Bad Boys for Hire: Ryker (Bad Boys for Hire #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the room, Ryker wouldn’t suspect her of putting it on for his benefit.
    Which she wasn’t. He was only an employee. Right. She was the boss. He should be nervous. Not her. He needed her. She didn’t need him.
    Yeah, right. She needed a pair of hands right now to help her with the arrangements. A pair of hands that could be running up and down her back, cupping her bounteous breasts, slipping between her legs and holding her knees apart.
    Get your act together, Terr.
    After taking two deep breaths, Terri strode through the curtain to the front of her store, steeling her voice.
    “Oh, it’s you. Glad you showed up. You shouldn’t have dressed up. Roll up your sleeves because we have a ton of work.”
    “That’s what I’m here for, ma’am,” Ryker said. “Where do you want me to start?”
    On the counter, behind the door, against the wall, on the floor, on my leather backed chair.
    “Stop it. I mean it!” she admonished herself, before clapping her hand over her lips.
    Shit. Had she said that out loud?
    She had, hadn’t she? Because Ryker was looking at her sideways as if she were a lunatic aunt he’d been told to humor.
    “What did you want me to stop?” His lips quirked into a lopsided grin. “Usually women beg me not to stop.”
    Terri could feel her face flush with heat. Her tongue felt too large for her mouth because all she wanted to do was run it up and down his neck, tasting and teasing, then encircling her lips around his gorgeous, plumped up …
    She closed her eyes sharply to stop the visualization and turned her back to him, leading the way to the workroom.
    “I need you to cut the roses so there are about two inches of usable stem. I hope you don’t mind bleeding because your fingers are going to get stuck. You’re not allergic to flowers, are you?”
    “Not at all, ma’am.”
    The ma’am bit was getting annoying, but hey, annoying was good. Better to be annoyed than jump the man’s bones, especially since he seemed to have showered and freshened up, even shaved the bad boy stubble from his face—not that she would have minded a little beard burn between her legs.
    Not again. Her mind was racing ahead of her body, or was her body the culprit? How was she supposed to function when every one of her nerve endings cried out to be touched, prodded, and overwhelmed by this prime male specimen? Being stuck in a cozy workroom with Mr. Sex on Steroids was going to be pure torture for the next few hours.
    Is it? Her naughty mind begged to differ. Being stuck by him would be glorious heaven, wouldn’t it?
    Shut up!
    This time, Terri was sure she kept her thoughts inside herself. She went to her toolbox and extracted a pair of floral shears, then pointed to the bundle of white roses. “Start cutting.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Ryker drawled in a tantalizing voice that made her belly quiver.
    “You ma’am me one more time, and I’m going to be doing some cutting.” Terri glared at him, but couldn’t help moving her gaze down below his belt where a much larger than two inch bulge lay waiting, coiled and ready to spring.
    Ryker picked up a rose stem. “You sure you only want two inches with this? Ma’am?”
    His smirk left no doubt he knew where she was looking.
    Oh, what the hell? She hadn’t signed an employment contract with this wild man, and as far as she could say, he’d barged into her store and threatened her with aggressive panhandling.
    Taking two steps, she grabbed his shirt and pulled. “I need a full seven. Eight if you’re packing.”
    “Much obliged, ma’am.” With a satisfied smirk, he slanted his face and moved in.
    She met his lips halfway, and he sucked the self-righteous protest of his continued use of ‘ma’am’ right out of her lungs.

Chapter Eight
    I f the hot , prickly woman in his clutches was expecting a sweet, choirboy kiss, or one of those mealy-mouthed tentative dork kisses, she didn’t show it. Ryker had to hand it to her for withstanding his aggressive