Page 149 of Rising Heat
I press my lips together, trying unsuccessfully to contain the fact that I’m smiling, and shift again in my seat.
He doesn’t say anything else. He just holds my gaze, making no attempt to rescue me from the silence. Then, because self-preservation has apparently left my body somewhere back at the bar:
“You like being in control.”
The light turns green. The car rolls forward.
“Most people do,” he says.
“Not like you.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means,” I say slowly, “you don’t ask twice.”
He glances at me from the side before looking back at the road.
“I usually don’t need to.”
He cuts me a sideways look.
“You were…an adjustment.”
I bite back a smile, wanting to see how far I can push against my better judgment.
“So everyone just falls in line the second you open your mouth?”
He chuffs.
“Most of the time.”
“Now that’s just being cocky.”
“It’s being prepared.”
“Prepared enough to assume you’ll be right?”
“If I’m asking, I’ve already made the decision. Somebody has to make the call.”
“And if it’s the wrong one?”
“Then it’s on me.”
I frown.
“You say that like that’s better.”
“I’d rather be wrong because of a call I made than one I let somebody else make for me.”
“Sounds like you don’t trust many people.”
His jaw ticks.
“I trust people to be exactly who they are.”
I just look at him, no longer pretending that I’m not.
“I just don’t like being surprised.”
