Page 106 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

“You’re acting like you got your period somewhere between the walk from the booth to this point. That’s hardly not an attitude.”

“Are you done talking about Burr?”

Her brows furrowed, then suddenly, her face loosened like a knot holding back light beams and she exploded into pockets of laughter. “You were jealous of Burr?”

I began walking before she could see the expression on my face. “I refuse to be jealous of a middle-aged man with a mohawk."

Her chuckles intensified as she followed me to the car. “Aw, was it because I called him handsome? Are you jealous because I called Burr handsome? Burr isn’t—”

“I am not jealous and would you stop saying that name.”

She stopped, her eyes holding mine for a moment, and just when I thought she was really about to drop it, her lips stretched and the word came out loud and clear.

“Burr.”

“Ridiculous,” I hissed under my breath, even though I couldn’t say what was ridiculous.

Her childish reaction, or the fact that I was indeed jealous of a middle-aged man in a mohawk.

I opened the car, holding the door open for her. “Get in.”

Genevieve shook her head, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Admit you were jealous of Burr.”

My head snapped up so fast my vision blurred for a second. “What?”

She shrugged, taking a tiny step back. “Admit you were jealous of Burr or I won’t get into the car.”

I looked around. Genevieve had insisted we stay back for a bit long after the curtains were drawn so she could soak up the experience, hence the near-empty state of the private parking lot.

The near-empty state of the lot did not minimize the effect of her words. I’ve never in my thirty-three years of life been given an ultimatum by anyone, much less a woman.

She smiled, her eyes twinkling as she took another step back.

“You’re going to get into this car, Genevieve, or God help me I’ll carry you into it myself and teach you a lesson or two about defiance.”

Her smile faltered and I didn’t miss the pulse jumping at the base of her neck. She tried to sound confident but failed miserably, her voice barely a squeak.

“You don’t order me. We’re not on the clock.”

My lips curled. “I’m guessing that means I’m not your boss and whatever I do would not count as employee harassment, would it?”

She swallowed, her eyes darting around the lot as though she just realized we were alone; they widened slightly.

“Car, Genevieve. Don’t make me ask twice.”

She hurried past me without a fight, but it was already too late. She already lit a fire inside me.

I could feel the tension in her body as the car rolled out of the opera. I waited till we entered the main road to roll up the partition.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she blurted out the moment the screen went up.

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

“I was only teasing you.”

“I know you were.”

A pause went by. “But you were jealous of a man in a mohawk.”