Page 18 of Billionaire Protector

The irony sobered her in an instant. He’d made the wrong assumptions about her for her entire life. What would he say if he discovered the truth? “Isn’t that like a lion touting the benefits of vegetarianism?”

His gaze sharpened, the levity and lightheartedness vanishing in an instant. “You see me as a lion?”

She sat straighter, and he did too, as he emulated a lion to pure perfection, the king of the jungle, ruler in charge of hisdomain. They’d known each other for so long, sometimes she forgot how powerful he truly was. Forgot who was the predator. Who was the prey.

No.She was no longer prey to his predator. She was as powerful as he. And now it was time to prove it. “I left you the info on the arson case. Is there anything else you need?” She picked up a pencil.

“Actually, there is something else.”

She stiffened. Was he going to mention the kiss? Ask why it happened? Ask if it could happen again?

Oh, yes.

“We should be nice to each other.”

What?She blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“We should be nice to each other.” He sat forward. “We’ve thought the worst of each other our entire lives, but like it or not, we have to work together now. Maybe it’s time to change things. Perhaps we can even become…”

She held her breath.

“Friends.”

She exhaled. For a second there… no, she couldn’t think about that. Being nice to Cole Carter was impossible. They argued about everything, from her actions to his overprotectiveness to whether the sky was blue. It was what they did.

Except that wasn’t quite true. In between the arguing, which typically involved him trying to steer her on the right path, he could actually be kind of nice. He’d even stood up to her bullies a time or two, or perhaps far more than that, and he didn’t laugh during the depilatory cream incident. Sometimes, it almost seemed like they were friends…

Or more.

“All right,” she said slowly. “I can be nice if you can.” She returned his nod, relaxing as she looked down at her papers. She definitely deserved a break from his disconcerting presence.

Only he didn’t leave. “Ladies first.”

She jerked her head back up. “Ladies first?”

“After two decades of arguing, being nice might take some practice.” He shrugged. “Why don’t we try now?”

He wanted to practice being nice? It was like asking a piece of broccoli to turn into an ice cream sundae. Yet if she refused, he’d have one more thing to hold over her. “All right.” Finding a compliment for the infuriatingly perfect man shouldn’t be too difficult. Several immediately rushed to mind:

You’re hot.

Like really hot.

Should be illegal hot.

Okay, not the direction she wanted to take. Instead she offered, “You know that whole hero thing? That was kind of cool.”

A smile played at his lips. “Kind of cool?”

The grin came unannounced. “Yeah, kind of. Like, not a bad thing to do if you have a free afternoon. It definitely beats watching television.”

“I’m glad you think saving people was a useful way to spend a decade, or at least better than reruns.” Little crinkles appeared at the corner of his eyes, proving this man did laugh. “I suppose it’s my turn.” He cocked his head to the side, gave her a thorough perusal from head to toe. A minute or a thousand later, he tapped the desk. “You have cute ears.”

The laughter returned, amidst a hazy mist of nostalgic memories. She wagged her finger. “That’s the same compliment you gave me in fifth grade when your dad forced you to say something nice to me. It was the least you could do after making me sit in pretend detention for a half hour.”

“You deserved it.” He showed no regret. “But they’re still really cute.” He paused, tapped his chin in feigned pensiveness. “I also find your nose above average.”

And, darn it, she couldn’t stop another laugh.

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