Page 31 of Big Bad Bully
“No reason.” She leans back in her seat, totally relaxed. The movement sends more of her scent wafting my way, and I grip the steering wheel tighter, as if that will help me hang onto my control. “You seem to be going out of your way to spend time with me.”
“You’re the one who took the job at my place.”
“You’re the one who offered.” She turns to study me. I focus on the road, but my wolf preens under her undivided attention. “Or were you in the market for a mural before I came along?”
“No,” I admit. I don’t usually share my true feelings with anyone outside my inner circle, but this doesn’t feel like a concession. I could be baiting a trap, luring the human in one confession at a time. “I like your work.”
“Yeah right,” she snorts. “Name one piece of mine that you like.”
“The wall at La Résistance,” I say, surprising myself. “Not the one outside, the small one by the bathroom. With the Brooklyn bridge in the background. That’s your work, right?”
I sense her surprise. “One of my earliest public pieces, yes.”
“I like it.” I sound grudging, and I am. I don’t want to like anything made by a human–especially not this one who drives me insane, but the mural is colorful and wild. “It has…heart.”
“All right, Suit. I accept the compliment.” She turns her smile towards the window, and I want to call her name. Look at me. Smile at me.
Ugh, I usually have better game than this.
Her stomach growls, and she doesn’t seem to notice, but I go on high alert. The human is hungry, and I need to feed her.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“I had a protein bar. Why?”
I swing into traffic. “Pick a restaurant.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” I glance at her and watch her weigh her options. “You’re hungry. So let’s eat.”
“Are you asking me out, Suit? On a date?”
“Will it get us to dinner faster?”
“Who said I want to eat with you?”
Does everything have to be a fight with this female? “We can get takeout. Or eat at separate tables.” Her stomach growls again, and I bite back my wolf’s whine. “I’m just trying to feed you.”
“I get that. I’m wondering why.”
Some asshole in a truck cuts me off, and I lay on my horn, taking out my frustration on the rude driver. It doesn’t help.
“Can’t I just do something nice?” I mumble.
Aubrey chuckles, and I realize she’s been playing me. “Dinner would be nice.”
I decide to poke her back. “Just nice? Most people would kill to have dinner with a billionaire.”
“A crypto billionaire,” her lip curls. “And I’m not most people.”
“What do you have against blockchain tech?”
“Oh, I don’t know, the rampant waste of resources that exacerbate climate change.”
“It’s a dirty field,” I agree. “Which is why Brick and I make sure all our companies run on green energy. We’re carbon negative. But we need every business to take climate change seriously. As a species, we’re not doing enough.”
She blinks. She didn’t expect me to say that. Then her eyes narrow, and I hide my smirk. She wanted a chance to rip me a new one, and now she’s annoyed.
