Mated to the Wilde Bear novel Chapter 8

“Are you always so persistent about your job?” he asked.

“Are you always so hard to work with?” she shot back. He laughed.

Laurel leaned in, drawn to the way he seemed to let all his walls down when he laughed. She wanted to be the one to make him laugh.

“Not always,” he admitted. “Only for you, it seems. You bring out the grumpy alpha in me.”

She felt her lips curving. “Funny, I was hoping only to bring out the grumpy alpha in myself.”

His brow quirked. “You like being in charge, huh?”

She tried to decide whether he was poking fun at her, but he looked serious enough. “I guess I like being in control of things,” she admitted. “Probably a little too much sometimes. It’s a gift and a curse. But I’m pretty sure my boss calls it management material.” In fact, her boss, Gerald, was the only friend she’d made here and the only one she let joke with her like that. Until now.

He grinned. “You’re way more fun when you’re not trying to piss people off.”

“I wasn’t…” She frowned because he’d nailed it. She had been trying to ward him off from the beginning. And now, standing so close she could practically feel his hot breath on her face, she couldn’t remember why she’d want to make him mad enough to leave her alone. “Maybe I was,” she finally admitted. “Sorry about that. Occupational hazard when you’re a woman working in an office full of men.”

Xavier’s expression darkened. “What do you mean? Did one of them threaten or hurt you?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” she said quickly. She put her hand on his chest to stop him from getting so riled up and the same jolt shot through her again. Just like earlier, she tried yanking her hand away, but Xavier grabbed it and held it in place.

“You make me feel strangely alive,” he murmured in her ear.

“Funny. You scare the crap out of me.” She felt her cheeks heat at the sound of her words.

She hadn’t meant to admit that—Fear made you vulnerable. It made you more easily hurt or exposed—but Xavier just gave her a crooked smile. “You don’t seem like the type who scares easy,” he said.

She considered making a joke or even lying. She’d come here determined to keep her secret safe, and here was her opportunity. If she shut him down now, she was sure he wouldn’t try again. But in the end, she couldn’t. Something about Xavier Wilde called to her. And not just her animal, but her; the woman. She wasn’t ready to walk away just yet.