“She’ll be fine. But, both of us need to see the letters,” I glare at him. “How else will I be able to train her on therightway to do something?”
His smile does not reach his eyes, and I recognize he’s in danger of losing all of his teeth if he breathes in the wrong direction toward Cat Saber. I motion for the warden to get the hell on with it, and he waddles out of the room.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cat turns on me.
“I’m doing my job,” I fold my arms across my chest. “What are you doing?”
“Apparently, taking up space someone with a penis could use,” she grits out.
I lean toward her. “You’re not taking up space. We’re partnering together to find two fugitives.”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m already sick of this mansplaining and manspreading you’re doing, and we only met an hour ago.”
“Why do feminists put the wordmanin front of something to make it seem like a bad thing?” I toss back. “This is what’s wrong with the world. Suddenly, if someone has a penis, they’re the villain in your story! Has it ever occurred to you thatyoumay be the villain in someone else’s story? Was there ever a time when a woman stopped to ask herself - hey, maybe I shouldn’t treat guys like dog shit? Maybe I should hear them out before I accuse them ofman-existing!”
I don’t know when I got out of my chair during my incredibly-rare rant, but I’m standing in front of Cat, and the only thought in my head is to throw her over my shoulder and drag her out of here. I don’t care where we are. I forget the entire reason for our visit.
Until she slaps me. Hard.
That knocks some sense into me.
And if I was cringing before at my ridiculous behavior, this is downright mortifying. Not once in the entire time I’ve walked this earth have I ever considered pulling a “Me - man / You - woman” maneuver. My mother would have done more than slapped my face for it.
“Feisty,” Warden McFarland laughs beside us. “You’ll probably be in trouble with all thatMe Toobullshit that’s going around. But don’t worry, Mr. Pyle. I’ve got your back. I won’t say a word. It’ll be a true he-said, she-said.”
The warden pretends like he’s zipping his lips, and I feel sicker. I wanted to mess with Cat a little, not belittle her existence as a woman. The heated fury radiating off of Cat could power several small towns throughout the winter. And part of me feels like I deserve it. The other part reminds me that I’m here to protect her, not make nice.
I clear my throat. “We’ll need copies to go.”
McFarland hands over a file folder of the emails then escorts us back through the prison to the parking lot.
“Do you want to go somewhere to look these over?” I hold up the file.
Cat smiles sweetly at me, plucks the file out of my hands, and gets into the car. I pull on the passenger door, but it’s locked.
I knock on the window. “Cat?”
She mimes like she can’t hear me and turns the key. “What? Sorry. Myfemalelady girl brain isn’t developed enough to understand your manly sensibilities.”
Cat guns the engine and takes off like a bat out of hell.
I release an exasperated sigh.
“Women,” McFarland snorts beside me. “Am I right?”
Chapter 11
“Underestimate her to your peril.”
-Ryker
A quick call to Tatiana helped me track down Cat.
“Lost her already?” T snorted.
“No.”
“Then why are you asking me to find her?” she chuckled.
