Page 10 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

Even when I insisted that I could handle my commute to work just fine, he refused to listen, and that stubbornness irked me.

It was hard to make me angry most days, but for some reason, Damien was beginning to get under my skin whether he knew it or not.

Forcing out a breath, I had no choice but to sit in his passenger seat while the radio played quietly but not loud enough to drown out the vaguely awkward silence in the car.

After a time of moving at a crawling pace, Damien glanced over at me and shamelessly looked me over again.

“Nice outfit, by the way.”

Forcing myself to be cordial, I took another steadying breath and looked ahead. “Thanks…”

“Did you come back from a class or something?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Pilates.”

He chuckled after a moment. “Pilates, eh? And here I was thinking you were a spin-class kind of woman.”

Still vaguely annoyed and uninterested in his banter then, I gave him a casted glance. “Are you patronizing me?”

A faint grin reached his lips again as he looked toward the road. “Maybe a bit…”

I scoffed to myself, wishing he’d just drop it and continue in silence instead of poking at me.

After my lack of response, Damien chuckled and threw me a quick look, clearly not dropping his amusement yet. “I’m only teasing. Most people are too lazy to workout at all…as far as I’m concerned, you’re more in shape than most.”

Lifting a curious brow, I watched as he drove. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Don’t act so surprised, I have quite a few in the chamber, you know.”

Despite being surprised by his words, feeling a faint blush move through my cheeks, I maintained my indifference and sighed. “I’m sure you do…”

“Confident…I like that,” he mused, far too smug for this early in the morning.

Doing everything I could to hide my fluster, I shook my head faintly and steeled myself against his teasing. “Something tells me I should’ve kept walking…”

To my surprise, Damien laughed quietly to himself at that, finally reaching a longer stretch of movement as the vehicles became less locked together. “Maybe so…but here you are anyway, right?”

Still irritated by his verbal poking and prodding, I sighed and sat quietly, trying to bide my time until we’d eventually reach the office building.

As ridiculously hot as he was, he was also aggravating, and I found myself itching for the chance to breathe normally again.

Catching on to my pointed silence, Damien glanced at me again before that smug grin settled on his lips once more, and he, too, decided to be quiet as he continued to drive. At the very least, he managed to take the hint.

Although, he still seemed far too pleased with himself for getting me in his car at last.

Chapter 5 - Damien

God, she was playing hard to get, and it was only making me want her more. It was making me more invested than I probably should’ve been, but a part of me couldn’t help it.

She was so interesting and addicting, and I just wanted to know more. I wanted to be around her and feel like I knew her so completely.

But of course, I couldn’t spend all day pining for her, as much as I wanted to more than anything.

Even after a few hours passed, I was still feeling satisfied with the fact that Sky even agreed to that ride to work, even if I more so coerced her into it.

Sure, it wasn’t my finest move, but it got her in my car anyway, and allowed me to talk to her again like I had been wanting.

I didn’t know what it was about her, but I found myself needing to engage with her despite knowing better. Needing to hear her voice.

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