Nora entered the office grinning at him, but Zach was too stunned to smile back. He only stared as she moved even closer, the heels of her boots clicked hollowly on the hardwood floor as her ankle-length leather skirt quietly creaked with each soft sway of her hips. The pale flesh of her thigh peeked out from the hip-high slit in her skirt over a black lace-trimmed stocking. She wore a black corset laced over a flesh-toned bustier. And with her neck bare, her hair artfully arranged over her shoulder, the effect was utterly obscene.

“Gotta love a woman in uniform,” she said, and Zach caught a whiff of her perfume—subtle and seductive. It made the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“You will hear no complaints from me.”

“Thank you, Zachary. Give me a hand, will you? I can’t get them tight enough on my own.”

Nora held out her arms, completely bare but for a pair of black fingerless leather gloves that covered her forearms. She turned her arms over, and Zach saw the gloves hooked over her thumbs and laced up her arms like a corset.

“What are these?” He took Nora’s wrist in his hand and methodically pulled the laces tight.

“They’re called gauntlets. Kind of a feminized medieval warrior look.”

“Thought you only wore red when you went out.” Zach laced her other gauntlet.

“Don’t believe everything you hear about me—just the bad stuff. You’re pretty good at this. You’ve laced a corset before. You like lingerie?”

“I’ve never been known to object to it. Must be frustrating to have clothing you need help putting on.”

“This is usually Wes’s job. He’s the one who finds it frustrating.”

“His job? And to think I tended bar for cash while I was at university. This is a far cry from punching out drunken football hooligans.”

“A lover and a fighter? You need to give Wes some lessons on how to properly enjoy his college experience.”

“Where is Wesley anyway? He seemed to leave in a hurry.”

“Oh—” Nora waved her hand “—off pouting somewhere.”

“Pouting? Might I ask why?”

“Wes doesn’t want me, but he doesn’t like it if I want someone else. Kid’s gotta learn that he can’t have his cake and not eat me, too.”

Zach laughed.

“He’s also pissed,” Nora said, moving even closer to him, “because he knows what I’m doing tonight.”

“And that is?”

“Seducing you.”

Zach took a step back.

“Nora, I haven’t changed my mind. We can’t work together and be lovers, too. J.P. will kill me to start with. And if he doesn’t I might kill myself.”

Nora raised her eyebrow at him, crossed her arms and leaned against his side.

“So are you just window-shopping tonight?”

Zach crossed his arms to match her and gave her a smile.