Bought by the Puma (Studly Shifters Book 1)
Page 8
Lawrence changed the topic quickly enough for Julie to wonder what had happened.
"Listen, I came in here to make a booking."
"A booking?"
"Yeah, for a party. To celebrate my new ownership of the ranch."
Julie looked around her cafe in surprise. While hosting something like that would be great for her, she wasn't sure about it being in her place.
"And you want to hold it here?"
"The place looks quaint." Lawrence's charm was disarming but his voice said otherwise. "I like quaint. It's for a hundred people."
"The maximum capacity for this place is fifty."
Lawrence shrugged.
"We can go out into the street as well. Lots of big names, lots of money." He waved a hand carelessly at her cafe. "You should be able to get some good business from them if you impress them enough."
That had Julie's back up. She glared at him.
"I get good business already." She said stiffly.
"Really?" Lawrence looked surprised. "In Little Rock?"
"Not just Little Rock. The neighbouring towns also come here." Julie leant her hands on the counter. "I get enough to be happy."
"I doubt it. Not in the boon docks." Lawrence finished his coffee and slid off his stool, brushing a speck of invisible dust off his shoulder. "The party will take place in two days. I'll pay a deposit up front. And we want food as well."
Julie was fuming. He was expecting her to bow down to him? After he had insulted her clientele and treated her like simple hired help? Even if Laura hadn't given Julie her opinion on the man, Julie had already formed an opinion of Lawrence that was certainly not in his favour.
If that meant losing what could be a profitable line for her so be it. She didn't work with arrogance.
"Sorry. I can't do it."
She caught Lawrence as he was turning away. Lawrence looked back at her and stared at her in confusion. He clearly hadn't expected her to say no.
"Why not?"
"It's too short notice. And I can't have that many people in here." Julie wasn't going to tell him the real reason. "You'll have to find somewhere else. Do a barbecue up at the ranch or something. But not here."
Lawrence was now looking at her in total bewilderment. Julie wondered how many women had said no to him and deduced there weren't many of them.
An image of her laid across the counter with her jeans on the floor while Lawrence pounded into her hard enough to make her scream her normally quiet climaxes flashed across her mind. Her pussy clenched and Julie squeezed her thighs together, glad that she was behind the counter. But she couldn't do anything about the blush that rose up in her cheeks.
"You're turning the money down?"
"I have principles."
"Oh?" Lawrence leant on the counter, his face just beyond the range of too close for comfort for Julie. Whether it was a flirtatious move or intimidation, she didn't know but it sent her body into overdrive. "Like what?"
"I have to like my clients." Julie stammered. She gulped and tried again. Men like this shouldn't have her reduced to a complete mess. "I don't work with bullies and those who flash money like it's nothing."
"I'm a bully?"
"And a flasher." Julie managed to maintain eye contact. "For me people talk, money doesn't."
They stared at each other. Julie was then aware of Lawrence's eyes changing colour. One minute they were brown, the next they were gold, glowing as he looked at her. Julie couldn't tear her eyes away; it was beautiful. Then it hit her.
Lawrence was a shifter. No human’s eyes turned like that. Julie hoped he wasn't a werewolf; they weren't exactly her favourite shifters on the planet.
"So money doesn't talk to you?" Lawrence purred and grinned. "Does fifty thousand talk to you?"
Julie couldn't speak. Both for the way Lawrence's voice rippled across her skin and the sound of fifty thousand dollars. She had never had fifty thousand dollars before.
The most she had managed in one go was nearly thirty thousand and most of that had gone in to building and starting up the cafe. Now she was careful, setting aside the money needed for Charlie's tuition and living on a shoestring. She was good at being careful with money.
But fifty thousand dollars could have her set aside the money needed for tuition fees and have plenty left over for her.
Lawrence saw her hesitation and his smile widened, his eyes glowing.
"It sounds tempting, doesn't it? You sort this party out for two days' time and it's all yours."
Julie shook herself and glared at him. She knew what he was doing. Shifters were good at getting people under their spell to do whatever they wanted. The fact they were gorgeous as sin helped. And Ryan Lawrence certainly fell in that category.
But Julie wasn't going to fall for it. If she did this one thing for him, she would be under his thumb for life. He would essentially own her and Julie wasn't a kept pet.
"No, thanks." She said stiffly. "I'd have to do a lot of cancelling and I'm not putting people out. The book club meet here at that time and I'm not telling them it's not on this week because a spoilt brat wanted to indispose them."
"They can come another time." Lawrence said carelessly. "My party can't wait."
"Do it elsewhere. Not here." Julie leant forward. "And don't use your name and influences to change my mind. I'm not doing it."
Their faces were closer now. If Julie just moved a little further forward, she would be able to kiss him. But she shoved the thought away and stood her ground. Now was not the time to be thinking what this arrogant rich bastard kissed like when she was trying to turn his business away.
Lawrence's nostrils flared, his eyes glowing brighter before dimming and going back to brown. He growled.
"You're going to regret saying no to me." He said in a low voice.
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