Broken by Lauren Layne Read Free Book Online Page B

back in response. “I’ll leave,” I say in a low voice, my eyes never leaving his. Surprise flicks over his half-handsome, half-contorted features, and I press on. “Yup, I’ll leave.”
    He narrows his eyes “What’s the catch? Double your pay?” he asks with a sneer.
    “No. I’ll leave. In three months, as agreed.” I lean in just a little, letting my eyes focus on his mouth. “Better get used to me.”
    I make it as far as the door before I realize my mistake. No,
Paul
makes me realize my mistake.
    He grabs my wrist a second before pushing me back roughly. My shoulder blades hit the door a half second before his mouth descends on mine—hard. I let out a startled yelp, my nails digging into firm, broad shoulders that feel like granite beneath my hands. His leg might be damaged, but his upper body is most certainly
not.
    This kiss isn’t about want, and it’s definitely not about romance.
    This kiss is about power. He’s trying to scare me off.
    I’ve never really thought of myself as having a temper, but something about this guy has definitely set it off. Anger flares, and I sink my teeth into his bottom lip. Not hard enough to draw blood, but definitely hard enough to tell him to back off.
    But instead of releasing me, he growls and moves closer, pinning me against the door with his body as his tongue slips into my mouth.
    Oh wow.
    My fingers tighten again on his shoulders, and it’s not to push him away. It’s like some dark, savage part of me is released by the taste of him, and instead of wriggling away and slapping him, I do the unthinkable. I kiss him back.
    He freezes for a moment when my tongue shyly touches his, and he starts to pull back, but my hands go to the back of his head and pull him to me. When our lips meet again, it’s an all-out battle as our tongues tangle, each trying to take control. We’re like two sex-starved animals who need each other to survive.
    It’s ridiculous. It’s
wrong.
    And I don’t want it to stop.
    It’s only the vibration of Paul’s phone that has us jerking back, staring at each other in bewildered confusion. I raise a shaky hand to my lips before I catch how vulnerable the gesture is, and instead lift my chin and give him a defiant look.
    His eyes rake over my body. “Get out.”
    I give him a condescending look. “Please. If I ran away from every tepid, boyish kiss, I’d never have made it past junior high.”
    I walk away from his enraged scowl, confident I’ve won this battle, but at a very,
very
high cost. Because I have a
serious
lady boner for the guy I’m supposed to work for.

Chapter Six
Paul
    I wish she’d give the door a pissy slam, but instead it shuts behind her with a quiet, dignified click. I tell myself her departure from the room is dripping with self-righteous melodrama.
    My hands make fists, although I’m not sure if it’s with the urge to punch a wall or the urge to chase after her, sink my fingers into her hair, and pull her mouth to mine. Again.
    It’s that second urge—and the memory of that kiss—that enrages me.
    That went wrong. All wrong. I’d meant only to scare her off, the big ugly brute making a move, and instead she responded like a cat in heat. She responded like she
wanted
me. Which obviously was only part of her game, but…for a second I wanted her to want me.
    This girl is toxic. I’ll play nice with one of my dad’s caretakers, but it’s not going to be her.
Anyone
but her. I’ll take a doddering old lady, a smug Bible-thumper, even a cranky tyrant, but I won’t spend every day with a girl who reminds me of what I can’t have.
    A girl I can’t stop picturing above me, beneath me…
    Christ.
    I thought she was enough of a temptation when I’d only gotten a brief glimpse of her. But seeing her up close? She’s even more gorgeous than I realized. The threat is more than just that, though. She’s also bold, irreverent, and brave. That combination is even more alluring than the wide green eyes and that