Page 32 of Aleko
“That’s it?” she asked without turning around, but her hand relaxed in his. He moved closer, inhaling the scent of her. The floral shampoo, the tangy smell of sweat, and the sharp smell of hand sanitizer.
“You’re poor and pretty. They assume that they can and that you’ll be desperate enough to want to, and even if you don’t want to, they assume they’ll be able to make you.”
She was angry at the answer, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she took a deep breath and then another, still not looking at him.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, letting his fingers trace the fold of her palm. She was silent, and he knew he had to say something. Standing on the courthouse steps holding her hand was going to get awkward at some point—although he couldn’t imagine when that would be. “What did you want for dinner?”
“Sebastian already fed me a sandwich,” she said, finally turning back to him.
“At lunch,” he said. “Now is time for dinner.”
“I don’t…” She trailed off, her gaze landing on their intertwined hands. He watched as a blush crept up her cheeks, but she still didn’t pull her hand away.
“I didn’t do a very good job of introducing myself previously,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I would like another chance. Will you have dinner with me?” Her eyes shot up to his face, her expression at once shy and skeptical.
He heard the door to the courthouse open—Eliandra glanced over his shoulder at it. He guessed that Carlos had come out of the courthouse from the way her expression hardened.
“If I say yes, will you move your car so some poor cop doesn’thave to pretend not to see it?” she asked.
It had never occurred to him that his parking would be a problem for anyone. They were free to ticket him if they wanted. Although, now that he thought about it, no one ever did.
“Yes,” he agreed, with a shrug.
“Then I’d be happy to,” she said, her fingers tightening around his, as she put a bright smile on her face.
“This way then,” he said and gestured to his car. Mostly Alex didn’t care about cars. But sometimes, like right now, when he could rub it in the lawyers face, an expensive machine was worth every damn penny.
Episode 20
Dinner
Alex
Alex parked the car outside the restaurant and she got out before he’d gotten around to her side. She hadn’t said much in the car. He was hoping that dinner would go better, but hurrying out of the car didn’t bode well.
“What?” she asked, reading his face.
“You’re supposed to wait for me to open the door.”
“But what do I do while you’re walking around the car.”
“You just sit there.”
“I just sit there?” Her forehead wrinkled.
“In a lady like fashion,” he added as he opened the door to the restaurant and held it open for her.
“I’m not even sure I know what that means,” she said, entering the restaurant.
“Ladies are supposed to wait quietly while the gentleman does… stuff.”
“Wow,” she said. “You are old.”
“I’m not old,” he said, offended. He might not be a pup, but he was far from old. Admittedly, most settled wolves had a mate and pups of their own by now, but that was what it was.
“How old are you?” she asked suddenly. “Sebastian made it sound likeShifters,” she sounded like she was uncertain of the word, “lived longer.”
“We do. I’m 98.”
