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While he mounted the base of the camera on the ceiling, he battled with whether to go forward with any meeting Kimmy could set up with The Broker or to keep Bronte locked up in her condo.
He didn’t like the idea of leaving her, even if he had the place secured. She was safer with him. Besides, a bodyguard didn’t walk away from his ward unless he was relieved by a trusted partner. As of this minute, he was the only one on the job, so she had to accompany him to the Artemis office.
He installed two cameras before she emerged from her room. She stepped into the living room wearing a pair of loose black pants and a sapphire blue top that hugged her breasts. From his vantage point balanced on the ladder, he had one hell of a view down the deep V at her cleavage.
She gaped up at him too. Neither spoke.
He forced his attention back to the camera. After spending some time checking the phone app to ensure the cam was aimed at the half of the room not covered already by the first cam he installed, he climbed down the ladder.
Bronte looked him over. “I’m really late. Do you have much more to do here?”
“All finished.” He reached for the buckle keeping the toolbelt around his hips. The heavy unit loosened, and he set it on the floor next to the ladder.
She stared at him as if she’d never seen a man in her life.
“Before I move you—”
“Move me?” Her exclamation came with the same brand of outrage he’d seen when he started bossing Kimmy around.
“It’s just a term, Bronte, for when a bodyguard is in transit with a ward.”
She shook her head.
He gripped her arm again. The memory of that green silk slipping over her skin had his gut tightening. He stroked her forearm.
“Look, whatever you’re doing with my arm isn’t necessary. I don’t need to calm down. I do need to know what the heck that about The Broker was.”
He compressed his lips. First rule of protecting a ward was knowing how much to tell them. In this case, Bronte had a right to know what he’d agreed to on her behalf when he told Kimmy to organize a meeting.
“This guy, The Broker. I know of him.”
Her full lips pursed. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not. You need to trust me.” He held her stare, intent. “Witheverything. If I say we’re moving, we’re moving. I order you to jump, you jump.”
“Order me? I’m not sure I can get on board with all this, Jace.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to see just how damn serious he was. He wasnotabout to lose another ward. Not on his watch.
* * * * *
Bronte forced herself to breathe normally and not start panting at Jace like a dog in heat. She wasn’t one of those women whose heads emptied at the sight of rugged features or a muscled body. She was a business owner with laser focus.
It was just that her focus was on all the wrong things at the moment.
Like how his eyes were an unusual shade of dark gray.
With Jace giving her that I’m-the-boss glare from those very gray eyes, her insides were performing flips like trained dolphins.
“Bronte, this is serious. I’m not fucking around. We’re not leaving this place until you give me your word that you’ll do everything I say.”
Holy hotness.Somehow even the F bomb sounded sexy when dropped from Jace’s lips—and doubly dirty delivered in that deep, gritty tone.
“Fine. I’ll do what you say. Haven’t I been going along with you this entire time? You threw me on the ground when a car backfired, Jace.”
One corner of his lips twisted in a bad-boy rendition of a smile. “You didn’t have any choice in that. I was going to protect you whether you agreed or not.”
“So why is it so important you gain my cooperation now?”
