Payton #3
I raise an eyebrow at her tone and resist the urge to bring out more of the brat in her for fun. “That’s assuming I was expecting you to repay it in the first place instead of helping because I could without any ulterior motives.”
“People don’t do nice things for strangers. There’s always some kind of expectation, insidious or blatant.”
She’s sassy and I like it. I want more of her.
“Look at you, pulling out your fancy journalist vocabulary trying to figure out my motives. I helped you when you needed it because I have the skills to do so. That's it.”
I run a hand through my hair and give her a look I hope conveys I purely wanted to help. She narrows her eyes, so I roll mine at her and laugh. She huffs in indignation.
“Just take the help when someone offers. Why question everything?” I straighten abruptly.
She sits up quickly, mirroring my movements while appearing uneasy.
“Unless you want to owe me a favor, Ainsley Montgomery.” I pin her with a calculating stare, knowing it’s far more intense than anything I’ve sent her way this entire exchange. She squirms under the scrutiny.
“That sounds like a motive to me, Payton,” she fires back.
Fuck, she’s feisty. I like the roiling energy she matches to my easy enthusiasm.
I lean my arm on the back of the banquette, entering her space.
She refuses to give up an inch of her position, allowing me closer.
I breathe in the sweet scent of vanilla and coffee coming from her that smells better than the blasphemous Americano I was drinking.
I should start every morning with a hit of her.
“What’ll it be?” I ask softly, instead of letting my mind wander to the what-ifs and remote possibilities. “Take it as something nice a person did for you, or you’re now beholden to me for an unspecified favor of my choosing.”
Her choice will say a lot about how she views the world.
She’s already told me plenty just by insisting that strangers don't do nice things for others out of the goodness of their hearts. She expects there to always be a catch. Despite her assumptions, I had no ulterior motives when I offered to help her. But if she willingly chooses to owe me a favor when given the option to accept that it was good luck that I happened to sit down next to her and could fix her tech issue, well then, that seems to be my own good luck. If fate wants to tie Ainsley Montgomery to me so easily, why the hell would I turn that down? I’m an opportunist to my core, and I like the idea of more time with her for some reason.
“Why would I agree to an unspecified favor of your choosing? There are too many uncertain terms in that phrase. I’d be stupid to agree to that.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, drawing my attention to her perky tits that are now straining under the white cotton of her tank top.
I look away at the busy café. I have no business checking out the chest of a beautiful woman who has to be a decade younger than me.
I’m usually better than that, but I’m unreasonably attracted to her.
There’s no denying that she’s my physical ideal from top to bottom, and her attitude has me itching to teach her a lesson on what bratting this hard will get her with me.
Apparently, it’s been too long since I’ve exercised my desires thoroughly to ignore the spike of want for her that’s risen in me.
I return my gaze once I’m back in control.
“I didn’t say you have to. The choice is yours.” I reach out and playfully tip the bill of her hat up, and she swats at my hand.
“It’s not much of a choice,” she says, adjusting the hat on her head. “I owe you for fixing my computer. I just don’t like your terms. I need them defined in order to agree. Or at least to understand the level of the favor that’s required.”
“I saved your ass today,” I point out as I tip my head at her.
I’m arguing a point I hadn’t even wanted to originally, but now think is hilarious as she takes us down this route when she could have avoided it altogether. I have no problem stirring the pot when presented with the opportunity. Ainsley just happened to give me a very tempting pot.
She bites her lip and narrows her eyes at me, and this time, I can’t stop myself from reaching out to grab her chin gently, using my thumb to pull her lip from between her teeth. Her eyes grow wide as I tap the plump pink softness once before releasing her face.
“You abuse that poor lip when you’re thinking.
It’s not nice to do that to something so pretty.
” I smile and lace my fingers in my lap to keep them to myself.
The last thing I need to be doing is touching a stranger, flirty banter or not.
Especially not a journalist who writes about my company.
She’ll likely use this interaction against me the next time she’s given an assignment on Olympus.
I can see the headlines now, Olympus COO manhandles strangers in cafés off the clock.
Just what Olympus needs. I have to rein in my desire to flirt with her for the hell of it.
Flirting with everyone may be my go-to and ingrained in my personality, but it doesn't have to get me into trouble when I need it the least.
Her cheeks flush, but she doesn’t look away, her gaze fierce and determined.
“Fine. I owe you a favor. I hate that you’re being super vague on purpose and seem to enjoy my displeasure about not knowing your terms of what that means.
I don’t like the idea of you fixing my computer and not expecting anything from it even more. I’d feel worse about that.”
My brows rise at her agreement and my heart soars as I study her for a moment. “You’re an enigma, Ainsley Montgomery. Most would’ve taken the help and moved on without another thought. You choose to owe me an unspecified favor. What’s wrong with you?” I chuckle at her look of rebuke at my question.
“Nothing’s wrong with me. I just know the world always expects its pound of flesh. If I didn’t pay you back for this, there would be something far worse waiting for me. Why do you keep saying my full name like that?”
“That’s such a morbid way of looking at life. I say your full name because that’s how you introduced yourself and I like the way it sounds.”
“Do you always say everything you think?” she growls, pressing her arms tighter against her chest as she grows exasperated, closing herself in more.
I suppress another smile. She has no fucking idea. I haven’t said even a quarter of what I’ve been thinking. “Are you surprised that people can be honest and unfiltered when you keep yourself guarded with this prickly persona for whatever reason?” I challenge back.
She drops her arms to her sides, her hands in fists. “I’m not prickly.”
I grin at her with amusement until she drops her gaze.
“I’m just annoyed by you,” she admits quietly.
I raise my eyebrows in mock surprise. “How very annoying of me to offer help when you needed it the most. If there were even one other free table in this café, I’d take my annoying self away and let you brood in peace over your work that you seem intent on ignoring.”
She glares at me. “I’m not ignoring my work. You’re distracting me.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Why are you here, anyway? This doesn’t seem like your type of place unless you’re a secret unicorn and magical coffee lover.”
I shudder, shaking my head. “Definitely not. This place is horrible. I’m meeting my sister-in-law here.
She picked the spot and has terrible taste, but she’s running late, so I get to annoy you by fixing your laptop while I wait.
I’m going to need your contact details. Your phone number and email. Probably your address as well.”
“What, why?” she sputters, her hazel eyes widening in horror, making me laugh at her disproportionate reaction.
“For my unspecified favor that I can call in at any time. I need to be able to contact you somehow. Texting or calling is the obvious option, but if you don’t reply, I’d email.
If you don’t respond to that, I’d take it upon myself to show up where you live to cash in on that favor.
You’ve already told me where you work, so I could just show up there if you’re extra tricky. ”
She gapes at me. “You’re insane. You’d stalk me just to call in a favor?”
“It’s not stalking if I tell you my plans in advance. Besides, you’re the one who chose to owe me the favor and made it that much more appealing. I just want to make sure you’ll hold up your end of the bargain when it comes time to pay up. And don't get any ideas about going back on it now.”
“I would never.” She leans toward me, her eyes flashing with contempt that I would even insinuate that she would back out.
I fish my phone out of my pocket and open my contacts before holding it out for her to fill in her information.
“We’re going to be good friends, Ainsley Montgomery.
You’re going to love having me in your life,” I promise with enthusiasm.
This is so much fun. I like getting under her skin. It’s so easy.
She takes the phone warily and stares at me. “You’re not at all like I expected.” She types in her contact details and hands the phone back to me with a scowl.
“Oh, Ainsley, you can’t say something like that and not elaborate. What did you expect of me, exactly?” I lean forward eagerly, ready to hear what she has to say.