Tempting His Mate(8)

Asher cleared his throat and though everything about his body language screamed confidence, she could scent an underlying aroma that smelled a lot like nervousness. It wasn’t acidic, but it was tart. It was so subtle though, she wasn’t sure if she imagined it.

When he just stood there, she motioned toward the elevators at the end of the hall. “You’re welcome to join me.” Just because they’d shared a night of wild sex didn’t mean they couldn’t be friendly. He’d already shown her he was trying to keep things beyond civil between them. Or she assumed that was why he’d been stopping by all day. She could return the favor.

“I have a better idea, if you don’t mind surprises.”

“Okay.” She actually hated surprises. It was the control freak in her. But, she was a feline and curious by nature.

“How was your first day?” he asked as they headed toward the elevators.

She shrugged. “Good enough. I know I won’t be stuck behind a desk 24/7, but today was mentally tiring. How about you?”

The elevator dinged and opened. He sighed as they stepped inside. “Today was okay.”

She was surprised when he pressed the eighteenth floor—the top floor—instead of heading down, but didn’t comment.

“Why?”

“I might be Grant’s cousin, a century older than these young pups, and more than qualified for this job, but I’m still the new guy.” He lifted his shoulders in what she knew he meant to be a casual gesture, but was stiff.

“Ah, so some of the wolves have challenged you?”

His lips pulled into a thin line as the elevator stopped. “Not overtly, but it’s coming.”

“It’s better for you to put them in their place now instead of letting it drag out. Why don’t you challenge them?”

His green eyes flashed with surprise as they stepped into the lushly tiled marble hallway. “All of them?”

“Why not? You can let everyone on the security team know they get one chance to challenge you. After they lose, they respect your position and ability to do your job. And if they challenge you again, you reassign them somewhere else. This way you don’t involve Grant and take care of everything without deferring to anyone else. You know shifters. They respect physical strength.” The species didn’t seem to matter and while it sometimes drove her crazy, she understood that in their world, strength was important. They were just hardwired that way.

He was silent for a long moment as he opened the nearest door. There were two penthouse suites on this floor. She’d been in both on the brief tour Grant had given her. Right now her inner jaguar was torn with rage and curiosity. If Asher had brought her here to get her into bed, the sexually frustrated part of her wanted to go for it. But the other part of her was insulted. She decided to hold her tongue until she knew what he was up to.

“You assume I’ll win?” There was real curiosity in his question as he ushered her into the giant living room area of the penthouse.

The beauty of the room was stunning, but she focused on the beautiful man next to her. There wasn’t an ounce of arrogance in that question, as if he really cared about her answer. That surprised her. “Of course. You forget I saw you make that Kodiak submit without even fighting him. Plus…” She bit her lip, unsure how much she should reveal, but then decided to tell him. There was no harm. “One of my jaguar gifts is sensing another being’s power. You could be an alpha if you wanted.”

He didn’t respond to that, but she knew it was true without his confirmation. Being an alpha wasn’t just about strength though. A shifter had to want to do it, to take on the responsibility of an entire pack, to put others’ needs first, to deal with annoying inter-pack or pride squabbles. It wasn’t something she would ever want to take on. Not that she could. She wasn’t physically strong enough and she didn’t have the right personality.

When Asher continued through the living room to the open doors, some of her tension eased. It didn’t seem as if he was leading her to the bedroom. If he’d tried, he’d have gotten clawed for the assumption.

Her eyes widened as they stepped out onto the terrace. A large, round mosaic table with two chairs on either side was set up with two covered silver platters, a bottle of wine and two glasses. She glanced at him, unsure what to think. “You did this? For me?”

He nodded, watching her intently, his green eyes even brighter under the glow of the moonlight. “I knew you didn’t give yourself a break today and thought this would be nice.”

Okay, maybe she’d judged him wrong. Maybe he wasn’t some big player. Or maybe he was an incredibly smooth one. Either way, the gesture was incredibly sweet. “Thank you. This is really thoughtful.” When he held out one of the chairs and seated her, she watched him in stunned silence as he poured the very expensive bottle of wine into their glasses. Then he removed the silver dome covers to their trays and she immediately smiled. Gourmet cheeseburgers and thick cut French fries for both of them. She felt as if she could eat two burgers right now.