Page 17 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Mr. Statton?” he laughed. “You’re not going to make any of this easy for me.”
“Things will be easyifyou remember boundaries.” I raised a brow as the server returned to set the check on the table between us.Rightin the center. I looked at it and then at Raymond, who chuckled.
“So this is the one thing you don’t want control over?” He grabbed the check and then pulled his wallet from his pocket. “Interesting.”
“You invited me here,” I reminded him. “Why should I pay? If not for you, I would be in my office working.”
“Something you should be thanking me for. You work too much,” he fussed. “Natalie is a competent assistant, and yet you send her home while you do menial paperwork.”
“I want to make sure it’s done right.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust her to do it?”
“Are those the words that came out of my mouth?” I removed the napkin from my lap. “I trust her. I—”
“You like to be in control.” He finished my sentence for me.Incorrectly, might I add.
“Is this about earlier today?” I asked. “Look, I’m not going to just stand aside and let someone take ownership of my stuff.”
“And there it is!” He handed the check back to the server, who’d at some point returned.
“What? Are you reconsidering working with me now?” I lowered my voice.
“No, not at all.” Raymond leaned onto his elbows. “I’m not the kind of man who backs downfrom a challenge.”
“A challenge?”
“Yes.” He smirked. “You need to release some steam. You look tense.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re trying to push up on me now.” I leaned away from him. “I only had water, remember? There will be no shenanigans to blame on liquor later.”
“Actually, I figured we could do some sparring.” He raised a brow. “But interesting that your mind went to sex when I said the word ‘release’.”
“Shut up.” I drank the last of my water.
“I will if you join me in the gym.”
6
Time for sparring
After some debate that led to me really wanting to punch this man in the face, we headed back to the office. This time, I didn’t drive behind him, so when he tried to go the slowest speed possible, I zoomed by him, and out of my peripherals, I saw him laugh at me.
I beat him back to the office, parked, and waited for him by the door. As he pulled into the parking lot, he slowed down even more before I crossed my arms and huffed. I watched him ease into the parking spot, put his car in park, and then sit there pretending as if he was looking for something. When he finally got out of the car, I just rolled my eyes. He then went to his trunk and pulled out a duffel bag, which I assumed had his training gear in it.
“See? We could have just driven together,” he said as he casually strolled over to me.
“Don't tell me you honestly think I would have been able to ride with you.” I pointed at his car.
“But I drove so safely.” He pretended to pout. “Isn’t that what you wanted from me? Now I see why Deonta was so upset. I don’t know how to please you, woman. Jericha, I’ll do anything to please you!”
“Ugh, I'm going home.” I moved toward my car. “Spar on your own.”
“Don’t be that way.” He grabbed my arm and stopped me from storming away. “All right, all right! I’ll stop. I'm just joking. Can we get this done now? I drank some pre-workout on the way here. I’m ready to go!”
“Apologize,” I demanded.
“Seriously?”
