Read Ex-Con: Bad Boy Romance for Free Online

away. “Julio, if you could take your crew out, I want to talk with my new employee.”
    Her new employee? When had that happened? I didn't remember agreeing to this. “Hey...hold up a minute.”
    Nobody paid me any attention.
    Julio started ushering his men out while Carly turned to Ryan. “We need to get Jake to the hospital. Can you take him while I go over things with Bobby?”
    Ryan gave me an uneasy look, and my estimation of him rose. “Carly, I’m not so sure...”
    “Now everybody just wait a damn minute!” I raised my voice so they'd listen.
    To my surprise, everybody stopped and looked at me.
    “I’m not taking the damn job.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the whole stupid lot of them.
    “Don’t be silly.” Carly waved a hand at me, like I was some kid who'd said there was a monster hiding in the closet.
    “Silly?” Lowering my voice, I took a step toward her. “You think I’m being silly ? Sugar, you don’t know who in the hell it is you’re trying to hire to guard your cute ass. You might as well be hiring the fox to lie down with the chickens.” My accent thickened as emotion took hold.
    Her forehead wrinkled. She looked confused. And adorable. I wanted to shake her.
    And kiss her.
    “What are you talking about?” she asked.
    I curled my lip at her. “You want a bodyguard, maybe you should get somebody a little more trustworthy, sugar.”
    I turned and stormed towards the door.
    “And just what’s wrong with you, Bobby Cantrell?” she called out after me.
    I kept on walking. At the elevator, I stopped and looked for the down button. Then I scowled.
    All I saw was a slot for what looked like a keycard.
    Damn rich people.
    Frowning, I looked over at Julio who was watching me with a slightly amused expression on his face. “You mind?”
    Carly cut between us. “ I mind.”
    I leaned down so my face was only a few inches from hers. “Sweetheart, there’s a word for keeping people against their will.”
    “Yeah? What are you going to do? Call the police and tell them that I’m trying to offer you a job and you don’t want it?” She rolled her eyes. “Cry me a river... sweetheart .” She drawled the last word.
    I opened my mouth, only to shut it with a snap a second later.
    Straightening, I jammed my hands in my pockets as I deliberated about just how to handle her.
    It came to me then. There was a beautifully simple way to end this, and all it required was the truth.
    Skimming the room with a quick look, I finally settled my gaze on her. “You should probably know, I’m not exactly between projects. I fudged the truth a bit on that. I just got let go from my last job and haven’t even started looking for my next one.”
    “Okay.” She smiled wider. “Sounds like this will be perfect then.”
    I gritted my teeth. This woman was impossible.
    “No. See, it wasn’t the boss. He liked me, appreciated my work, appreciated my willingness to work hard. But some of his clientele didn't like my background.”
    I watched her closely. From the corner of my eye, I could see her two suits as well. I saw a flicker flash across Jake’s face, saw how Ryan’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Didn’t surprise me. I had a feeling at least one of them had already put it together.
    “But in the end, he had to make a choice. It was his business, or me.”
    “Why?” Carly stared at me, clearly baffled.
    “Because I’m a convicted murderer.” I smiled at her, slowly. I took no pleasure from the way her face went pale, nor did it please me to see how dark her eyes suddenly seemed, but I continued on. She needed to hear this. With what was supposed to be an uncaring shrug, I said, “I’ve been out about a year. I did nine years of a fifteen-year sentence. And, yes, before you can ask, I am guilty. I killed a man. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
    Carly continued to look at me, her eyes all wide and dark...and scared.
    That bothered me. I couldn’t hide it from myself.