Free Protect Me by Jennifer Culbreth

lips “I’m not firing you; I just wanted to see how you were liking everything.” His smile faded a little “and to apologize for earlier. It’s been a stressful few weeks to say the least.”
    “Oh, um, everything is great. Thanks for checking. And you know don’t worry about earlier. Sometimes I need a good kick in the ass to get my head back in the game.” She let out a nervous giggle.
    “Oh trust me,” he said stepping a little too close for Abbi’s comfort, “I will make sure your ass is well taken care of.” He smiled a wicked grin before he turned and walked out of the door.
    Talk about a man who had more mood swings than she did, he was so mercurial at times. One minute he was strictly business, the next he was hitting on her, and the next he was jumping down her throat. She tried not to think too far into it, it had been a long night and she was sure that she was just overanalyzing things. She yawned as she headed out the door towards the bar. Maybe the girls had gotten the rest of the closing work done, she suddenly felt the adrenaline from a few minutes earlier wearing off, leaving her very tired.
    As she walked out into the hallway she glanced quickly to Trent’s office, the man he had been speaking to stepped out of the door. She noticed his Hispanic features as he made eye contact with her, his hand stuffing something down into the inside pocket of his coat . Dark eyes rimmed with a thick set of lashes, a small mustache set above his upper lip, and he had a very tanned complexion. His eyes searched her body from top to bottom before making his way by her towards the door leading downstairs. She stayed planted where she was for a full sixty seconds. If there was one thing she was beginning to learn about LA, it was that there was an endless supply of drama.
     

Chapter Five
    Ever since seeing Abbi at the bakery, Ryan’s head had been fuzzy. After leaving, he had pulled into traffic cutting off a car whose driver gave him a very sincere gesture out of the window. He nearly took out a pedestrian while turning onto his drive towards home. At home he managed to explode a bag of steamable rice in the microwave. He was beginning to wonder if maybe he was coming down with the flu or something.
    After the kitchen filled with the smell of burnt food, he called Trish in. She was his housekeeper and cook, but as close to him as family. She was a lovely woman, whose husband had served alongside Ryan in combat. Ryan had made it home, but her husband hadn’t. Ryan promised her husband that no matter what, Trish would always be taken care of. After Ryan had made his way across the country and set up shop, he called Trish to see if she wanted to come out and visit. Her daughter had just started college at UCLA and Ryan thought it would be nice to see them both. He flew Trish out; she was clearly still in a devastated frame of mind. To keep a better eye on her, he offered her a job as his receptionist and with a little nudging she accepted. She had been a huge help, and a large part of the reason the company took off. Her loving demeanor made it easy for everyone to work with her. As the company grew bigger Trish became overwhelmed, so Ryan moved her into the staff quarters in his new home and she took on a more comfortable roll. Not to mention she was one hell of a cook.
    Sitting at the desk in his office Ryan tried to focus on his work. He had always been a very business driven man, living his life from deadlines to meetings. But every time he would let his mind wonder for even a few fleeting seconds, it would go back to that pair of beautiful brown eyes. Man, what on earth had come over him? He had never been so focused on a woman before in his life. He tried to shake the feeling, knowing that he had too many demons from his past to bring into someone else’s life.
    Even though they’d had little interaction together, Ryan knew that Abbi wouldn’t want to go for a guy who had seen and done the things that