Free For His Protection by Amber A Bardan Page B

door clicked shut. Ty stood behind
her and they were once again alone.
    “Yes fine. I’d forgotten I had plans tomorrow afternoon that
I need to cancel.”
    “If you need to take time off for something, I’ll survive,”
he said and then his expression hardened. “Unless it’s a date. If it’s a date,
then I can’t spare you.”
    She repressed a smile. Letting him think she was seeing
someone might work on some men but she had a feeling it would only make Ty more
determined. “No, it’s girl stuff. I’ll reschedule for when we have a better idea
what you’re going to need from me.”
    “I think we both know what I need from you, Brooke.”
    He looked at her in a way that made her head spin.
    A shallow sexual proposition would be so easy to refuse.
Even relationships were off limits. But Ty looked at her in a way that offered
something more. He looked at her in a way that made avoidance impossible
because whatever this was, they were already halfway there.
    Brooke slid her phone back into her pocket, her stomach
turning like a cement mixer, then she stepped around him. Ty let out a soft
breath as she passed.
    She approached one of the tables pushed up against the wall
and ran her fingers along the edge of a model. A familiar tower like the one
they stood in rose from between smaller buildings. The one in the model
appeared slightly shorter, a little more angular. She brushed her finger over
the name plaque, Blue Trident.
    “ And there it is—the source of all my strife.” Ty
spoke from behind her.
    The hair on her arms prickled. She ran her gaze over the scene,
struck by an identifiable familiarity. Maybe because the building looked so
similar to Black Trident?
    “Where is this?”
    Ty leaned over her and tapped his finger on a plaque with
the address. Cold swamped her, chilling her skin and numbing her fingertips.
    “Strife—because you’re taking over a community space…”
    She clutched the edge of the table as though a hook had
anchored in her belly and pulled her off balance. How had she not recognized it
immediately? Five years ago she’d attended the space soon to be replaced by
that domineering building almost daily. The humble community center had saved
her—kept her sane.
    She turned, leaning against the table. “How could you?”
    “You know this place?” Ty said, frowning.
    “Is this how you make your money, Ty? Is this how you get to
be important and powerful?” She stepped closer and pushed her finger into his
chest. The muscle underneath her fingertip contracted but he didn’t step back
like a sane person should.
    “It’s just business, Brooke.” Ty caught her finger in his
hand.
    She jerked away. “Don’t you even care that the people who
work in that crappy little community center are volunteers who help people and
expect nothing in return?” Her jaw worked. “Do you even know the work they do?
Helping adults learn to read, support groups for addicts, counseling for—” Her
breath caught and she stopped herself. “They can't afford to go anywhere else.”
    Ty stepped closer. “I’m sorry, how could I have known this
place means something to you?” His expression firmed. “But the building is
falling apart, about to be condemned in fact. Even if I leave it alone, they
wouldn’t be able to stay.”
    She notched her chin. “Then why not do something worthwhile
and fix it?”
    “Because that’s not how you run a business, Brooke. At least
not if you value a profit.”
    Brooke slid out from between Ty and the table. “Well I hope
your fat profit reports can keep you warm.”
    “It’s my job. You don’t get to be a CEO at twenty-five, rich
parents or not, if you can't make tough decisions.”
    Brooke let out a hollow laugh. If it had been any other
building, any other place, maybe she’d have been able to hold on to her
control. Maybe she’d have been able to understand. “That’s it then? You’re just
doing the right thing for the sake of your company?” She