Page 5 of Wicked Trap

“Okay, miss,” the old man replied.

Offering a thankful prayer again, she turned to go towards the taxi.

Just as she neared, a tall and broad-shouldered man wearing a dark blue checkered formal shirt cut in front of her. Before she could say anything, he opened the taxi door and got inside in a smooth move.

“Hey!” she shouted. “This taxi is mine!”

She stepped closer to the back seat and glared at the man seated inside. He was wearing sunglasses, but she felt his gaze sweeping over her.

“Oh good,” he drawled in a deep voice. “I need to go to the downtown area.”

Tanvi glared at him harder. “I don’t own the taxi. I meant this taxi is mine because I spotted it first! I was waiting for the driver to come out of the store. And I’ve already spoken to him.”

The man’s thick masculine eyebrow rose at her words. But he didn’t make a move to get out. Continuing to look at her, he settled back comfortably against the seat, his broad shoulders taking up most of the space as he stretched an arm on top of the back rest.

“Well, I’m already seated inside the taxi,” he said. “Find another one.”

“I can’t!” she snapped. “I’m sure you know there’s a bus strike going on. So you will have to find another taxi. I have to urgently go to the downtown area. A lot of people are waiting for me there.”

She hurriedly opened her large bag and pulled out a couple of hundred notes and held it to him. “I’m sure this will cover for your taxi fare with some change to spare. Just get another taxi.”

The man’s mouth twisted. “Sorry, princess,” he drawled. “I don’t need your money. But I need to go to the downtown area too. Why don’t you hop in, and we can go there together and be dropped off at our destinations?”

A bolt of annoyance passed through her when he called her princess. Something about the man rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was his sweeping gaze and the cocky smirk on his handsome face. He was good-looking—too good-looking, especially with the dimples. She was sure he knew that fact very well.

She also suspected he must have seen her waiting near the taxi. But still, the ass cut in front of her. He stole her taxi, and now he was more or less bullying her into sharing it with him even though she had unofficially booked it first.

“I don’t take rides with strangers! Especially suspicious strangers.”

The arrogant man didn’t look offended. His smirk remained firmly in place.

She continued to glare at him. “Can you stop wasting my time! I’m in a hurry!”

He shrugged. “All right, princess. If you are not joining me, shut the taxi door. I’m in a hurry too, and I need to get going.”

The taxi driver looked on uncertainly at their interaction. “Miss, I need to start the ride too.”

Tanvi knew she couldn’t waste the taxi driver’s time. With the bus strike, the old man would make a decent profit with multiple rides all day.

But there was also no guarantee of when the next available taxi might come by. She couldn’t afford to be late.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll share the ride with this man to downtown.”

Gritting her teeth at the arrogant man seated inside, she went around the taxi and got in. Although the man had moved, and there was at least a foot distance between them, he was still way too close for comfort. The man’s cologne filled up the inside of the taxi, tingling her nose. The fragrance was subtle yet addicting.

Ignoring his presence, she pulled out her phone and texted that she would be at the protest site in thirty minutes. She also checked her messages. A few protesters had already assembled in front of the corporate building.

“Where exactly in downtown are you going, miss?” the taxi driver asked.

“The Prism building.”

“And you, sir?”

“The Prism building,” the deep voice drawled.

At the man’s reply, Tanvi whipped her head to look at him in shock. “You are going to the protest too?” she asked.

He hardly looked like the protesting kind. In fact, he hardly looked like he would care enough for saving anything, let alone trees or the environment.

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