Read Online The Boss's Proposal by Kristin Hardy - Free Book Online

only reminded him of all they’d yet to do. She’d accused him of being cocky, but there was a confidence bordering on impudence in the angle of her head, the set of her shoulders. She was sure of herself and in control—except when she got around him. It was, perhaps, the most arousing thing he could think of.
    â€œDylan?” Max looked startled. “What are you doing here?”
    â€œI’m working here for the time being, remember?”
    â€œI mean now. It’s barely six in the morning.” She wore a white tunic belted over a skirt the color of new spring grass. Drops of green glass dangled at her ears. Her hair was loose and all he wanted to do was put his hands in it and fuse his mouth to hers and taste her, finally taste her. She looked fresh and alert, and more than a little uneasy.
    Good.
    â€œI woke up early. Jet lag.” He put out his hand to her companion, but he kept his eyes on Max. “Dylan Reynolds.”
    â€œOh, right.” Max turned to the custodian. “Dylan, meet Carl Dunston. Don’t tell Hal, but Carl’s the guy who really runs the joint.”
    â€œIf my dad hasn’t figured that out by now, he’s not as smart as I think he is,” Dylan said.
    â€œYou’re Hal Reynolds’s boy?” Carl pumped his hand a few times. “Pleased to meet you. Getting an early start, I guess. Your daddy likes to do that, too, sometimes.”
    â€œCarl’s the key master,” Max informed Dylan. “The lobby might be open early, but the stairwell door stays locked and the elevators don’t work until seven. If you want to get in before that, you’ve got to make friends with Carl.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind,” Dylan replied. “Do you often come to work at 6:00 a.m.?”
    This time it wasn’t Max who responded but Carl. “She’d come in at four or five if I let her. Keeps trying to sweet-talk the keys out of me but I know better. I give her the keys to this place, she’ll never leave. This way, she can’t get in any earlier than now.”
    Dylan grinned. “You’re a smart man, Carl.”
    â€œI have daughters of m’own,” Carl said. “I don’t care how much this area has cleaned up, it’s no place for a lady to be running around in the middle of the night.”
    Max rolled her eyes. “I’ve taken self-defense courses, Carl. I keep telling you, I can take care of myself.”
    Carl stuck his chin out stubbornly. “Nope, no matter how much she tries to persuade me—and she can be pretty persuasive—”
    â€œSo I hear,” Dylan said, earning a dirty look from Max.
    â€œâ€”I just say no. That’s what Mr. Reynolds told me to do and I’m sticking with it.”
    Dylan clapped a hand on the janitor’s shoulder. “Good man.”
    The janitor nodded as he stepped into the elevator and unlocked the controls. “There you go, she’ll work now. Have a good day, sir. You too, Max.”
    â€œSame to you, Carl.”
    Max walked into the elevator and stood at the control panel. Dylan stopped a little behind her, enjoying the hint of tension in the set of her shoulders.
    â€œI was serious about the self-defense lessons,” she said pleasantly, without turning.
    â€œAnd here I left my nunchucks at home.”
    Ignoring him, Max pushed the button for the top floor. The elevator doors rolled shut. He did reach out then to touch her hair, letting the silky strands slip against his fingers.
    Max jerked her head around toward him, but too quickly so that her cheek brushed his fingers. He let them linger there a moment before dropping his hand.
    â€œDidn’t you learn anything the other day?”
    Dylan smiled. “Not nearly enough,” he said. “Want to try again?”
    His touch still shimmered on her skin. And for a fraction of a second, before sanity took over, her first thought was