by Fay Walsh
The two of them locked eyes, both of them not saying anything for a second. Then, Darren finally sighed, giving in.
“I guess. I mean, you are a pretty face, although fucking annoying,” he said.
Lisa felt a sudden conflict of feelings. She felt her face turn a bit red at the last utterance but she needed to get back to business.
“My beauty is irrelevant. Right now, let’s talk business. I want to get this interview done quickly so that we can both move on with our damn lives. I think we need it,” she said.
“I do agree. I didn't want to waste my entire day talking to a journalist,” he said.
“And I don’t want to waste my days talking to you either.”
They both sat down, glaring at one another. Lisa however, started to notice a feeling within her body.
He was attractive. Very attractive. It was probably his shitty personality that prevented him from getting women, that’s for sure. But, as she looked at him, she could feel a reddening on her face. He did have a really attractive, soft face with beautiful golden eyes, long black hair that she wanted to run her hands through, and a thin, although attractive, body that she enjoyed. Lisa started to cross and uncross her legs, realizing that the way that he looked at her was making her feel very vulnerable.
“You know, if you're going to eye fuck me, at least try to keep it subtler,” he muttered.
“Let’s get on with this,” she said, dismissing those words, but feeling her face grow flustered.
“Anyway, what do you want to ask me? About how I began, or about how I rose to fame?”
“Yes. Tell me about that.”
“Well, if you really want the biography crap, you should just read my Wikipedia page,” he stated.
“You know what I meant. Talk about your feelings as an investor. What made you want to go into this? Why choose investing when I’m sure there are hundreds of other jobs that you want to do?”
“Simple. It’s easy. It doesn’t take much to invest, and it doesn’t require a bunch of work. I know how to run deals, and I know how to make cards play into my hands in the way that I want them to. Simply put, I know how to handle power. As you can probably tell,” he said.
“In a sense, yes. But, I’m surprised that's the only reason. And I heard that you do live with others? They’re the talk of the town,” she said.
There was a slight pause, and immediately, Lisa caught up on it. But, as quickly as it happened, he then relaxed.
“Ahh yes. I do have a small group of friends that I live with. Keeps me occupied. I don’t really like being around others, but they’re okay.”
“Gee, I wonder why. Probably because of the way that you are.”
“I mean, pretty girls like yourself I can barely tolerate,” she heard him say.
It was such a backhanded compliment, but that alone was enough to make her blush.
“Don't patronize me.”
“I’m not, I’m just being honest,” he said to her.
“Anyways, enough about that, what about with the way your personal life is going. Do you have anyone?”
“Does it look like I have anyone, my dear? I don’t. I’m not like that. I don't believe in love.”
“I think that’s pretty obvious.
“Love is quite strange, and I personally think it’s a waste of time. Until we can use love in order to make sure that everything is in good order, I don’t see the point of it.”
“I see. So no interest in getting married anytime soon.”
“None. At. All. I think marriage is another load of hogwash that is only useful or those that want to believe in fairy tales.”
“I can relate to that. I’ve never been interested in marriage myself. I just want to know the truth.”
“I figured. You’re an interesting woman Lisa. Definitely worth listening to for a second. Even though you really don't know what you’re dealing with,” he said.
She tensed. “I do. I’ve been studying journalism for a long time. I’ve been featured in newspapers, and I came out here because I would have a solid job here.”
“That is true. There is a lot of work here in this town. You work for the one newspaper here that I like, and really the only successful one. But remember Lisa, you’re not everything. You’re going to realize sooner rather than later that the future you’re going to be dealing with is much bigger, and scarier than you can ever imagine. Know your place,” he said.
“I do. Maybe it’s you who needs to learn. I know that you’re an up and coming investor, but you could learn some goddamn humility,” she muttered.
“I see. So you’ve got quite the mouth on you then. This will be fun,” he said.
She looked at him, anger brewing on her face. She couldn't believe this. This man was trying her every fiber of patience, and the fact that he was doing this so...so easily was driving her mad.
“Anyway, any new projects that you can inform the public of,” she stated, pulling the subject back to where it should be.
“Ahh yes. I plan on possibly getting into investment of a few more properties. We shall see though. I’m not totally sure if I want to go that route yet or not,” he explained.
“I see. So, you’re just trying to figure out what you want in life right now,” she said.
“Well, not necessarily. I have what I want, it’s going forth in a way that befits my wealth that I’m looking to better,” he said.
