Page 8 of Protect Me

She did it on purpose.

“What the hell?” the guy says, pushing her off his lap as he covers his erection with his hand. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Her daddy,” I say, a cruel smirk crossing my face.

“Your father, Isabella? Really?” he snaps.

I pull him out of the car by his jacket and he flails against my hold.

“You’re fucked!” he screams in my face.

“And you aren’t. Get lost,” I growl.

The moment I release the man, he runs off, heading down the alleyway toward the restaurant. Once I can no longer hear his footsteps, I turn toward Isabella.

“What were you thinking?” I ask as I pull her ass out of the car too.

She lowers the hem of her skirt as she clumsily gets to her feet. “Same thing you were thinking, I guess,” she quips, wiping at the lipstick on my chin. “If I can’t play, neither can you.”

I rip away from her touch. “I’m sorry? Are you in a position to make rules, little girl?”

She scoffs. “Watch me.”

I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and draw her into me. My eyes narrow. “Real bratty for someone who needs protecting.”

“How would my father take it, you think, if I told him you went off with some woman while you were supposed to be watching me?” She tightens her lips. “Spoiler alert: not well.”

She’s truly the most difficult person I’ve ever watched, and I’ve watched tweaking strippers, for Christ’s sake. It’s like she wants to be abducted. All she had to do was sit and eat like a normal person for ten fucking minutes. What game is she playing?

CHAPTER SIX

Isabella

I hate him. He’s a walking contradiction. He can go to the bathroom and hook up with some woman, but god forbid I grind on some dude’s dick in my car.

He sure didn’t last very long with his little lady, considering he was cock blocking me a few minutes later. The way Vance walks and talks, I thought I’d at least have a solid fifteen to get my rocks off and kick my date to the curb.

Vance has locked me in my ivory tower because of my little “stunt,” as he called it. I sit on the couch, swirl a glass of wine, and watch TV in my living room.

He comes into the room with a beer and sits in the chair next to the couch. His dark eyes move to the television, and I’m given an opportunity to study him without notice. I fucking hate how handsome he is. If he wasn’t so insufferable, he’s the sort of guy whose leg I would grind on. He’s bossy and rude, and no one has ever treated me like he does.

“What do you want, Isabella?” he asks, probably because he’s caught me staring.

“I want to know why you took this job. Are you broke? If that’s the case, I’ll give you one hundred thousand right now to quit,” I tell him, straightening my spine.

He takes a sip of beer and follows that with an infuriating laugh. “I don’t want your money, little girl. I want your father’s. Besides, I’m his employee, not yours.”

I set down my glass, kick my feet out, and lean forward. “Vance, can I level with you?”

“Level away.”

“I have less than two weeks until I’m forced to marry someone I despise. I’ll become an object to own instead of a human being. I want this time to be my own, if you get what I’m saying.”

Vance sets his beer on his thigh and turns his eyes to mine. “No, I’m not following.”

“I want to have fun. Fuck around with someone, even if I can’t have sex. Because once I’m married, I lose all control of my body. The rights to it will belong to my husband.”

“What if one of these Prince Charmings of yours doesn’t want to stop at some teenage grinding? What then? What will stop them from pinning your ass down and taking more? Oh, yeah, that’s right. Me.” He scoffs and finishes off his beer in one swig.

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