The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(4)

Ian shrugged. “All right, little brother. Jake and Adam are heading to Fort Worth tomorrow. I’ve already gotten them interviews. Luckily, Wright is always looking for sales staff. Liam is going down to do recon and set up a little base of operations. They’ll make contact when you get there. We can go over it tomorrow. Don’t stay here all night.”

Sean huffed to let his brother know he didn’t need the parenting. One by one his co-workers came by and offered to keep him company. They said goodnight when he turned them down. Sean smiled and went back to his research. She was the key. Grace Hawthorne would break the case; Grace with her sad mouth and those intriguing yellow shoes.

It was a long time before he left his desk.





Chapter Two


“Hello.”

The deep masculine voice brought Grace’s attention up from her work. She lifted her head up, and up, and up. Wow. The man was huge. She couldn’t help but stare. He was dressed in an impeccably-cut dark suit. His snowy white dress shirt stood out against the black of the suit and emphasized the brilliant blue of his silk tie. His shoulders were so broad, she would bet he’d had the suit cut specifically for him. His shoulders tapered down to a lean waist and hips that flowed into legs that she bet were powerfully muscled. All of that she could handle, but then she got to his face.

His jaw was perfectly cut, as though someone had sculpted him from granite, chiseling away all the unneeded bits to leave him with a stark, masculine perfection. His blue eyes were icy, though not cold. As he stood looking down at her, he ran a big hand through his blonde hair. It was slicked back, though some of it fell over his brow giving him a boyish charm to go with the utterly male sexuality he exuded. He shouldn’t be in a suit. He should be wearing one of those helmets with horns on it, wielding a sword while he raided villages. He was a Viking god, and his lips quirked up faintly as she looked up at him. It emphasized the unbearably cute cleft in his chin.

“Hi.” It was all that would come out of her mouth. Several other greetings leapt to mind. Please take me roughly was one of them. She decided a simple hello might be the best way to go. She’d been reading far too many romances. She needed to cool down.

“Hello.” The Viking god had a slow, Southern accent. “I have a lunch appointment with Mr. Wright.”

Grace laughed. She couldn’t help it. Grace had learned long ago that she wasn’t very good at social deception. She glanced down at her calendar. “Of course you do. You must be Sean Johansson. I’ll let Mr. Wright know you’re here.”

His hand shot out as she was reaching for the phone. A grin played on his unbelievably sensual lips. Men shouldn’t have lips like that. “I have to know. What’s so funny? Is the suit bad? I admit I can have terrible taste in clothing. I usually wear jeans and T-shirts. My mother once accused me of buying all my clothes at concerts.”

She shook her head and tried not to think about how her skin tingled where he’d touched her. She sighed. Men were needy creatures. She decided to treat the Viking god like she did every other male in her life, with an amused nonchalance. “The suit is more than fine, and I think you know that. Your eyes appear to function, Mr. Johansson. Tell me, did the girls at reception faint when you walked in?”

A slight flush stained his high cheekbones. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was perfectly nice to them.”

“I bet you’re nice to all the girls.” She winked as she said it. It was a little fun flirtation. It livened up her day. She’d discovered men liked to flirt with a woman who had absolutely no expectations of them.

His expression took a serious turn. Those light blue eyes pinned her, and for the briefest of moments, Grace felt like a rabbit in the company of a hungry wolf. “I prefer women.”

She swallowed once and then was saved by the door to her boss’s office opening suddenly. The sound cracked through the air. Grace hadn’t realized just how quiet it had been before. Evan Parnell strode out of the office, his boots making angry contact with the hardwood floors. Matthew Wright followed him.

“Damn it. We need to talk about this.” Matt’s voice held an edge of desperation.

Evan stopped and held out a hand as though to stop Matt from speaking. Matt’s mouth closed. Grace could feel the tension between the men. She got out of her chair and started to walk toward them, hoping to calm the situation, but Sean Johansson was suddenly in her way. His big body was a wall between her and the arguing men. He’d moved fast. One minute he was in front of the desk, and then next he was a bulwark between her and whatever he apparently feared was about to happen. Grace tried to push her way around him. He turned to her, and the command was there, written plainly on his handsome face.

Stay where you are.

Grace thought briefly about arguing. Johansson’s eyes narrowed, and she backed down. She tried not to think about what the dominant look on his face did to her. Yep, she was going to stop reading romances. She was seeing things that weren’t there. Johansson was simply a gentleman who didn’t want to see her get hurt.

Evan’s muddy brown eyes swept across the room. Grace had never understood why Matt had hired Parnell in the first place. He was rude, difficult to deal with, and far too intense for Grace’s tastes. His face was always flat, as though the world was never enough for him, and he found not an ounce of joy in it.