Page 54 of His Own Heaven

Hopefully both professionally and personally.

Toby quickly showed her his current operating software and gave her a brief run-down of the day-to-day operations of the business. As Lucy listened and catalogued the new information, she freed her hair from its ponytail, finger-combed the fresh tangles it’d earned during their bout of office sex, then pulled it back again. She was about to loop the hair-tie around her hair when Toby cleared his throat.

“Leave it down,” he said, his voice rough again. “I like it down.”

Lucy didn’t move. She kept her grip on the thick bundle at the back of her head and pursed her lips. “It’s not professional to leave it down.”

Toby grinned. “You need to relax, Lucy. You’re not working for some uptight security firm anymore. It’s okay to let your hair down.”

“Wearing my hair in a ponytail at the office is me letting my hair down,” she explained as she looped the elastic tie around her hair and secured it neatly. “If I wanted to be uptight, I’d wear it the same way I did to my interview.”

But instead of ending the conversation as she’d hoped, Toby’s grin became feral and he pinned her against the desk. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the return of that skirt and the way it hugs your gorgeous arse,” he said. “But if you ever show up here again with your hair in that obnoxious bun, I’ll make damn sure to mess it up as thoroughly as I did your ponytail.” He pressed closer, forced her to grab the edge of her new desk as he leaned her back her over it. “Take it out.”

The growl in his voice made her own voice shrivel to nothing. Gone. In the face of all that dominating hotness it had simply fled the scene, and the urge to submit to her lover came screaming to the forefront of her mind. Her knees felt weak, her mouth was dry and her panties…?

Soaked.

But the office was her domain, not his. And it was time she let him know it.

“No.”

Toby’s only response was to cock one eyebrow, his feral grin still entrenched on his face.

Lucy lifted her chin. “This is what you hired me for,” she said, proud of the fact she didn’t sound as aroused as she felt. “And this,”—she waved a finger between them—“is why we need rules.”

“So you keep reminding me,” Toby said, letting out a long, slow breath. “Fine.” He gave her a sliver of space. “Rules.” Then he yanked her against him, gripped her arse and pressed what felt like a fresh erection against her belly. “We’ll discuss your rules over dinner.” Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “And for dessert we’ll go home and discuss mine.”

Chapter Seventeen

Lucy swallowed hard then sank her teeth into her bottom lip, holding back the whimper desperately trying to escape her. She was incredibly turned on. So much so she feared the combined power of her arousal and his would soak through her jeans.

Toby eventually stepped back and gave her some much needed breathing room, and the second he turned away, she sucked down the oxygen her brain had momentarily forgotten it needed to function at full capacity.

“I have to open everything up now,” he said, then lifted his hand and waved at two men walking past reception. The staff were arriving. “I have a landscaping client coming in at nine. If I’m not in the office when they arrive, show them into the conference room and offer them coffee and—”

Feeling more confident now there was more than an inch of space between them, Lucy held up her hand and cut him off. “Not my first rodeo,” she said, then just to reinforce her viewpoint from earlier, she added, “Boss.”

Toby scratched his head and smiled. He almost looked bashful, which was so fucking cute Lucy wasn’t sure how to react. She doubtedTobyandcutegot used in the same sentence very often. Hot, sexy, gorgeous, absofuckinglutely the most amazeballs sex god of all time—those were words she could easily associate with Toby Bennett.

And yet, there he stood looking apologetic and shy.Cute as fuck.

“Sorry. I haven’t had any help in here for months and even before that, well, Bec was better with paperwork than she was with people.”

“Kinda like you?”

He grimaced but his eyes danced with amusement. “It’s hard enough talking to people about their garden designs without throwing small talk into the mix.” He shuddered. “But just because I don’t like talking to people, doesn’t mean I don’t know how. And yes, I’d rather avoid it when I can. Talking to people is exhausting.”

Lucy chuckled and smiled up at him, resisted the urge to touch him and stroke the sculptured curves of his biceps, the muscles bulging and pulling his shirt sleeves tight.

“Then it’s a good thing you have me for that now. So relax and let me do my job so you can focus on yours.”

Toby stepped close again and Lucy didn’t resist when he bent his head down and kissed her cheek. “I fucking adore you.”

Lucy ducked her head as the tell-tale heat of a blush crept up her neck and into her face. Then she pursed her lips. Annoyed at how easily he distracted her from her purpose. “Yeah, you say that now, but just wait. By the time I’m done with this place, you may not think me quite so adorable.”

But Toby didn’t seem worried. “Do your worst, baby. I look forward to seeing what solutions you come up with. Oh, and this,” he said, reaching around her to pick up the tiny flowering cactus sitting beside her computer, “is for you. Welcome to BGL, Miss Barton.” Then he gave her one last slap on her arse and left her alone in the office.

“After lunch” came and went and Toby still hadn’t taken Lucy on a tour of the garden centre. As expected, she’d made her own rounds of the place about mid-morning when she’d conducted a fire-safety review, audited the security system and introduced herself to the staff.

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