Page 55 of Rugged

Fuck yes, no panties.

“What was crazy, baby?” I asked, trying to stay focused. The scent of her plus her bare ass equaled one hard dick.

I scooped her up. With a squeal, she wrapped her arms around my neck. We settled on the couch to talk. She was in my lap sideways.

“Tell me about your boss. Why the job was crazy.”

She sighed. “I worked eighty-hour weeks, and whatever I produced was never good enough. I had no life outside of my job, which would’ve been fine, because I actually loved the work when I started, but I came to hate it.”

“Why?”

She sighed and shook her head. “Hollywood is nuts. It was a toxic work environment, for sure. Everything is done by committee, and there are too many fingers in the pie. There are producers, directors, managers, actors, designers, and you get completely different directions from each of them. They ask for something, but they don’t really know what they want, so they’re never happy with what you deliver. And my boss always made me feel like it was my fault.”

I tightened my hold around her. I wanted names. Anyone who made my mate feel bad needed a talking to. “Sounds like hell.”

She nodded. “Yeah. So I quit. I just walked off–which isn’t like me at all. And that’s how I ended up in Montana.”

“Working for Chapman. How’d you get that job?”

“Um…”

Was she holding her breath?

“My sister actually hooked me up with it. God knows how she knew Chapman. She’s the type who meets people and makes connections everywhere she goes.”

I smiled. “She sounds fun.”

For some reason, Lyssa didn’t respond. Her scent went a little sour.

“Not nearly as fun as you, though,” I said, trying to fix whatever I’d done wrong.

She let out a wry laugh and glanced down. “I’m not the fun one.”

“What?” I picked her up by the waist and resettled her on my lap, so she was straddling and facing me.

She examined my collarbone.

“You think you’re not fun?”

She shrugged. “Not compared to my sister.”

I chuckled. “Believe me, Lyssa baby. You’re fun. I’ve had more fun with you in the last two days than I have in all of my life.”

That wrenched a smile out of her, and her dark gaze flicked up to mine. “Yeah, me too.”

“So, did you tell your boss to shove it? What did he have to say?”

“He’s been hired to do the effects on a new movie and wants me on board. I told him no. He said I should think about it and offered me three times what I was making before.”

My heart stopped for a moment. Yeah, I was fucking proud of her to be wanted this much, butI wanted her more.My mate might leave the state.

“Wow. Are you considering it?” I tried to keep my voice neutral. I wanted to throw out,what about your job at the ranch, but I stopped myself. That job was already over. Chapman would most likely be dead, and she would be moving here.

Except now she had this great job offer…

Fuck. I didn’t want her to move back to L.A. But a good boyfriend would support her career choice. A good mate would kill or die to make sure she was happy. Which meant I might need to find a job in Hollywood. Maybe stunting, since I was nearly indestructible.

She only hesitated for a moment. “Not really. Good money doesn’t change a terrible work environment.”

---