Free Breaking His Rules by Sue Lyndon

Chapter 1
     
    Oh my God. This isn’t happening.
    Amanda’s wrists ached from the abrasive handcuffs that held her captive. Despite the warm July air, the sidewalk was cool beneath her bottom, and she shivered in her thin exercise clothing. The sun had just set, and darkness played against the dim, decorative street lights, causing shadows to dance all around her. She stared in disbelief at the two cop cars parked in front of the jewelry store. Blue and red lights flashed and rotated, illuminating the night with the reminder of her error. Mr. Mizenov would fire her. She wouldn’t be able to find a new job in time to make rent, and she’d be forced to move back in with her parents in Redneckville, USA. Again. Her mother would say something like, “Well, how do you expect to find a real job and pay bills on time when you dropped out of college?” Yep, Amanda’s life in Germantown was at an end.
    Pity. She loved this place.
    A shadow blocked out the flashing lights, stirring Amanda from her sorrowful thoughts. She focused on a pair of black boots. Oh no. Mr. Mizenov. She inhaled slowly and chanced a glance up. His gaze was black, but he wasn’t looking at her.
    “Why the hell is she in handcuffs?”
    Amanda’s face flushed as her boss and the two police officers began to talk about her. Mr. Mizenov identified her as an employee of his jewelry store and once again demanded her handcuffs be removed. He lifted her up off the sidewalk and held her steady as a cop removed the blasted cuffs. Amanda opened her mouth, ready to tell Mr. Mizenov she didn’t need any help standing, but the angry gleam in his eyes stilled her speech.
    “Stay right here,” he ordered.
    She waited while he deactivated the silent alarm that had triggered the arrival of the police. She rubbed her wrists and gazed down the otherwise quiet street. All the nearby shops closed by seven each evening. Amanda had gotten off work at five, but on her way home from the gym around eight, she’d realized she’d left her e-reader sitting in the break room at work. She was already passing by the jewelry store on her way home, so she decided to stop and pick up the e-reader, partly because she was in the middle of a good book and partly because she didn’t want anyone spying the titles of her spicy reading material. Or the covers. Good God, not the covers. The device wasn’t password protected – an oversight she planned to remedy ASAP.
    One of the cops smiled and handed over her purse. “I’m sorry about the confusion here, ma’am. We had to make sure you weren’t trying to break into the store. Next time make sure you have your employee ID with you. Your boss doesn’t look too happy at the moment.”
    “No, he doesn’t,” Amanda agreed, watching with her heart in her throat as Mr. Mizenov finished locking up the store. He stalked toward her and grabbed her by the elbow, guiding her away from the cops.
    This was it. He was going to fire her. Hello, Redneckville, USA. Amanda peered up into her boss’s handsome face, waiting with bated breath to hear her fate. Mr. Mizenov was a strict man who ran a tight business. She’d seen him dismiss employees for far less.
    “I’m really sorry, Mr. Mizenov. I must have entered the security code incorrectly.”
    “What were you doing here after closing, Amanda?” His Russian accent sounded thicker than usual. The rumble of his voice, the pressure of his hand grasping her elbow, and the intensity of his gaze made her go weak in the knees. Her pussy pulsed and her heart raced. Of all the times for her to fully realize her attraction to Mr. Mizenov, it had to be the moment he fired her.
    “I…I forgot something in the break room. I was passing by after leaving the gym, and I thought I’d get it. As soon as I knew the alarm had been tripped, I waited outside for the cops to arrive, but they didn’t believe me when I told them I worked here. Thank you for coming.”
    “They shouldn’t have put handcuffs on