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He gripped her hand. “Jace Abel.”
“Welcome to Artemis. My name’s Kimmy, and I’m Miss Burns’s personal assistant. If you need anything at all”—she released his hand and twisted a lock of short blonde hair—“come find me. I’ll help.”
He smiled at her, putting a pink blush in her bronzed cheeks.
She turned. “I have orders to bring you directly to Miss Burns. Follow me.”
He purposely kept his gaze from dropping to her backside and swung his head left and right, checking out the office instead of the assistant. The place had modern furnishings and the latest models of computer equipment. He looked up, checking for cameras, and sure enough, saw one in every corner.
At least the owner had her bases covered when it came to security. But who knew what kind of safety measures had been placed on the system. If the ex-partner managed to download files and make off with them, they weren’t very good ones.
Kimmy paused at a door and knocked. When a voice within answered, she led the way into the office.
Jace stared at the woman seated behind a big, modern glass table with metal chairs that looked to be out of a decorator magazine. She, however, was a sharp contrast to the office.
She dressed in a red blouse with hearts and little frills on the sleeves and a matching red skirt that hugged her full curves like a second skin. Her hair struck him most, though, because it had a punk edge with a part in the front dyed cherry red and the rest was dark brown.
“Bronte—I mean Miss Burns—this is Jace Abel from WEST Protection.” Kimmy’s announcement brought the woman forward.
If he’d managed to keep his eyes off the assistant’s ass, he couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping over Miss Burns’s shapely calves to her small ankles that ended in black shoes with a strap across her foot.
“Mr. Abel. I’m so glad you made it.” She reached for his hand.
He took it and looked into her eyes. Brown, with very dark lashes framing them. “Call me Jace.”
“And you can call me Bronte. Miss Burns is too formal for this office.” She sent a look over his shoulder at Kimmy. She froze a moment and then gave herself a small shake. “I’m sure you’re eager to get started. But first, maybe you need refreshment. A drink? Snack? We have a breakroom with a lot of options if you’re vegan or…”
She looked him over as if realizing that a man of his size and build ate beef six times a week and chicken wings on Sundays, and if he ever encountered a soybean, he’d flick it away from him.
“I don’t need anything, thank you,” he told her. “Why don’t you show me to your system? I can hook into it with my laptop while you fill me in on everything.”
“Yes, let’s do that. This way.” She strode across the room, her shoes making a flapping noise on her feet.
Oh, no. If Jace had any pet peeves, it was noisy shoes. Flip-flops made him want to crush rocks with his bare hands. The tapping noise of high heels on tile floors haunted his nightmares.
Bronte wasn’t wearing either style of shoe, but they slapped the soles of her feet when she walked and it set his teeth on edge.
She led him across the spacious office to a long table on one wall. A computer monitor and keyboard were set on top, and he homed in on the tower located underneath the desk.
“This was my partner’s workstation. We shared an office.”
He pushed out the ergonomic chair and crouched to study the computer tower.
“Uhhh…” Bronte backed away to give him room.
He glanced over at her and saw her wide eyes fixed on his thighs.
He wasn’t in danger of ripping another pair of tight jeans. Today he had on his trusty Levis, old and faded and his most comfortable pair. He wore a plain black T-shirt, his boots and the Stetson that he’d adapted to wearing much faster than either of his brothers.
Aiming his attention at the setup again, he said, “Just checking the connections in the back.”
“Oh. Absolutely. Feel free to hook into anything you need to.” Her stare hit his. “I know you can be trusted. WEST has such a good reputation.”
“Well, I’m new to the team. Been with them only six months or so. But I have enough experience for what you need from me.”
She nodded, and the long piece of cherry-red hair tumbled over her forehead. She lifted a hand to push it away. “I guess you need to know a little about what you’re looking for.”
He gripped the back of the chair and rolled it in front of the monitor. Then he opened his laptop case and pulled out his device, along with some cords he’d use to directly access the hard drive of the Artemis computer.
