damned face,” I snapped, my hand pointing to the door.
He grinned. “Hey, I thought you said I was pretty.”
“Yes, so I did. And I also said I didn’t like pretty boys. Now get out!”
III
A bitter scowl took up residence on my face as I showered and got dressed in a baby-blue T-shirt, white shorts and loafers. Peeved as hell that I’d allowed that dissolute bastard to manipulate me into having lunch with him. Showing such weakness was a rare occurrence for me. There was only one person who knew how to undermine me and that person seldom surfaced.
After pulling my hair back in the usual ponytail, I snatched up my purse and car keys then stomped out of my office and down the stairs, all the while cursing under my breath. Pretty Boy Nelson was already waiting downstairs as he said he would be,twelve sharp, leaning against the wall to the entry door, his back turned to me and his attention rapt on the phone in his hand. Halting at the end of the stairs, I couldn’t help admiring the broadness of his shoulders that were covered in a plain white T-shirt, and his amazing backside that was encased in dark jeans. His hair was damp as if he’d just had a shower, too, and was finger-raked backwards, curling at the nape of his neck.
As if he sensed my stare, he abruptly turned and revealed a smile that would make any woman’s heart faint. That only made me angrier. “You checking me out, sweetie?”
I raised my cold, unkind eyes to his warm slate-grays. “One: Don’t you ever again call me ‘sweetie’ from those profligate lips. And two: Get over yourself!”
That only served to make his smile change to a grin and then a chuckle as he strode to the door, pushed it open and stood aside for me to go through. Rejecting his gallantry, I stood where I was and kept my eyes on his, wishing that my irises had the power to fire bullets.
But he merely stared back, amused.
Knowing that this day would never end if I didn’t give him at least a teeny bit of satisfaction, I faked a no-teeth smile and went through the door.
Unaware of the other’s intentions, in the parking lot we each pressed the unlock buttons on our car keys, and when both vehicles made discordant sounds, our eyes instantly flew to each other’s in question. Lovello raised a brow at me then jerked his head towards his car.
“Oh hell, no,” I said, heading in the direction of my jeep. “We’re taking my jeep and I’m driving.”
“Nuh uh,” he replied, shaking his head to emphasize. “ I asked you to lunch. Therefore, I’m driving in my car.”
Obstinacy in full effect, I folded my arms. “I don’t like to be driven.”
“Neither do I,” he said, mimicking me by folding his brawny arms across his chest. “So, I guess we need to compromise. And by compromise, Axia, I mean: you are gonna close that jeep door, walk your cute little butt over here and get in the passenger side of my vehicle.”
The dick seemed naturally impervious to my bullying tactics, because he didn’t even blink when I took solid steps up to him and said, “Just who the hell do you think you are?”
He gave a lopsided smile. “Only a plague that you want desperately to get rid of. Just remember, God never ceased plaguing Pharaoh until he did as he was told.”
Nostrils flaring, I whirled around and went back to my jeep, slammed the door and started out of the parking lot. “I’m not going anywhere with you. You manipulative asshole!”
“Fine,” he called after me. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning in class. I’m yet to burn off all those calories I ate at my birthday feast yesterday.”
“Gilipollas!”
He chuckled. “Is that Spanish for ‘I love you’?”
God, I hated him. If he only knew the somatic injuries I wanted to cause him. Just a few days of his presence and already he was driving me berserk. I’d never before been this out of control nor have I ever been this reactive. Yet he knew precisely how to become an itch under my skin. The more
John Douglas, Johnny Dodd
Neel Mukherjee Rosalind Harvey Juan Pablo Villalobos