“Good morning. It’s nice to see you again.” His voice is higher or more joyful than I remember.
“Yeah, I bet.” I purse my lips. “Are you on the hunt for Mrs. Finnegan?”
He clutches his chest like what I said warms his heart. “You know my last name? I knew you had a soft spot for me.”
My fist wants to find a soft spot in his chest right now.My eyes follow the thought, drifting lower to the sweater pulled across his chest.
I doubt any part of that man is soft.
No.
Nope.
Not doing that, you psycho.
Anger consumes me for even having a sexual thought about this man. My body is a traitor, and occasionally, so is my mind. But the last thing I want is to be with Bates.
“Yeah, from all the times I’ve heard your name called for penalties during games,” I retort. “You should try keeping your anger under control.”
His stare is heavy, his gaze a physical caress as his eyes drop down to my lips and back up. I don’t know what it is about this man, but he’s so good at getting under my skin.Infuriatingly good.
Reaching out, he tries to fix a strand of my hair, but I slap his hand away like a bug buzzing near my head—no, not like that because I’d be nicer to the bug.
“Ouch.” He winces with a sultry smile, amusement in his eyes. “Maybe I like the violence. The thrill. The adrenaline. Maybe I can’t get enough of the high it gives me.”
The heart-eyes mask flashes in my mind at the mention of adrenaline. I wonder if he’s watching right now, if he’s fuming mad at Bates’s proximity to me. Is he going to storm in here and confront him?
“What’re you thinking of?” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
Placing the very tips of my fingers on his chest, I push him back, walking past him. I don’t bother giving him an answer; it’s not even worth my time.
Kerrigan tries to redirect the conversation. “If you want to come sit with me, we can start going through your interests and preferences.”
“Sounds great.” He claps his hands together, sighing heavier than expected.
Freddie turns to face me. His face lights up, and he takes off running to me.
“Hi, buddy. What’s up?” My words fall away as he runs right past my leg.
I follow him with my eyes, and my jaw falls open as he runs straight to Bates. Freddie jumps up, begging for uppies. I want to crawl in a hole and die.
Of course he’s eager to see the forbidden human from the arena, the one person I denied him from snuggling with. He’s particular in who he chooses, but when he knows, he knows. He’s stubborn—I think he gets it from me.
Bates crouches down, petting him with two hands. The visual shouldn’t be hot. It isn’t. His big, massive hands, stretching forward with bulging veins in his forearms, petting the smallest fur baby in the world—it isn’t attractive … at all.
His gaze flicks up, shadowed by his eyebrows. Ever so slightly, a menacing smirk tips his lips, and I grind my teeth at his arrogant stare.
The patterns of freckles on his cheeks catches my gaze, distracting me for half a second before I gather myself.
“Freddie, come here,” I call him.
He glances over at Bates, hesitating enough to stab my heart. But a beat later, he prances over, his ears bouncingwith his steps.
“Good boy.”
Scooping him up, I turn on my heel and walk to my desk, setting him in his bed and hooking his harness to the leash attached beneath my desk. “Leave the scary strangers alone, okay?”
Bates scoffs and chuckles as he sits down in the chair across Kerrigan’s desk, eyeing me knowingly.
