Page 40 of The Seeker
She turned and her eyes were hot. “I didn’t say you could touch me.”
He dropped her hand. “I am sorry I intruded the other night, but I’m not sorry I killed that Grigori.”
“I know you’re not sorry.”
“Why did you call me if you’re only going to glare at me?”
Meera sighed and set the two beers on the table. “We need to work together. More than one person has… admonished me for refusing your help.”
“I’m not going to admonish you. You’re clearly very bright, and you know whether you need help or not. If I’m not needed—”
“You are.”
The simple statement hit him like a punch to the chest.
She’s not talking about you, you idiot. She’s talking about your brain.
“If I’m needed, then I’m happy to help. I know what it is to be discreet. You don’t have to worry about my spreading rumors or revealing private information to the council.”
She busied herself taking boxes and cartons out of the bag. “I’m not worried about that.”
“Then why—?”
“You know who I am.” She opened the boxes of food and moved the empty bag to the counter. She still didn’t look at him.
“Are we finally doing away with the subterfuge? Thank you. Yes, I know who you are. And?”
She said nothing.
Rhys grew irritated. “I’m not a mind reader, Meera. And I don’t know why you find it so annoying that your secret identity has been revealed, but if you think I’m going to defer to you because you’re the heir of Anamitra, then you’ve grossly misunderstood what kind of person I am. I don’t bow, and I’ve been in the presence of elders and seers.”
She didn’t say anything, but she sat down at the table and crossed her arms, a smile touching the corner of her lips.
“You may have been raised like a princess—”
“Did you just call me a princess?”
“—but it’s not my job to worship you. It’s my job to find leverage for the Irina so they can force the old arseholes in Vienna to pay some bloody attention to them.”
The smile touching her lips grew until she was once again the bright and alluring woman who had tormented him his first day in New Orleans. Her brilliant smile, combined with the vibrant orange hue against her skin and her sparkling brown eyes, dazzled Rhys and knocked down the indignant head of steam he’d been building. “What?”
Meera leaned forward and rested her chin in her palm. “I think I like you.”
She wasn’t flirting to distract him. They were beyond that now. Rhys didn’t know quite how to react. He blinked and stammered. “Good. I mean… not that you have to like someone to work with them.”
“True.” She didn’t look away.
“What?” He sighed. “What is it?”
“Youcanbe an ass. You’re cross. A bit surly. And very arrogant.”
“You’re the one who said you liked me.”
“I do.”
His body roused at the tone of her voice, but there was something else. A warmth in his chest he didn’t want to identify. “So you’re willing to—as you said on the phone—show me yours.”
Her eyebrows went up. “I did say that, didn’t I? How forward of me. You brought yours?”
