“Do you know much about them?”

“Honestly, no. Other than they’re ruthless, and it’s in my best interest not to fuck with them. Is this line of questioning going somewhere?” Jase was beginning to feel a little defensive. He was all for checking out this chick. She was hot as fuck, but he wasn’t willing to kill for her. Not yet, anyway, and certainly not if it involved him taking out one of Dallas’s most notorious crime families.

“Do you want the job, Mr. Malone?”

“What job is that?” he countered, once again looking around the room.

“I’ve recently been advised that it’d be in my best interest to hire security for myself. I need someone to watch my back.”

Oh, well, hell. In that case, he’d be more than content to watch her back—and her ass—however she needed him to.

“It pays well.”

“How well?” After all, if he was going to be protecting her body, he figured he should be compensated for it.

“Depends,” she said, tossing his answer back at him.

“On…?” He downed the rest of his drink.

“How much do you think a job like this pays?”

Noting the furnishings in the room and doing some quick calculations in his head, he tossed out a number. “I won’t do it for less than forty grand a year.”

Her smile transformed her face, and Jase was fairly certain he fell in love with her right then and there.

“Forty grand?”

Shit. He’d gone high and now he didn’t—

“I was thinkin’ more like two hundred to start out. Will that work for you?”

“A week?” Was she fucking nuts?

“A year,” she clarified, another seductive grin curling her beautiful mouth. “Two hundred grand a year.”

Jase damn near swallowed his tongue. Unable to find words, he nodded and suddenly wished he had something else to drink.

She must’ve sensed his unease, because she laughed—a sexy, raspy sound that made his dick hard—as she got to her feet. After taking his empty glass from his hand, she refilled both and returned his to him.

“Protecting me is your only job duty,” she explained, walking over to the window. “No matter what it takes.”

Sure. He got that. Though he didn’t say as much.

“I can be quite demanding at times,” she said. “Do you think you can handle me?”

“I can damn sure try,” he mumbled, realizing too late that he’d said the words aloud.

She turned around to face him fully, gifting him with another glamorous grin. “I think I’m gonna like you, Mr. Malone.”

“Please, call me Jase,” he rasped.

“I can do that, Jase. And you can call me Ashlynn.” She tilted her head to the side. “Only when we’re handling business will I insist you call me Ms. Adorite.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Jase choked on his drink.

Did she say…?

Fucking hell.

While he coughed and sputtered, he tried to wrap his head around what she’d just told him. And then it hit him.

He’d just accepted a job as a security guard…

To the fucking mob.

Ashlynn had liked Jase the instant she’d laid eyes on him. She’d seen his picture, reviewed as much information as was provided to her, but none of it had prepared her for the sinfully good-looking man who sat on the obnoxious sofa now. He looked more out of place than she felt when she was in this room.

As for whether or not he could keep her safe, that was yet to be seen. But she wanted someone who wasn’t intimidated by her father, as well as someone who was cocky and sure of himself. Aside from his reaction to the money, he’d been just what she was looking for.

Glancing down at his clothes, she took in the faded black slacks—likely the only pair he owned—and the slightly wrinkled white shirt. It looked more like the uniform for a restaurant employee than for someone who was now moving into a position of such importance.

“We need to go shopping,” she announced, tossing back the rest of her drink.

“Shopping?” he asked, staring back at her as though she’d lost her mind.

“I’m assumin’ you got dressed up for the occasion?”

Jase glanced down at himself as though trying to remember what he was wearing. The smirk he shot her confirmed her suspicions.

“Like I said, shopping.” Without instructing him to follow, she left the room, smiling when she heard his footfalls behind her. He learned quickly.

Grabbing the keys for the Escalade off the hook near the garage, she tossed them toward him.

His blond eyebrows lifted.

“I hope you’re a good driver,” she teased, then grabbed her purse from the table she’d set it on earlier.

When he didn’t immediately make a move to follow, she turned to face him. “Somethin’ wrong?”

He shook his head, but his eyes slipped down to her chest. She liked that he was responsive to her that way. It would make things interesting between them, for sure.

As she led the way to the SUV, she didn’t open her door but was glad to see he was right behind her. He pulled open the door, then allowed her to climb inside before closing it behind her. He hustled around to the driver’s side, hopped in, and stabbed the keys in the ignition.

“Is that bulletproof glass?” he asked, nodding toward the windshield.

Ashlynn nodded. “It’s armored, too. Can’t be too careful.”

She was honestly surprised he didn’t praise the car. Well, nothing more than running his hands along the leather steering wheel as he took it all in.

Ashlynn hit the button for the garage door opener and allowed him to figure out the rest.

Forty-five minutes later, Ashlynn was sitting in a chair in one of her brother’s preferred suit shops, watching the tailor measure Jase.

“Keep that up,” Jase joked, “and you and I are gonna be more than friends.”

She lifted her gaze in time to see the man’s eyes widen as he peered up at Jase.

“You like men?” she asked bluntly.

Those crystal-blue eyes cut her way. “I’m an equal opportunity lover,” he admitted.

She liked him more already.

“That so?”

“Is that a problem?” he asked, though she could tell by the look on his face he knew that it wasn’t.

“Not at all. I’m thinkin’ I might like to watch.”

His eyes widened and the tension in his shoulders eased. “Sure you don’t wanna join in? I’m sure we could make room for you.”

She liked that he was confident enough to flirt with her. Before she could respond, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she noticed it was Leyton.

“Yes?” she asked, keeping her tone hard.

“Did you hire him? Max wants to know.”

“And my brother couldn’t call me himself?”

“He’s busy,” Leyton stated.

“Yeah? Or were you curious and couldn’t wait any longer to find out?”

“Ashlynn.”

“Yes, I hired him,” she said, looking up at Jase to see he was still watching her. “And I think he’s gonna work out quite nicely.”

“You know you can’t take him to your bed.” Leyton’s tone was so pragmatic she felt herself bristle.

“If I wanna fuck him, I’ll fuck him. That’s none of your business.”

A smirk formed on Jase’s lips, and she suddenly wondered what his mouth would feel like on her body.

“You need someone who won’t be distracted, Ash,” Leyton told her. “You start … sleepin’ with him and that won’t work.”