The Hill by Carol Ericson

are on friendly terms?”
    â€œI’d say so.”
    â€œDid your father take care of him in his will? Is your brother
satisfied working for you?”
    â€œWade is very comfortable, thanks to Dad, and he’s happy with
his numbers.” She sighed and perched on the edge of the desk. “I wish there was
one villain to point to, but BGE has no villains.”
    The door to her office burst open and a stocky man with dark
hair charged through, with Celine on his heels. “I asked him to wait,
London.”
    The guy bounded across the room, landed in front of London,
grabbed her shoulders and planted a kiss on her mouth. “La-La, I missed you so
much. I came straight here from the airport.”
    Judd rose from his chair, his hands curling into fists. Who was
this guy and who the hell was La-La?
    â€œLondon?”
    She turned a flushed face toward Judd, her hands against the
man’s chest.
    The intruder glanced at Judd as if seeing him for the first
time and raised one eyebrow. “Who’s this?”
    Judd expanded his chest and took one step forward. “Who the
hell are you?”
    The man finally dropped his hands from London’s shoulders and
turned to face Judd fully. “I’m London’s fiancé.”
    Â 

Chapter Seven
    London rolled her eyes. Here we go again.
    She’d better say something, since Judd looked about ready to use Roger for a punching bag and Roger looked about ready to slap Judd across the face with a glove.
    She sliced a hand between the two men. “Not exactly, Roger.”
    â€œYou mean, not yet.” He chucked her under the chin with his knuckle, a gesture similar to one Judd had used on her just a moment ago. Only when Roger did it, she felt about two years old.
    â€œRoger, this is Judd Brody. I hired him for some additional personal security. Judd, this is Roger Taylor, CFO of Breck Global and Richard’s son.”
    Judd thrust out his hand. “Sorry about the earlier antagonism. Ms. Breck never mentioned her engagement to me, so when a strange man burst in here and grabbed her, my adrenaline started to pump.”
    Roger eyed the tattoos peeking from the sleeve of Judd’s jacket. “No worries. London could use a little extra security, but you’re not from BGE, are you? Unless you joined the staff while I was out of the country.”
    â€œHe did.” She met Judd’s gaze over Roger’s shoulder and put a finger to her lips. It would make her life easier if Roger didn’t know she didn’t trust BGE security—at least not with her life. She just needed to stick with the same story for everyone.
    Judd dipped his head. “New hire.”
    London let out a measured breath. “I’ll see you in the boardroom, Roger. Judd and I have a few things to review.”
    Roger reached for her again, but this time she sidestepped him. She didn’t want him mauling her, especially under Judd’s watchful glare.
    Roger winked and turned his fingers into a gun, pointing at her. “Don’t you worry about a thing, London. I’ll be right there beside you in the boardroom.”
    She pasted a smile on her face and nodded.
    Roger exited the office, calling out to Celine, “Grab me a coffee.”
    London snapped the door closed and rested her forehead against the heavy wood. “Now I have to smooth Celine’s feathers since she absolutely hates it when Roger orders her around. He has his own executive assistant.”
    â€œFiancé?”
    â€œNo.” She turned, putting her hands behind her back and pressing them against the door. “He likes to think we have some understanding, but we don’t. I don’t. We dated a few times over the years, but we are not compatible in any way.”
    â€œI can’t imagine how a guy like that with a stick up his...back could ever think he’d be happy with a woman with your wild ways.”
    She opened her mouth and Judd held