Free Surrender to Temptation Part VI: Tempted to Possess by Lauren Jameson Page A

trapped inside the sapphire blue.
    Clutching the bracelet tightly in my fist, as if I couldn’t bear to let it go, I opened the card. The pen had bitten into the paper under Zach’s heavy hand.
    The blue of these star sapphires reminded me of the beautiful slip that you wore for me last night. The bracelet is a thank-you for the time that we have had together, which I will never forget. I’m more sorry than you know that I can’t give you what you need.
    Always,
    Zach
    Sitting back in my chair, I closed my eyes tight and tried to compose myself. I didn’t even want to think about the strings that he must have pulled to procure this bracelet sometime between when we had gotten back to the city and my arrival at work.
    I couldn’t keep it. I wanted to, not only because it was beautiful, but also because it seemed like it just might be the only reminder I might ever have of our time together. Now that we were over, he had finally surprised me and revealed a sentimental side that I’d always suspected lurked beneath his dominance when we were together.
    Yet if I held on to the thoughtful gift, I knew that I would never fully be able to let him go.
    My fingers felt thick and clumsy as I carefully tucked the bracelet back into its small box. A shudder wracked my body as I opened the top drawer to my desk and slipped the box inside.
    “Morning, Devon.” Looking up with a start, I found Tony on the other side of the desk. I felt myself tense, uncertain of my welcome here in the office, after the scene that Zach had made the day before.
    “Morning.” My voice was tentative, soft. Tony seemed pleased when I managed to work up a smile, though he couldn’t have known that I didn’t feel up to it at all.
    “I brought coffee.” My eyes flicked down to his hands, each of which held a paper cup. He held one out for me, and I could have wept with relief at the normalcy of the gesture.
    “Thanks, Tony.” A hint of genuine warmth crept into me as I accepted the steaming cup. He smiled back, a bit sheepishly, then turned toward his own desk, and I felt my feelings toward him change, just a bit, as I realized that he wasn’t going to mention yesterday’s scene.
    Being in the same department meant that I couldn’t date Tony. Moreover, I didn’t want to. I didn’t have feelings for him in that way. But it was definitely nice to have a friend.
    ***
    “My office please, Miss Devon Reid.”
    Mrs. Gallagher’s voice broke the clatter of midday business in the office. Startled, I backtracked to the glass door to her lair, which I had just passed.
    “Yes, Mrs. Gallagher?” I eyed her warily as I entered her office. Her reading glasses were perched down on the end of her nose, and her expression was stern.
    Whatever she was about to talk to me about, I didn’t want to hear it. It had been a pisser of a day.
    “Close the door.” Her voice was firm, and I groaned inwardly but did as she asked, resentment burning through my veins.
    I was sick of being told what to do. When I left Sacramento, I had decided to explore parts of myself that I had never known before. Now it seemed that I was back in the same rut I used to live in—Devon the biddable, Devon the sweet.
    Devon the good girl.
    “Sit down.”
    I couldn’t quite mask my scowl as I flopped into one of the seats across the desk from where Mrs. Gallagher sat. I raised my eyebrows, gesturing for her to start.
    The look she gave me in return was pointed, but she didn’t comment on my rudeness. Instead, when she spoke her voice was gentle, a far cry from how she normally spoke to her employees.
    “Devon, what is going on with you?” I huffed out a laugh that held no mirth, my mind whirling over the vastness that that question encompassed.
    The night before, Zach had ignored my insistence that I call Charles to come get him, and that I drive back by myself. His fury had been so overwhelming that I hadn’t been able to make even a dent in it, though I wanted to scream at him