Tangled Fury by Kristen Middleton, Book Cover By Design, K. L. Middleton

laid and come in to work with a smile on your face.”
    “I always smile,” I protested.
    “Not the kind that reaches your eyes,” she answered, her voice softening. “And a guy like you deserves that kind of smile.”
    “ If I didn’t know better, Felicia, I’d think that you were finally warming up to me.”
    “Maybe just a little,” she answered, walking away.  
    Smiling to myself, I walked back to my office and found Sera, face-down on my desk, snoring softly.

Chapter Six
     
    Thane
     
    “Ms. Billings,” I said, tapping her on the shoulder.
    Sera’s head popped up and she looked around in confusion.
    “You’re still at Tangled, ” I said, smiling in amusement at her lopsided eyeglasses.
    Staring at me in horror, she wiped the drool from the corner of her lip. “Oh, my God,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe that I actually fell asleep.”
    “ I take it the contract was nothing to write home about?” I teased, sitting down behind the desk.
    “It was … fine,” she replied, removing her glasses. As she began cleaning them with a tissue, I found myself surprisingly fixated on her light green eyes and thick lashes. Although I could appreciate a woman with glasses, Sera was absolutely stunning without hers.
    “I haven’t been able to sleep,” she said, stil l looking embarrassed. “With everything that’s been happening. Tell you the truth … getting this job seems almost too good to be true.”
    “ I’m sure you deserve it and hopefully you can put everything else behind you, soon. At least some of your financial worries.”
    “I sure hope so .”
    Her smile was radiant and it did something to me. I stared at her full lips and began to have some seriously wicked thoughts.
    Damn you, Felicia.
    Obviously, her mention of my sex life had stirred something up. Something I normally preferred to leave at home. I tried not to think about what was happening in my lap, and instead, thought about the bastard who’d used his fists on her.
    H ow fucked up could anyone be to harm such a beautiful woman?
    I was no saint. I’ d beaten the shit out of many guys in cage matches for money. But, they’d known what they were getting themselves into and I’d taken my own share of beatings. Raising a hand to a woman was against everything I believed in. And to top it off, the guy was supposed to have been a cop.
    “Is there something wrong?” she asked, putting her glasses back on.
    “No, why?”
    “You j ust looked upset there for a moment,” she answered, studying my face.
    I leaned forward against the desk. The only thing upset at the moment was my dick, and it wasn’t calming down. Not with her in the room. “I’m fine. Did everything look agreeable in the contract?”
    “Yes, and I signed it. One thing I wanted to ask you - is there some kind of dress code? I didn’t see any mention of it.”
    “You can wear whatever you’d like under the salon apron. I’ll get you a couple of those before you leave.”
    “So, casual would be fine?”
    My eyes drifted to the blue silk blouse that outlined her full breasts . She looked like someone’s prim and proper secretary and it was suddenly very… sexy. I imagined her unbuttoning it and wondered what color bra she was wearing. And if it was a push-up.
    “Thane?”
    I blinked. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
    “Just dress casually, then ?”
    “Wear what ever you want,” I said, a little more firmly than I would have liked.
    Her eyes widened in confusion . “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
    I smiled weakly. “ I’m fine. Just have stuff on my mind. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat.”
    “It’s fine.”
    I started moving papers around on my desk, wishing she’d suddenly disappear, along with my woody. “Uh, why don’t you go and look around the shop?”
    “Okay,” she said, standing up. “Um, you do want to show me around?”
    “I’ll be out in a second,” I answered, trying to still appear busy. “The area