“Very well. I guess that’s it. Thank you for your time, sir.”
“You were quite entertaining. Even though you’re a journalist that probably just takes whatever job she can get. Lisa, you’re quite intriguing maybe we’ll see each other in the future,” he said.
“Oh, I can’t wait,” she said, the sarcasm brewing in her voice.
She would rather die than deal with this bullshit again, but she did have a decent amount to work with. Despite the cocky nature, he did answer all of the questions that she had, and she did notice that he became slightly more tolerable as time went on.
When they finished, Lisa looked at him, and he flashed her a small grin. She immediately felt a flush start to ghost her face. She could feel that slight weakness, and as she tried to pull the door handle, he smiled.
“You’re so interesting Lisa. So against moving forward with your emotions, so against being honest with yourself. it’s just...fun to watch you know,” he said.
“Oh sod off,” she muttered.
Lisa then walked over to the car, feeling conflicted with her emotions. She didn’t know what to make of what the fuck just happened, but it made her feel a strange combination of both anger, and slight worry.
Why did this guy make her feel this way? Why was she both angry, and yet completely aroused by this? She could feel her pussy wetting at the idea of this man and wondered what it would be like if he could put that anger towards something a little better.
“Forget it,” she told herself.
She walked to the office building after she parked the car, and when she came in, she went straight to her office. After a moment or so, she heard the knocking at the door.
“Come in,” she said.
It was her boss Thomas. He looked at her, a smile on his face.
“Hey there Lisa. How did it go?”
“Alright, I guess. I mean, as good as dealing with someone who was an insufferable piece of shit the entirety of the interview could go,” she said.
“I see. Well, I take that as swimmingly then. So, when will you have this piece ready?”
“Probably in a couple of days. It’s a bit of a mess currently when I look at the notes, but I think I have enough to work with,” she said.
“I see. Was he at least interesting?”
“Kind of. As interesting as a total asshole could be. It wasn't the best interview, but it certainly was enough for me to work on,” she admitted.
“That’s all that matters then. Good job, I can’t wait to hear about the piece in the future,” he said.
H
e then closed the door, leaving Lisa to sit there, holding the notes that she had. The interview was a total bust, and she wondered if Darren would contact her boss about the way it went. He might, and if her boss chose to fire her, she would be totally screwed. She didn’t want to move back to her hometown. She didn't know what to do at this point. While Alana did tell her this place was good for writing, she wondered if she would still have a job by the end of the week.
The only way to know would be to find out.
She hurriedly worked on the piece, biting her lip and gnawing on the flesh, and anger settling through her body. It was a piece that was written based off not just the anger that she felt, but the whole spectrum of motions she experienced when she dealt with this man. It drove her forward, pushing her to the limits, and in turn, made her want nothing more than to just write everything that she was feeling.
She hoped it would work.
Chapter 2
As she left, Darren clenched his fingers.
“That woman. I swear,” he said to himself.
He normally hated interviews, and usually, it was due to the fact that most of the time they involve some sort of deep questioning, and normally he found the ones that interviewed him to be quite annoying.
Lisa was no exception. He didn’t like that woman and he didn’t like dealing with women for the most part either. He felt the anger grow through his body, the discontentment rising. It bothered him even more because her stubbornness reminded him of someone from his past he would rather forget.
After he finished up his work, he closed his laptop, clocking it and taking it with him. He looked at his receptionist as he left, and she smiled.
“I take it that interview went well?” he heard her ask.
“Swimmingly,” he muttered.
“Yeah, I can tell that was something you weren't’ super interested in dealing with,” she said.
He scoffed and then sighed.
“I just don’t like wasting my time with affairs such as that. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said.
“Very well. I definitely can tell you want to be left alone, so I’ll let you go,” she said.
“Thanks, Beth. You’re one of the few women I can tolerate, that’s for sure”, he said.
“You’re welcome. I can see that you’ve got a lot on your mind, so I’ll leave you be.”
“I appreciate it.”
The drive home was quick, and soon he was back at the familiar abode. He noticed Billy outside, throwing axes at one of the targets. Darren sighed.
“Ahh to be that young and naive once again,” he said.
He walked in, heading towards his office. When he saw Travis there, he simply nodded, and then, Travis spoke.
“Something has you upset,” he said.
“It’s nothing,” Darren muttered.
