Freedom Read Free Page B

got more than their fair share of the handsome gene, and from what I understand, they aren’t even related by blood. You won’t see me complaining about the view, however. These guys make my father’s employees look like trolls.
    “Dylan, sit down with Emma and bring her up to date on all the accounts. Jess installed the new software last night so it’s a lot easier than the old system. You’ll see all the account tabs are easy to find, and if you have any trouble, Jess said she’d come in and give a tutorial.”
    “I think I can figure it out,” Dylan responds as he drops his large frame into his office chair and leans back so his long legs stretch out under the desk.
    Carson looks at Dylan quizzically for a moment and then turns to me. “Emma, stop by my office if you have any questions. The door is always open. Literally. There’s no door. Dylan managed to demolish it a while ago and we never replaced it. Why don’t you tell her that story to break the ice?” Carson smirks at Dylan.
    “Another time,” Dylan replies, glancing down at his large, callused hands.
    I look at his hands, too. Who rips a door off its hinges, and why do I have to share an office with him?
    “You have my permission to kick him when he’s being a jerk,” Carson says. “I’m just down the hall if you need me.”
    “Thank you.” When I sit down on the end of my new desk chair, Carson smiles and then leaves me alone with the mercenary.
    “Okay,” Dylan says, standing back up, and with a finger, he rolls his chair next to mine. “Move over, and I’ll show you the set-up.”
    He is terse and doesn’t seem pleased with me taking up space in his office. Fortunately—or not—I am used to this kind of guy. It would be easier to laugh it off if he had a potbelly and doughnut sugar sprinkled across his chin. He doesn’t, though.
    I scoot my chair to the right and he slides in next to me. It’s a tight fit with both of us squeezed into the u-shaped desk area.
    “Excuse me.” As he leans over my legs to reach the power switch under the desk, his hard chest pushes against my shins and I feel his breath on my bare skin.
    “Hey!” I shove him aside so his chair slams into part of the desk.
    “What the eff was that for?” he growls in a deep, booming voice.
    “For touching me. Hello?” I snap. “You could have asked me to flip the switch.”
    “Fine. Go ahead.” He glares at me, and I swear the guy’s lips barely move when he talks, like he’s one of those weird ventriloquists.
    I bend down to the floor and scramble on my hands, pulling the chair forward so I can reach the damn switch. I must look like a silly crab with my ass in the air, which I’m sure is what Jackass is looking at.
    “There. Got it.” I swing my body back up and whack my head on the bottom of the desk. “Fuck!” I grab the back of my head and cover my mouth at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jerkoff smirking.
    “And all because you couldn’t stand me touching your leg. Was it worth it?” His tone is dripping with sarcasm as his mouth curves into a slight smile of satisfaction.
    “Don’t be a smug bastard. We have to work together. Now show me the accounts. And move over. Seriously, you take up so much space that your leg is on my chair.”
    As I talk, I rub my head. It gives me a good excuse to avoid seeing his goddamn handsome face. I hate good-looking pricks. I like when an ass looks like an ass. It makes the work environment easier. This guy is buckets full of testosterone along with all those attractive, badass hormones that I don’t need anywhere in my vicinity. Give him a shoulder holster and a pair of black Ray Bans and he could go work for my father as an intimidating bodyguard.
    “I need to get to the mouse, so I can either reach in front of you or reach behind your back,” he says. “It depends on which body parts you’re afraid I may accidentally touch.”
    “Oh, you think you’re funny, don’t you?”
    “Not