Page 97 of Dearest Protector

Maybe we’d never really dated, but we’d spent a lot of time together as friends.

I’d been rethinking this whole idea of dating with no sex.

It was almost impossible for me not to want to tell Ben exactly how I felt, and then get him naked.

In fact, I’d started making a real effort to seduce him.

Obviously,thatwasn’t working.

Probably because I had absolutely no idea how to seduce a guy.

I was lifting the hair off my neck to try to cool off when a male voice suddenly sounded behind me.

“Hello, Ariel. I see that you’re still dressing like a whore.”

The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

I let go of my curly locks and turned around, even though I already knew exactly who I’d see.

“Leland,” I said in a calm tone. “Who let you in?”

I took another calming breath as I stared at my old boss. Ben was having Leland investigated because he suspected that his business practices were shady, but there wasn’t enough evidence to put the man in jail…yet.

Leland moved forward until he was standing right in front of me.

Strangely, the dirtbag didn’t scare me anymore.

His face was red from exertion in the heat of summer, and I could hear him wheezing.

He wasn’t nearly as frightening as he used to be, but he was just as repulsive.

My lack of fear was probably because I wasn’t the same woman I was when I worked for him, and I definitely wasn’t dependent on him to put food on my table.

Right now, he was nothing more than a creepy bully to me.

He clamped a hand around my wrist, and nothing but fury rose up inside me.

Same patio.

Same place.

The same asshole boss who had manhandled me for months.

But a way different situation, and with a whole different woman.

I wasn’t afraid to make a scene anymore if it was warranted, thanks to Ben.

The man I was currently dating had also taught me a few moves to defend myself, and I was grateful right now for his obsessive need to keep me safe.

“How many men have imagined what you look like underneath that slutty dress,” Leland asked nastily as he tightened his grip on my wrist. “When are you going to learn?”

Katie’s right. He doesn’t just hate me. He obviously hates all women. He’s just using me as his target.

I took a deep breath. “I asked who let you in, Leland,” I reminded him. “This is a private event.”

“None of your goddamn business,” he hissed. “I have a right to be here. I’m a donor to this charity. Do you think you’re better than me just because you’re Blackwood’s whore now? I know what you’ve been up to Ariel.”

I had to force myself not to shudder because he’d apparently been checking up on me.