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She opened her mouth to argue, but Wizard cut her off.
“We’ll need to go over what I did to help your situation.”
“Our situation,” she corrected him.
His jaw firmed. “Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t give a flipping fuck about anything posted online about The Last Riders. The only reason I’m taking an interest is because of the deal we made.”
Swallowing her pride, she nodded. “I should be able to be here by eleven thirty unless something unforeseen happens at the restaurant.”
“I put my number in your phone. Call me if you’re going to be later.”
Her hands went to her hips. “You went through my phone.”
Staring at her unrepentantly, he stood from his relaxed position on the bed. “You should really put a lock on your phone to keep nosy fuckers like me out.”
“Don’t touch my phone again.”
“I won’t. I’m sure you’ll make sure it’s locked from now on.”
Huffily, she started walking toward the door, but when she heard footsteps behind her, she looked over her shoulder.
“Where are you going?”
Wizard raised his eyebrows at her. “Walking you to the club door. I’m being a gentleman.”
Going around her, he opened the door, giving her a smart-ass wave of his hand to go first.
“Don’t bother,” she snapped. “If you were a gentleman, you could have offered to help me without forcing me to make a deal with you.”
“Natalia, being a gentleman was never going to get you into my bed.”
Pausing halfway through the doorway, she thought of the numerous ways she could hurt him.
“I wouldn’t.” Reaching out, he adjusted the collar of her blouse. “You need to get to work, and I have shit to do. But …” He let his words hang in the air.
She nearly tripped over her feet as she hurried through the door.
As they walked down the hallway, a sudden thought occurred to her. “Where were your gentlemanly manners when I was leaving before?”
“I wasn’t dressed. I didn’t think you would give me time to, nor did I think you would appreciate me walking you to the door buck-ass naked.”
“Do you have to be so crude?”
“Do you have to act like you have a stick up your ass all the time?” he countered.
Unexpectedly, she found herself blinking back tears. Dropping her gaze to the floor, she didn’t respond.
She expected several Last Riders to be there when they reached the front of the club, so she was relieved to find it empty except for a woman she remembered Arden previously introducing as Celeste. The woman didn’t glance in their direction as she cleaned a booth by the pool table.
The tension eased out of her when she realized no one was there to witness her walk of shame. Knowing none of The Last Riders would see her leave after spending hours in Wizard’s bedroom eased some of her embarrassment.
As she walked through the front door, though, she came face-to-face with the man who had tried to stop her from entering Wizard’s room. Instead of walking past him, she hesitated next to him.
“I’m sorry I kicked you this morning. I was upset, and I let my temper get away from me,” she apologized.
The huge man’s fierce expression didn’t change. “It’s all right. Just know that next time you come at me, I won’t take into consideration that you’re a woman.”
Natalia nodded. “That’s fair.”
