Julie was disconcerted. Was there any way to graciously deflect that?

Ty said, "Come on now, boss, we both know I don't hold a candle to Julie." Damn it, he wasn't supposed to compliment her, defending her from his horrible boss as well. Bobby sat on the edge of his antique desk, which creaked beneath him. "Too bad I couldn't have met you under nicer circumstances, Ms. Spencer."

Her heart thumped in alarm, but Julie was a pro at presenting an outwardly calm demeanor. With quiet patience, she waited for Bobby to continue.

"You see, pretty lady, I believed that hiring you as this young stud's image consultant meant that my days of dealing with his embarrassing public displays of affection for well-endowed young ladies had come to an end."

She nodded. "Of course you did."

"I'm nothing if not a fair man," he said. "That's why I'm happy to give you a chance to explain what caused these pictures to be taken last night."

He handed her a stack of pages printed from various internet gossip sites. In each and every one of them, Ty was cavorting with women with impossibly large breasts and small waists. Ty leaned over the arm of his seat to look at the pictures. "My hair is getting kind of long, don't you think?

Might need to get a trim soon."

Was he fucking kidding her? She'd nearly let him have sex with her yesterday at his house, and now that she was looking at pictures of him with other naked women, did he truly expect her to calmly sit there and comment on his hair?

Fine. Two could play that game. "I'm sure these women could give you tips on how to deal with unwanted hair."

He sat back looking extremely smug. "I've always appreciated a good Brazilian." Julie's face flamed before she could stop it. There was no point in making excuses to her new boss; it was always better to tell the truth in impossible-client situations like this. "I'm afraid, Mr. Wilson, that Mr. Calhoun is a bit of a wild card."

Bobby nodded, clearly pleased by her pronouncement. "Why don't you just say what we're all thinking? He's a disaster." Ty interrupted. "We're not all thinking that."

Julie smiled sweetly and looked at Ty. "Oh yes, we are."

"Now, darlin'," Bobby continued, "if you don't have the skills to keep this wild child of mine under control, then you might as well resign right now."

Never. Julie had always completed each and every assignment beautifully. No problem was too big, no personality too outlandish for her to shine up and present to the public as a new man or woman. But she knew simply stating her case wouldn't matter to a cretin like Bobby. She'd have to utilize her "pretty" card.

She slowly re-crossed her legs, letting her skirt hike up a slight bit, then moved her ankle up, then down, doing her Christian Louboutin heels proud.

She let her voice go a little breathless. "Now, Mr. Wilson, we both know I have no intention of resigning from this account." Unsurprisingly Bobby's eyes didn't make it much farther than her thighs. She continued, "From this moment forward, you can count on me to be personally responsible for Ty's reputation. I will guard it as if it were my own."

Bobby continued his lazy perusal of her assets one last time. "Ms. Spencer, I must say, you certainly paint a persuasive picture."

She smiled. Though such shallow tactics disgusted her, she was too smart not to use them when necessary.

"There's only one problem that I can see." Bobby bared his teeth at her in an approximation of a smile. "I just don't see how any one person—especially a woman, no offense meant, darlin'—is going to be able to control our wild boy. Not without an airtight plan." Her professional reputation was at stake here, along with paying her new mortgage for the next several months.

A sudden calm washed over her, and she clasped her hands together on her lap.

"Ty will be moving in with me this morning. For the next two weeks I won't let him out of my sight. Not for a workout, a meal, a charitable event. Nothing."

She couldn't worry about Ty's reaction now, she'd deal with him later. Possibly with a sharp stick. Bobby looked skeptical. "You on board with this, Superstar?" he asked Ty. Slouched in his chair, Ty reached his arms back behind his head, stretched, then yawned.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," he finally said. "I'm looking forward to a big breakfast, and a soft bed." He raised an eyebrow in Julie's direction. "I figure your bed is as good as mine." In that moment, Julie was thankful for everything she had ever learned from her parents about faking it. Otherwise, she would have launched herself across the room and strangled Ty.

"I have a lovely guest room all set up for you," she lied, then reached out to shake Bobby's hand. "I'm glad this is all settled. It was a pleasure to meet you."

How the hell was she going to keep her legs shut around Ty 24-7 for two whole weeks?

CHAPTER TEN

Ty left Bobby's office a very happy man. And not just because Julie's skirt served her ass up on a platter. If he'd known that a pack of strippers could get him into Julie's bed—who was she kidding with that guest bedroom crap?—this fast, he would have sent her a stripper-gram years ago. Still, he wasn't a complete asshole, no matter what she thought. "They were just pictures," he said when they stepped outside.

She didn't even bother turning around to face him, just kept walking through the Outlaws' parking lot. "I really don't care."

Which meant she did, of course. It was too bad he had to act like an oversexed jerk to make sure they were together for the next two weeks, but that was the only way for them to get to know each other better. The only chance they had at a relationship.

He stopped, blinking in the bright sunlight off the Bay. What the hell was he doing, thinking in terms of a relationship? He'd never thought any further than one night. What was it about Julie that had him thinking crazy and acting even crazier?

"Get in," she said, pointing to a Prius sedan.

He strolled around the tiny hybrid car.

"I doubt I'm going to fit," he said suggestively.

Her face set into a grim mask. Shit. Too late, he remembered that she'd said nearly those exact words about him ten years ago, right before he took her virginity.

Okay, time for apologies. And he'd start by leaving his Maserati in the parking lot and squeezing into her itsy-bitsy environmentally correct car.

"Julie, I didn't just mean what you thought I meant," he said as she drove out toward Bay Street. She glared at him. "I'm going to say this one more time, so try to get it through your thick skull. I don't care what you meant. Or what you thought you meant. Or what you did last night with a stack of overendowed strippers. Or how you did everything in your power to humiliate me in front of Bobby. I just don't care, Ty."

In the blink of an eye, she pulled herself back together. "I. Don't. Care." To the naked eye she seemed composed and calm.

But he was more attuned to her than that, and he could feel her simmering beneath the surface.

"The only thing I care about," she continued, "is you making a good impression. My only concern is to transform the way the public sees you. Bye-bye, wild child."

Because he owed her one, he chose not to say something that would annoy her again. Yet. "You handled Bobby well."

It wasn't an empty compliment; he really did think she'd played his smarmy boss well. Playing up her looks had been a brillant tactic.