“Come on, you can’t ‘it’s nothing’ the alpha. I can tell you’re upset,” he said.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Alana asked.
“Not with you, that's for sure,” Darren said.
“Be nice. We can talk over some beers over at your place if that’s works,” Travis replied.
Darren didn’t really want to talk about this whole mess, but he felt that he didn’t really have much of a choice. Upon looking at the two of them again, he felt slightly bad for snapping at Alana. She didn’t understand.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
“It’s okay. I can tell something has you upset, and I’m not going to pry,” she replied.
“Thanks. Anyways, let’s go there,” he said.
The two grabbed a six pack and made their way to Darren’s small home that was on the land. It was usually used specifically for the shifters themselves and their mates, but in Darren’s case, he didn’t really have the desire to have a mate, so he allowed the alpha to join him. They sat on the porch, each of them cracking open a beer before Travis spoke.
“So tell me, what has you in such a bad mood?” he asked.
“It’s a woman if you haven’t figured it out yet,” Darren said.
“No shit. I’ve never seen you so frustrated though. What happened?”
“She just got under my skin. See, I had a request for an interview, and normally I don’t take those for obvious reasons, but I took this one since I was offered money. I thought that would be fine, I guess not though. Turns out, they sent this woman to my place, and I thought that it was going to be a professional. But, she turned out to be some green little reporter, who doesn’t know her head from her ass. She was quite annoying.”
“I see. And you don’t really like girls, right?”
“It’s not that I’m gay, it’s just that... I don’t have time for trite bullshit like that,” he said.
“I know, I know,” Travis said.
“Besides, you’ve heard me talk about how I don’t know what I’m going to do if I ever need a mate. I mean, I know that eventually, we will have to find mates. It’s just...I personally don't’ feel comfortable with anyone. It’s hard to really feel that way,” Darren explained.
“I know. You are definitely fired up though. I noticed you’re angrier about her than you would be for any other girl,” Travis teased.
Darren rolled his eyes at those words.
“I don’t like her like that Travis. You should know that I don’t take kindly to journalists. I’m trying to build my business, and the last thing I need is someone being an annoying little shit in my life,” he said.
“I know Darren. You don’t want to deal with the baggage of a relationship. But, maybe you should consider it. I mean, it’s not like it’s being forced on you or anything. Well, if she really is your mate, it’s going to be hard to resist those feelings, but you’re better than that,” he said.
Darren nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I just...I don’t know, I don't’ want anyone getting involved. People need to mind their own business,” he said.
“Hey, I’m just telling you that you should consider possibly going forward with these feelings, and acknowledge they’re there. I’m not telling you to do this right away, I’m just saying, you know sometimes love plays a strange part in our hearts, and you should be a little more accepting of it,” Travis said.
Darren scoffed. “You basically took the words that I gave to you and you’re using them on me,” he snapped.
“I might be, but honestly, had it not been for you guys, I wouldn’t be with her. And, Alana has changed me for the better. You never know my friend. You’re my second in command, but sometimes you should listen to the alpha and see what happens next,” he teased.
Darren ignored those words, getting out of his chair in response.. He scoffed, the nerve of the shifter bothering him.
“I can’t believe Travis is over here trying to get me to listen to him,” he said.
Travis came back, smiling at him.
“I heard that. And I am. You need to recognize your feelings. You’re being awfully cold for someone who is also blushing and talking nonstop about some girl,” he teased.
Travis walked off, and Darren looked in the mirror.
“She’s just another money-hungry journalist. I shouldn't waste my time on her. I don’t believe it will change anything,” he said.
But, Darren kept thinking about what Travis, the alpha in their group, uttered, and while he struggled to avoid the feelings, he knew for a fact that something kept him fired up, especially when he thought about her, and it made him realize that there was so much more to this than what met the eye.
* * *
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About Fay Walsh
Fay Walsh loves to write about curvy heroines and their hot alpha males. Her paranormal romance stories are sizzling hot with lots of action, humor, and a happily-ever-after! Current obsessions: bears and dragons!
Right now she lives in Northern California with her husband and their grey ball of fluffiness, Shadow. Besides writing, she can never say no to chocolate and a big cup of coffee.
A Message from Fay about Starfall Publications
Being able to share my books with you, my Reader is a dream come true.
But, if I have to be honest, I would never be able to make it without the help of Starfall Publications!
With their constant support, and their insightful comments, they have guided through this new adventures.
So, let’s see where that trip takes us!