Free For His Protection by Amber A Bardan

and brazen.
“Well in that case consider me open to distractions.”
    Brooke shoved the security card at him. “I was proving a
point.”
    “And you proved it sublimely.” He took the card, closing his
fingers around hers before tugging the card free and continuing down a shorter
hall. “That’s the elevator directly to my parking space.” He motioned to a
simple lift on his right.
    “So we took the other one because—are you trying to impress
me, Mr. Black?”
    Ty cleared his throat and led her into a small reception area
with an unmanned desk. “Just showing you around.”
    Brooke smiled behind his back. “I don’t generally impress.
But your building is pretty. Maybe you were modest after all.”
    Ty glanced at her. “This is where my PA usually sits,” he
said, then pointed to polished wood double doors. “And my office.”
    “So I’ll position myself out here? Are there any other
entrances to your office?”
    He finally turned to her. “No, but you won't work out here.
I want you where I can see you.”
    Her cheeks warmed and she raised her jaw. “Don’t you mean
where I can see you?”
    “Either way,” he said, “as long as you’re close.”
    She held his gaze, more warmth traveling to the surface of
her body. Buzzing sounded from the reception desk. He ushered her into his
office.
    “My actual PA is working from down the hall and filtering
calls so all you’ll have to do is look like an assistant if someone comes in.”
    Brooke paused in the doorway then strode directly to the
rear of the office. The Seattle skyline stretched outside windows that extended
the entire expanse of the wall.
    Fuck me.
    She resisted the urge to press her palms flat to the glass
and look down as a child might do. Instead she clasped her hands behind her
back.
    “You can sit wherever you like. There’s no lack of options.”
    Brooke turned, scanning the rest of the office. A glossy white
desk sat near the windows adjacent to a set of gray fabric couches. A glass
conference table with white chairs took up the center of the room and a row of
small tables holding model buildings lined another wall. Her attention was
drawn to the small tree in the corner, which brought a pop of color and life to
the room. Simple, elegant and an entirely nice place from which to work. She
glanced at Ty, who stood in front of the desk, his hands in his pockets,
watching her as if he could read every one of her thoughts from her face.
    Far too smug—and he didn’t know her at all.
    “Okay, I will,” Brooke said and brushed past him then
planted herself in the high-backed chair behind the desk. She wiggled forward,
linking her fingers on the desktop.
    “Are you so cheeky with all your clients?”
    She smiled wide. “Never. Don’t need to be. The others are
far too afraid to provoke me.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice.
“They’re smart.”
    He rested his palms on the desk, looking everything but afraid to provoke. “Well, that spot does suit you.” He leaned in. “But you’re
forgetting my one rule.”
    “Which rule is that?” Brooke asked, refusing to draw back
from him.
    Ty stepped around the desk, coming to stand at her side
without breaking eye-contact. “Look like my assistant. But then I knew any kind
of subservience would go against the grain.”
    Brooke raised a single eyebrow. She had muscle control down
to an art when it came to disdain. “If that’s what you want, as I’ve told you
before—wrong girl.”
    He grasped the arm of the chair, turning it toward him.
    Her knees brushed against his and she fell back into the
seat.
    “I think we both know that’s not true, Brooke.” He placed
both hands on the arms of the chair, trapping her in. “But today you work for me . Today, you are my girl.”
    Brooke breathed deeply.
    “So if you want to sit in my chair, you sit on my knee.”
    A shiver, hot like from a fever, ran up her center. Her
eyelids drifted lower but she refused to let them close to