Chapter 6
Robin couldn’t recall ever being as mad as she was at that moment. There he sat, looking at her with those piercing blue eyes. Eyes she’d never forget. And the fact he just sat there with his mouth shut so damn tight made her furious. Did he think he didn’t have to answer her?
But as she looked into his eyes, she saw something else there, behind the arrogance and insensitivity. Sadness.
Never one who enjoyed hurting others, she gathered herself. Letting someone’s actions force a negative reaction out of her wasn’t a thing she allowed herself to do. Running her palms over her robe, she reined in her temper. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.” She looked at the other two women in the room and nodded at them both. “You must think I’m a crazy person. I’m sorry about that.”
Shaw mumbled, “No one thinks you’re crazy. I deserve that.”
She leveled her eyes at him once more. “You do, but this isn’t who I am. I don’t scream and yell and freak out on anyone. I’d like you to know that I think bringing me here under false pretenses is a thing that someone of your status shouldn’t stoop to doing. That said, I’ll be leaving now. I’d thank you to call Trevor and let him know I’m ready to be picked up.”
Shaw gave the other women a nod. “Leave us.”
Robin looked stunned as the women rushed off, leaving them alone. “Look, Shaw, while I’m sorry for my outburst, I meant what I said. I do feel as if you’ve stalked me. That’s not cool at all.”
“I know,” he hung his head. “It’s just that you saw me just as some guy in a gang, and I’m so much more than that.”
“I can see that now. And I do apologize for my hasty assumption.” She got out of the chair and headed to the dressing room. “But that doesn’t give you the right to cyber-stalk me and draw me into your territory so you can do whatever you want to me.”
Shaw moved with lightning speed to get to her before she went through that door. He pressed his back against the dressing room door. “Please, just listen a minute. If you still want to leave, I’ll call the driver to come get you. Just hear me out first. Please,” Shaw begged. He never begged. He wasn’t even sure how he knew how to do it then.
Robin crossed her arms in front of her and tapped her right foot. “Go for it.”
Glad for the opportunity, he went on, “I’ll admit that I came up with the guard dog training thing on the fly. I’ll admit I scoured the internet to see if you had a website. I’ll admit I asked around about you, but no one would tell me much. I’m interested in you. I have been since I first laid eyes on you, that sunny day in the park.”
Although still rightfully pissed, Robin began to see a pattern with his words. He’d thought about her an awful lot since their encounter. Sure, he’d gone about everything the wrong way. But perhaps his arrogance was due to how easily he got everything he wanted. Was that really all his fault, or just what comes when a man is so damn sexy and handsome, built and charismatic as he was?
Her arms dropped to her sides. “I’m glad you’re being honest with me. But I’m not happy with the way you got me down here. It’s not nice to give someone false hope.”
He reached out, taking her by the arm. “I’m not giving you false hope. I really do want to talk about how we can make a guard dog training business. Luna Enterprises is into a lot of different things, that could be one more lead line for us. And if you and I can come up with a great plan, then I’d put you in charge of the whole thing. That means you’d be a pretty wealthy woman someday. You don’t really want to walk away from that, do you?”
Robin had some serious thinking to do. The opportunity was much too good to just walk away from simply because Shaw Lykan had a massive ego. “Let’s talk then, Shaw. But please, you have to be honest with me from this point on. I can’t abide a liar.”
His hackles rose a bit with being called a liar. “I didn’t lie to you.”
“What would you call it then?” Her hand went to her hip as she stared him down. “You didn’t say in the text that you were the guy I’d met in the park. You left that part out. In my opinion, an omission is every bit as much a lie as telling something that isn’t true is.”
If that was the case, then Shaw had no choice but to lie to her at least a little. She could never know what he truly was. But he nodded. “I can see that now.” He grinned at her as he let her arm go. “You know, not many people talk to me the way you do. I find it refreshing.”
Robin laughed. “Good. I don’t know how to talk to people any other way. I’m a straightforward person. Always have been and always will be. If you and I are going to work together, you’ll have to know that about me upfront. And I can see you’re a man who gets what he wants. So I’d like you to be straight with me. What do you want with me?”
Shaw froze with her question. “Well, you are straightforward, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I’m assuming the worst right now, just so you know.”
“I bet you think that I only came up to you because I wanted to bone you,” he said as he chuckled.
Robin’s head bobbed as she nodded. “Any other reason?”
“Maybe.” Shaw knew he wanted more than to just screw the girl. He and his wolf had been captivated by her. When he reached out and took her hand in his, she didn’t try to jerk it back, and that gave him a little thrill. “The truth is, Robin, that I scanned the crowd in the park that day, not looking for anyone or anything. And my eyes naturally stopped on you. Your golden ponytail caught the sun’s light and your enthusiasm with the dogs was captivating. Everything about you was exactly that, captivating.”
She blushed and dropped her head. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. “You’re quite the sweet talker, aren’t you?”
“That’s the thing,” he took her by the chin, raising her face to look at him. “I’m not a sweet talker at all. You can ask anyone who knows me; I’m kind of a jerk most of the time.”
“Even where women are concerned?” she asked skeptically.
“Especially where women are concerned,” he said, then let her chin go but kept her hand in his. He liked the way it felt. Her small hand in his large one. He’d never been a hand holder. Didn’t see much use in it. “With women, I come on strong, let them know what I want, they give it to me, and we both leave satisfied. If you know what I mean.” Then he recalled something she’d said.
She didn’t know what he meant.
“Oh, I forgot,” he mumbled.
She laughed, and the sound was like music to his ears, so light and airy. “You forgot that I’ve never had a boyfriend, huh? Although I’ve never been intimate with anyone before, that doesn’t mean I have no clue about sex and all that goes with that. I get it. And I think you’re trying to tell me that you didn’t look at me that day the way you’ve looked at other women. Is that right?”
“Yes, you hit the nail on the head.” He pulled her with him toward the steam room. “Can we keep going with the spa day as we talk? I really do want you to see what’ll be available to you if you decide to go in with me on this.”
With a shrug of her shoulders, she answered, “I don’t see why we shouldn’t go on with it.”
He took her into a steamy room where they sat on a wooden bench and leaned back against the wall as wisps of white steam moved about. “Robin, when I saw you that day, I wasn’t merely impressed with your great beauty, I was impressed with everything about you. I’ve never been that impressed by anyone before. And when you came here, and we talked, I grew even more impressed by you.”
Robin closed her eyes and wondered if this was real or just a dream.