Jardin's Gamble (Haven, Texas 9)

She bit her lip. “Sorry.”

Hmm, it was getting harder to remember she was his employee and not his sub. Maybe he should fire her again. Would make his life easier in some ways because he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until he gave in and put her over his knee. But harder in others because having her close by settled the protective beast inside him.

Sort of.

“Carrick and I were once best friends. We also shared a lover.”

He waited for her reaction then saw the way her mouth popped open. He was taking a gamble here, guessing she’d be more intrigued than horrified. That she wouldn’t spread his business around the water cooler. But from what he’d seen, Thea had more integrity in her little toe than most of the other people in this building. He was betting even if she were uncomfortable, she’d never say anything.

But mostly what he saw in her face was longing and arousal.

“Does it shock you? That we lived in a permanent ménage?” he asked silkily.

He knew talking about this while they were in his office was pushing the boundaries. But those boundaries had been pushed yesterday while they’d been out to lunch. And when else was he going to get the chance to speak to her?

Right now, she was a captive audience. One he intended to take advantage of.

She licked her lips. “Um, it might have before I had a chat with Maddox. He told me about Haven. About how polyamorous relationships were normal there.”

Okay, that shocked him enough to have him sitting forward in his chair and resting his arms on the desk. Why had his cousin been talking to her about relationships?

“You know Maddox is a player, right? He’s never been serious about a girl. He won’t settle down.”

She blinked. Opened her mouth. Closed it again. “Are you warning me off your cousin?”

“Has he made a move on you?”

He was going to kill the asshole.

“No.” She frowned. “I mean, he flirts a lot but I’m thinking that’s just his personality.”

“It is. He won’t ever give you anything more than a good roll in the sheets.”

“Because there’s no way a man couldn’t want anything more than that with me?” she spat out.

Christ.

Warning signals rang in his head. He should have left this to Carrick. He was smoother with these things. Jardin was feeling a bit possessive of Thea, and it was coming out in ways he didn’t intend.

A bit possessive? Right.

He cleared his throat. “That’s not what I meant.”

She stood.

“Sit back down,” he barked. Then winced. Fuck. Yes, he should have left this up to Carrick.

“Unless this is about work, then I don’t think I need to be in here.”

He deserved that. “I’m sorry I spoke like that. I just don’t want my cousin to hurt you.”

“Well, he hasn’t. I’ve met him twice. He’s only been friendly. He’s not interested in me like that. Let’s face it, he’s way out of my league anyway. And I can’t just believe I said that to my boss,” she muttered.

He frowned. So, she would be interested if Maddox showed some interest?

And what did she mean he was out of her league?

“Can we just get back to talking about work?” she asked.