Page 12 of Artemis

“Challenge accepted.” She liked this. “You first?”

“I laid down the terms. You get the first guess.”

“All right.” She bit her lip, evaluating him. “Construction.”

“Nice. I do know my way around a power tool or two, but no.” Finley crossed his arms. “Your posture is perfect, so I’m thinking something where you’re the boss.”

“Is that your guess?”

“If I’m right, it narrows the search.”

“You are right. So far.” Artemis noticed the calluses on his fingers. “A musician?”

Finley chuckled. “I can sing, but most people complain when they hear it. No. A job where you’re in charge. The CEO of a company?”

Artemis winced internally.

Was she that obvious?

Would he find that too much?

“Yes. You’re very good at this. Are you in security?”

“No. Is CEO not enough? I need to guess which company?”

“I like to win, and the harder your job is, the more likely I am to win,” Artemis said playfully.

“You know, I’ve played this game with all the other ladies here, and none of them have asked me to identify their place of work,” Finley said, raising an eyebrow. “How about we up the stakes a little? If one of us guesses the place of work of the other, the winner gets a favor.”

“I like that.”

“CEO of a manufacturing company.”

“No. Are you a wrestler?”

Finley hummed slightly. “Yes, I guess that could describe what I do. Are you the CEO of a distribution company?”

“No. Do you work at Valhalla’s Throne?”

Finley’s jaw dropped. “How do you know about that place?”

“It’s a secret that everyone knows about,” Artemis replied. “Am I right?”

“Yeah, you are,” he admitted. “I’m impressed.”

“So am I.” She raked her gaze over his form again. “From what I’ve heard of that place, you should look much more bruised than you are. You must either be really good or heal really fast.”

“Both.” He grinned at her. “Are you going to tell me where you work?”

“Maybe on the next date,” she teased.

“Confident, aren’t you?”

“Am I right?” she asked again. Artemis felt his gaze burn over her as he took his time to answer her.

“You are definitely the most interesting woman I’ve met this evening. I admit I came here for a quick pick-up, but now...” Finley let his sentence hang in the air between them.

“Would you think less of me if I said I was thinking along the same lines?” Artemis asked boldly.

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