Taking Chances

Evernight
Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2013
S.J
.
Maylee

 
ISBN: 978-1-77130-533-4

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
Karyn
White

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of
this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written
permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To my husband
and sons, I love you with all my heart. To Tracy and Jen for your unwavering
friendships, I love you two more than my purses. To Angelica, Sandra, Julie,
and
Lani
for your kindness and support, thank you.

Finally, to
Karyn
, this is the beginning of something special. I’m
extremely grateful to have you watching my back.

TAKING
CHANCES

Love Projects, 1

S.J
.
Maylee

Copyright ©
2013

Chapter
One

Lydia's boss stared the team down. She squirmed in
her seat and worked to contain her fidget. The glower she recognized. Mr.
Keller’s fiery gaze swept over every person in the conference room. Praying he
would skim right past her, she shrank a smidge in her seat. The transition to
their new product management database had bombed. He wanted someone to blame.

The team worked hard, and yet dozens of things had
gone wrong, but no one deserved to get chucked under the bus. Politics was never
a strong suit for Lydia, and neither was talking in front of a group. Who would
enjoy sweating profusely and forgetting all words except ah and um?

The threat of humiliation fired through her, making
her eager for a solution. If she could figure out a way to shift the meeting away
from the possibility of someone getting fired, she’d relax. An idea rolled about
in her head, but not even a drop of courage lingered within her reach.

“Keller, the policies and procedures need strength
and substance if we’re going to move forward as a team with our new system.” Jake
pushed back from the table.

She needed to add mind-reading to the list of Jake’s
gifts. She’d had the exact idea. It wasn’t the first time he offered a solution
she’d been contemplating. It often left her with the idea they’d get along
well, which was ludicrous. Men like Jake didn’t pay attention to a woman like
Lydia. Hesitation was more her
style,
and it certainly
wasn’t Jake’s. As a department director, he made things happen, and along the
way he intimidated the heck out of her.

Of course she’d never been alone in a room with
Jake, never even had a casual conversation. Fortunately, he never sought her
out. Whenever Jake neared, her pulse raced, and naughty ideas filled her mind. Her
fascination with him had started on her first day with the company over a year
ago.

The sidewalks had been a mess of snow and ice in
front of their building that morning. She’d picked style over practicality in
shoes and was rewarded with a slip and fall, flat on her butt. Jake had helped
her up. He’d placed her purse strap in one hand and held the other while he asked
if she was okay. Embarrassment might have flared through her, but his gaze had melted
her, and she hadn’t been able to think straight in his presence since.

He made her aware of her body, the way it heated and
awakened. It wasn’t the chiseled cheek bones, or his tall lean body that had to
be fit as a Navy Seal. Okay, maybe in her fantasies it was heaven to grab onto
his thick neck and shoulders. When Jake was around, she either got lost in a
fantasy or felt like a teenager worrying about her hair being flat, smudged
mascara, or worse things. What if he saw her nipples hardening? Luckily for her
they worked in two different departments and didn’t find themselves with the
need to talk to each other.

If she could get to know him she wouldn’t suffer so
much. Most people had issues, and if she could find his she wouldn’t be so
intimidated. She had a long history of finding flaws in people. First with her
dad, she had been eight when he left. She led a lonely existence and wore it
like an armor, and it stopped her from being let down.

“I think you’re onto something.” Boss man Keller usually
agreed with Jake.

Disappointment ticked at her ragged nerves. Once
again someone else was getting credit for an idea she couldn’t voice.

For Keller to ever agree with her, she'd have to
have the audacity to speak about her own ideas. Until she had the guts to offer
her own opinion there would be no recognition, no advancement. Soon it would be
time to go back to her familiar little box, a place she usually thought of as
comfortable, a place made easy to hold onto her armor.

“I’d like you to head the team on this.” Keller
inclined his head toward Jake. “Pick one of the technical writers from this
table, lock yourselves in a room, and get it done. I want a report tomorrow, my
office,
ten
o’clock.” He stomped from the room and took
another opportunity to sneer at each of them.

The room, without Keller’s presence, grew eerily
quiet.

All attention turned to Jake. He towered over them
as they waited for the chosen partner to be selected. Whispers bubbled up
around her.

A door slammed down the hall, probably Keller
letting off some steam. She didn’t want to think about Keller. She desperately
wanted to fill her mind with one idea, that she could be the technical writer
Jake chose. He could choose her.

She blocked out her surroundings, peeled back her
protective layer and allowed herself to feel. She bit her lower lip and sucked
it into her mouth. She could be locked in a room with Jake. Her mouth dried, and
her heart pounded. She took another look at Jake and drank in his dark features
and the muscles she imagined hidden under his blue collared shirt. A fantasy,
starring the infamous Jake, filled her imagination.

He
sauntered around the table and stopped at her chair. His hand took hold of hers,
and he pulled her into his strong arms. Once he settled her bottom on the table,
he stepped in between her thighs. As he devoured her mouth in eager kisses, he popped
the buttons on her blouse, unclasped her bra, and exposed her. Powerful hands
molded her breasts. She let her needy body fall to the table to give him access
to every inch of her.

“Lydia.”

The fantasy was in full swing now. Jake shouted her
name. Oh, her name sounded sinful on his lips.

“Lydia!” someone shouted.

Something pushed her elbow, and it fell awkwardly from
the table, releasing her from her inner thoughts. Everyone at the table stared
her way.

“Thanks for rejoining us. Clear your calendar, and
meet me back here in a half hour.” Jake locked his gaze with hers.

“Yes, Sir … I mean, okay, I’ll be here.”

She couldn’t handle his powerful expression and
dropped her stare to the table. It was too intense, him standing there like an
unyielding statue. Had she said something wrong? Before an idea could enter her
mind, he stormed from the room. The rest of her department followed him like
nothing tremendous happened. Just like that, they went on with their day,
talking about lunch plans and other mundane things. Lydia, on the other hand,
couldn’t move.

It had been a split second, but his eyes had
narrowed in on her and dimmed to a shade darker than black. It was
intimidating, but she desperately wanted to see it again. She should slap
herself or pinch her arm. She was at work. This wasn’t a time for fantasies.

Lydia stood on shaky legs, her heart beating widely.
She shuffled in a daze to her cubicle to stare at her desk. She needed to calm down
and ready herself for the work ahead. Mindlessly, she refilled her favorite coffee
mug. The deep aromatics kicked her back to reality as the rich brew caressed
her frazzled nerves.

She knew the new system inside and out, and she’d
prove it today. Jake had made a smart move in choosing her. A smile flirted with
her mouth, but fizzled as nerves danced for attention in her chest. If the
nonsensical feelings were left to fester she’d tumble into a panic attack.

They had a big task in front of them. Loads of work
would fill the day, and there was no need to get emotional. Her brain heard all
the reasonable thoughts, but her body continued to brace against panic. She
closed her eyes and concentrated on the pace of her breathing. She needed a
distraction. She opened her eyes and found it in the mess on her desk. Her hands
shifted pages, such a normal thing for her to do, except she wasn’t reading a
thing.

Figuring out what polices to write could take the whole
morning. She hoped the size of the job would help keep her mind on the task. It
was ludicrous to think Jake selected her for any reason other than the job. She
was a technical writer and a logical choice for the task.