Page 59 of His Own Heaven

Toby of course, chose that exact moment to speak. “Should we discuss these rules of yours now?” he asked, then wrapped his big hand around his glass of pink lemonade—the girliest drink in existence—and tilted it to his full, masculine lips.

Lucy bit her lip, hard, stifling her hormone driven squeak of appreciation. Then she took a sip of her own drink. The sweet yet tart flavour bursting on her tongue did not refocus her attention as she’d hoped. Nope. Her imagination went in a whole other direction and she suddenly found herself wondering if pink lemonade tasted as good as Toby would taste after drinking pink lemonade.

When Toby cleared his throat, Lucy realised she’d been staring so intently at his mouth she’d forgotten to answer his question.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

The big man smirked at her, didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t laughing at her.Bastard.

No. Not a bastard. That was what the horrible people in his home town called him and his siblings when they were just little kids. The townspeople were the bastards. Not Toby. Never Toby.

“I asked if you’d like to discuss your rules. For us, for work.”

“Oh, right,” she said, and straightened in her seat. Then she snapped her legs together and tried to suppress the flare of heat in her sex as her panties shifted against the welts on her arse. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

Toby would have to be blind to miss the way Lucy’s eyes glazed over every time she moved in her seat. The ten lashes he’d given her before dinner were hard enough she’d feel them for the rest of the night, possibly into tomorrow. And the lace of her panties, soft as it was, would provide just enough friction to stimulate her tender flesh and make her shiver with anticipation, keep her off balance. It would be as if he were continuously stroking her arse with his own fingers.

He knew her pussy was wet and fully expected her panties to be ruined by the end of dinner.Perfect. Lucy Barton really was the perfect woman for him. She got off on pain, he got off on control. They were a good fit. Certainly a better fit than he’d experienced with anyone else in a very long time.

“The rules, as far as work is concerned, need to be straight forward, something we’ll remember easily. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“So with that in mind, I propose the following,” she said, then cleared her throat. “One, as the business manager, I’m in charge of internal business decisions, day-to-day operations and staffing requirements for the garden centre and café, leaving you to focus on the landscaping side of the business.”

Trying his best not to grin at his lovely little submissive being all bossy and adorable again, Toby asked, “Internal business decisions?”

“With your final approval, of course, but yes.” Lucy wriggled in her chair again and swallowed hard. “Things such as software and security upgrades, maintaining the business website and social media accounts, staffing disputes, budgeting and supplies are my areas of expertise. Gardening… not so much.”

Toby nodded as she spoke, her proposal acceptable so far, but then his brain snagged on something in particular and he frowned. “I don’t have any social media accounts.”

“You will,” Lucy said, her smile full of the confidence she’d lacked earlier in the evening. Toby was relieved to see its return. “Two, if and when I make any changes to the internal operations and/or staff requirements, I’d appreciate your full support. Especially in front of the staff. They need to know I’m their go-to person now, not you. And to that end,” she said, pausing as though bracing herself for whatever she had to say next, “please don’t call me baby in front of the staff or clients.”

Toby ran his tongue over his teeth and pierced Lucy with his stare. “I thought we were going to be open about our relationship.”

“We are,” she assured him, “but I don’t want our relationship to undermine my authority. I’ve seen it happen before. My predecessor at the security firm was engaged to the managing director at the time. He always called her by a pet name and soon everyone in the office was doing it too. It completely destroyed her credibility within the work environment and the staff walked all over her. No one took her seriously and in the end she took stress leave, then quit. So, as much as I love it when you call me baby, it’s just not—”

“Professional,” he said, sighing quietly, remembering their squabble over her hair. Toby reached across the table and took Lucy’s hand in his. He understood. Completely. Especially after seeing her house. Lucy liked order, she liked control. Just like him. But that meant they had to learn to compromise. And just like her hair, it was no big thing for him to concede about her name.

“As long as I can call you baby outside of work, I have no problem calling you Lucy at work. And occasionally Miss Barton,” he added with a quick grin. An image of Lucy in that arse-hugging skirt, bent over his desk while he spanked her with a wooden ruler formed in his mind. His cock stiffened against his thigh and he shifted in his seat, trying to adjust himself without actually grabbing his dick in the middle of the restaurant. “On second thought,” he ground out, “maybe I’ll stick to Lucy.”

Lucy’s perceptive gaze flicked to his crotch and back and it was her turn to grin. When a strangled snorting sound escaped her, he raised a brow.

“Anything else?”

Lucy broke eye contact and the fake candle in the centre of the table suddenly became the most interesting thing in the room. “Three… no sex at work.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said—”

“I heard what you said and… no. That won’t work for me. Which you obviously knew or you’d still be looking at me.” Toby almost laughed when her jaw dropped and her gaze flicked back to his, her eyes wide. He squeezed her fingers and lowered his voice, took on that deeper tone he knew drove her wild. “If you think I can keep my hands off you for that long, you’re nuts.” Lucy’s mouth snapped shut and her cheeks pinkened. Toby let himself smile. He loved making her blush. “But, I can see how that would affect our working relationship so I’m willing to accept your rules with one amendment."

“Only one?” she asked, her eyes narrowed under a disbelieving brow.

“I’ll agree to your no sex at work rule, but only during business hours. Outside of nine to five your arse is mine,” he growled. “Take it or leave it.”

Squirming in her seat again, Lucy’s blush deepened and she nodded. “Take it.”

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