowing how important his work
was to him. Long ago she’d figured out he felt driven to do more than was
probably necessary.
    Leigh rattled the bags as she stepped into his office.
“Dinner’s here.”
    He looked up from his computer and his face relaxed into a
smile.
    “Hey.” He crossed the room and greeted her with a kiss. “I
was expecting you to call when you got to the lobby. How’d you get in?”
    “Ronnie was on duty. He let me in.”
    “I think he always had a crush on you,” John said with a
twinkle in his eye.
    “Yeah, right.” Leigh set the takeout packages on the
conference table on the far side of John’s office.
    John came up behind Leigh and wrapped his arms around her.
He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Not that I blame him. I’ve had a
crush on you for a while now.”
    The scrape of his five o’clock shadow against her neck sent
goose bumps down her entire body. “Have you now?”
    “Mmhmm.” He nuzzled the side of her neck, making her legs
turn to jelly.
    “You know I love it when you do that.”
    “Yeah, I do.” He chuckled in her ear then kissed her exposed
collarbone. “What did you bring me for sustenance, woman?” He reached around
her for one of the containers. The movement brought his crotch in closer
contact with her derriere.
    In response, Leigh pressed back and slid against his growing
erection. John’s swift intake of breath was satisfying. She loved that she
still had the ability to affect him with a simple touch.
    “I got the grilled chicken salad and homemade stroganoff. I
figured we could share them both.”
    “Sounds good to me.” John placed another kiss on the side of
her neck. “I’ll go grab a couple of bottles of water while you finish unpacking
everything.”
    Leigh divided the food between the containers while John ran
to the break room down the hall. When he returned, they sat at John’s
conference table to eat.
    “So what’s Sheridan in a lather over these days?” Leigh
asked.
    “ This week it’s one of the real estate deals we’ve
been working on. Last week it was one of our service agreements. The week
before that it was a personnel issue.”
    “And he wants to know why none of them are finished, doesn’t
he? Because he’s sure that he told you they were all a top priority,” Leigh
said, confident she was right without asking.
    Because his mouth was too full to respond, John simply
nodded.
    “I remember him doing that a lot.” Leigh stabbed a piece