Page 23 of Tiny's Law

“It’s fine,” I reply, wiping my mouth as I work on regaining my composure. He locks eyes with me, and we both freeze.

My phone rings, and Emma’s self-selected Milkshake ringtone blaring from my desk causes me to blush as the tension between us shatters.

The ringtone is hilarious, considering how innocent Emma is. Her beautiful face takes up my entire screen, and I hold a finger up to Tiny while hitting accept on the screen. “Hi, Em.”

I watch as Tiny gets comfortable on my couch and scuff the toe of my heel against the soft carpet beneath my desk.

“Kourtney! Daddy found me the sweetest little apartment in Desert Rose. He wants to know if there’s any way you could go take a peek at it before he pays the deposit.”

“Oh, thank God! I can’t wait for you to get here, I’m going crazy without you.”

“I’m sure you’re doing just fine.”

“No, Em. You have no clue how much I need you here.”

“I’m going to email you the listing, and Daddy says as soon as we hear back from you, he will get things rolling so I can be on my way!”

I let out a soft laugh. I didn’t really realize how much I utilized my assistant until I moved here and had to do everything from scratch. It’s the simple things, like finding a phone number for someone when I’m in the thick of research, that showed me I really need Emma back and underappreciated having her available at my beck and call.

“Alright, hon, I’ll go check it out and let you know ASAP.”

Emma blows three kissing noises through the phone and hangs up with a small squeal in excitement. Dropping my phone back to the desk, I look up to find Tiny sitting up, his inquisitive stare settled on me.

“What?”

“You moved all the way here and left your boyfriend at home?”

My brows furrow in confusion. He nods towards my phone, and realization dawns on me. “Oh,” I shake my head with a small laugh. “That was Emma. My assistant.”

Tiny’s face relaxes a little, and his body language shifts to casual once again. “You’re pretty close with your assistant?”

I nod. “Emma is a gem. She’s a little young, but she’s the best assistant I’ve ever had. She’s planning on moving here for me.”

His eyebrows rise in surprise. “That’s dedication. You must be good to work for.”

“I don’t scream at her, and if I send her for coffee, I buy her some too.” I shrug with a small laugh.

“You hiring? Those sound like perfect working conditions.”

I roll my eyes at him. “And what would your people say about you? Are you good to work for, Mr. Owner of Desert Security?”

“I like to think so, but I can be a bit of a grouchy asshole when I’m in the middle of a mission.”

“Mission?”

“We do more than just Cameras and alarms, honey.”

“Like what?”

“We offer personal security, cyber security, and dabble in some things that people don’t really feel comfortable going to the authorities with. Some people feel like we will protect them better.”

“Oh, wow.”

He nods, running his large hand along the back of his neck. “What are you checking out for her?”

“What? Oh!” I pick my phone back up and open the listing Emma sent me. “Emma’s dad found an apartment for her and he wants me to go check it out in person before giving the deposit.”

“Let’s see,” Tiny holds his hand out, motioning for my phone. I hand it over with the listing open on the screen.

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