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What! The! Fuck?

He was so screwed

Oh,

Vicki didn’t knohat she’d been expecting, but those words—delivered in his custoruff, curt tone of voice—were borderline flirtatious There had been a spark of heat in his eyes, followed by an instant flash of regret, before his face had shuttered and his eyes had hooded

If she hadn’t still been so shaken by Cassie’s violent reaction to the termination of her job, Vicki would have pushed hiet that heat back But she didn’t think she was emotionally equipped to cope with a reluctantly flirtatious Tyler—Ty, oh ht now

She fought back a blush, feeling aard and unsure This was her fault She had started it with her stupid coh with him He wasn’t like any otherand so…nized that to him she was just a job, a peskyother than professional rim faced

She felt like she’d been graced with a rare gliain, she considered the possibility that he had a girlfriend—possibly boyfriend—tucked away somewhere

“Are you seeing anyone?” The question was out before she knew she was going to ask, but she kept her garetted voicing the words

His eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as his throat worked He opened his ed “M-my relationship status has no relevance to this conversation”

His voice was dark, unyielding, and cold as ice If not for that stu of his statement, she would have believed hie conversation But that staaze—told her exactly how disturbing he found this encounter

Before now, their association had always been clear cut They had tolerated each other Nothingless Theirs had been a mutually aloof relationship based upon the necessity of pleasing his boss and her brother She was his job He was her unwanted shadow

But now everything felt new, exciting, different, and she wasn’t sure why She had always been aware of his attractiveness, but—until this very moment—she had never been so aware of his maleness

All that big, hulking, masculinity, wrapped in eous features and beautiful eyes

It left her breathless, flushed, and shaken

Undone

She kept her eyes trained on that impassive, handsoaze held hers with unflinching deter ht him unaffected by her stare