AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Red was surprised to feel a warmth spread through him at those words. He’d been engaged once to the wrong woman. Cameron was amazing, but she was too good for him. Too nice. Too pliable. He needed someone who would keep him on his toes. He needed someone like Viv.
“You’re hired, but you have to stay here. If you were truly my fiancée, you’d live in my house and sleep in my bed.”
For a second, he thought she might reach over and slug him in the face, but instead, she leaned back.
“If I’m going to work this job, we need to get a few things straight. I’m not your fiancée, and I’m not sleeping in your bed. Also, to clarify, I’m in charge. If I say jump, you ask how high. If I tell you to do something, I want you to do it. Understood?”
He was usually the alpha in his relationships, but something about her confidence turned him on.
“Fine. You’re in charge.”
“So, here are the rules.”
“I’m listening.” He waited for her to outline a list a mile long.
“I have one rule.”
“Only one?”
She chewed her lip and stared at him. “In your case, there are two. I make all the rules, and we are not sleeping together.”
He nodded, but inside, he hoped she’d be breaking one of those rules, which wasn’t the rule about rules.
“Can you start tonight? I don’t want to have to confront this psycho on my own.”
She finished her coffee and stood, taking the chair to the front door, where she wedged the back under the handle.
“I’m on the clock as of now. Since you were almost married to my sister-in-law, I’ll give you the friends and family rate and only charge you eighteen hundred a day. By the way, I will need to bring in someone for a shift. I do need to eat and sleep sometimes too.”
He laughed. “That’s supposed to be a deal?”
“Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it, but Viv?” He walked up to her and leaned in, so his lips almost touched her ear. “I would have paid twenty-four.”
CHAPTERNINE
Viv got as comfortable as she could on the couch, her mind racing between strangely personal thoughts of Red like his chiseled abs and his vulnerability, and the psycho stalker who would try to gain access to his house again. She knew she should be developing security system specs, safety protocols and protection scenarios, but the kiss she initiated to protect him still lingered in her mouth the way you still taste your favorite food even if you haven’t had it in a while. She tried not to think about him that way; it was unprofessional and inappropriate, but she couldn’t help herself. The damn man was twenty feet away, probably sleeping naked between soft sheets. For what he lacked in finesse and consideration, he sure made up for in igniting sheer desire. She had to blame the damn kiss that left her heart hammering long after his lips were gone. It’s never good to have to improvise when you’re protecting someone—was grabbing and kissing him the only play? Or maybe that voice in her ear reawakened a need in her.
His words seemed to echo in her mind as she drifted into a dreamlike state, a fantasy world of Red and her. They weren’t romantic words. He said he would have paid what she originally asked, but that meant he valued her. She’d been looking for validation all her life, and here was a man willing to give her what she craved and deserved. When she thought about what she needed, she imagined them in a romantic embrace, their bodies intertwined, and her lips pressed against his. She let out a soft sigh as the desire in her heart surged. But as quickly as it had come, her fantasy vanished, leaving her cold and alone with only a throw pillow and an afghan to comfort her for the night.
* * *
She was joltedawake by a loud pounding on the door.
“If that’s Sarah, I swear I’ll kill her.” Groaning, she stumbled to her feet and made her way to the door, still bleary-eyed from sleep. When she moved the chair and opened the door, she was shocked to see her brother Val standing there, a fierce scowl on his face.
“Val, what are you doing here?” she asked, confused.
Ignoring her question, Val marched past her and into the living room. “Where is he?”
Seconds later, Red appeared shirtless with pajama pants hanging low on his hips. “What’s going on?” Val lunged at Red without a word, throwing a punch that caught him square in the jaw.
Viv tried to intervene, but Val pushed her aside and continued to pummel Red.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Viv shouted, grabbing her brother’s arm.
“You know damn well what’s wrong!” Val yelled back, his face twisted with anger. “He seduced you.”
