Read Because You Are Mine Part I for Free Online

it’s discovered they have. It’s highly discouraged for managers to date each other, although not prohibited. It’s made clear in the contract that if any adverse situations arise at work from a relationship outside the office, the grounds for termination are met. I think you know it’s bad form, Lucien. Does she work at Fusion?”
    “No.”
    “Does she work in a supervisory capacity for Noble?” Ian asked as he stripped off his other glove, plastron, and jacket, leaving only the fitted breeches and undershirt.
    “I’m not sure. What if the employment with Noble is . . . unorthodox?”
    Ian gave him a sharp glance as he set down his sword and picked up a towel. “Unorthodox . . . as in the manager of a restaurant versus a manager of a department of business?” he asked wryly.
    Lucien hesitated, then nodded, his face an unreadable mask. They both started when a knock was heard on the door to the fencing room.
    “Yes?” Ian called, his brows slanted in puzzlement. Mrs. Hanson usually didn’t bother him during his workout. The knowledge that he wouldn’t be interrupted helped him to find a zone of total concentration on both his fencing and exercise routines.
    He went still in amazement when Francesca entered the room. Her long hair was loosely restrained at the back of her head. A few strands of it brushed her neck and cheeks. She wore not a smudge of makeup, a pair of formfitting jeans, a shapeless hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of gray-and-white running shoes. The shoes weren’t the highest quality, but Ian quickly appraised that they were the most expensive item she wore. At the opening of her jacket, he saw the thin strap of another tank top. The image of her supple body outlined in the tight garment zoomed into his brain.
    “Francesca. What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice unintentionally sharp in annoyance at the vivid, uncontrollable memory. She paused several feet from the fencing mat. The lushness of her pink lips made even her frowns sexy as hell.
    “Lin needs to speak with you about something urgent. You weren’t answering your cell phone, so she called the house line. Mrs. Hanson was on the way out to the store to get a few missing ingredients for your supper, so I said I’d come give the message.”
    Ian nodded once, using the towel he’d draped around his neck to wipe some perspiration off his face. “I’ll call her as soon as I shower.”
    “I’ll tell her,” Francesca said, starting to back out of the room.
    “What? She’s still on the line?”
    Francesca nodded.
    “There’s an extension in the hall just outside the exercise facility. Tell her I’ll call her back soon.”
    “All right,” Francesca said. She glanced quickly at Lucien and gave him a fleeting smile before she turned.
    Irritation spiked through him. Well, in all fairness, Lucien didn’t bark at her like you did.
    “Francesca.”
    She spun around.
    “Would you come back once you’ve passed the message to Lin, please? We haven’t had the opportunity to speak much all week. I’d like to hear about your progress.”
    She hesitated for a split second. Her gaze dropped over his chest, making him go still in sudden awareness.
    “Sure. I’ll be right back,” she said before she strode out of the room. The door to the fencing room clicked shut behind her.
    Lucien was grinning when he glanced over at him. “When I visited the American south, they had a saying . . . ‘A long, tall drink of cool water.’ ”
    Ian did a double take. “Hands off,” he said succinctly.
    Lucien looked taken aback. Ian blinked, a mixture of primitive aggression and shame at the harshness warring in his blood. Something occurred to him, and he narrowed his eyes.
    “Wait a second . . . the woman you were talking about just now that works for Noble—”
    “ Not Francesca,” Lucien said, his eyes gleaming as he gave Ian a sideways glance and opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water. “Seems to me you ought to