Page 6 of My Orc Billionaire
He was big. He was scary. He was powerful—that suit must be worth more than my monthly salary from The Waterfront, the dive down on the beach where I’d been working for the last year.
Butdamn, Abydos was attractive too. He filled out that suit in all the best ways, and beneath his scars and permanent scowl, he wasn’t unattractive. I felt my brows raise in surprise.
“What?” he growled, and I had no idea if he was talking about my stupid joke, or the way I was looking at him.
So I dropped my gaze to the platter on his desk and pretended to fuss over rearranging it.
“Look, Mr. Abydos, Mr. Sylvik said you liked your desserts, and minearereally good. You saw my menus, right? Can you at least try the stuff I brought?”
I saw his gaze drop to the platter of desserts, so I tried to nudge them his way. But his dark eyes flicked away, and his hands curled into fists by his sides.
Damn.
He was tempted, I could tell. But he really wasn’t going to eventrythem?
What did this guy have against me in particular?
Sighing, I stepped back, my palms up in surrender. “I can see I make you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. Whatever the reason is, Mr. Sylvik?—”
“Knows better than to hire someone like you.”
My head jerked back as if he’d slapped me. “Likeme?” I hissed. So it wasn’t just me, it was…what? “You think I can’t handle working for you, just because I’m a woman? Well newsflash, buddy, I’ve worked for plenty of jerks?—”
“I don’t care that you’re afemale.”He was glaring at me now, and I saw his nostrils flare in what looked like disgust. “It’s because you’re a human.”
Ah.
My anger skidded to a stop, then bounced back just as hard. “You don’t want to hire me because I’m ahuman?” I repeated.
He looked away. Maybe it was coincidence his gaze landed on the platter of desserts. “I don’t even want you in myspace, Ms. Starr.”
Double-ouch. Maybe I smelled or something, but I didn’t have time to be hurt because I was too pissed off. “Look, Mr. Abydos?—”
“It’s just Abydos,” he muttered without looking at me, and I saw his fists tighten.
Was that supposed to intimidate me? I folded my arms. “Look,Abydos, we havelawsthat say you can’t discriminate against me based on the color of my skin. Pretty sure that applies to species too.”
“Yeah, well…” To my surprise, the big male moved toward his desk. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t kicked me out yet, and Ireallycouldn’t believe it whenhe carefully picked up the chocolate macaron with the wicked-looking claws of his thumb and forefinger. As if speaking to the cookie, he murmured, “The history of your country has taught me that laws don’t apply to billionaires.”
Huh.
Frowning, I watched him pop the macaron into his mouth. He only had one whole tusk—that wasn’t normal, was it? He did have beautiful lips though, and I had to force myself to look away, especially when Iswearhe made a little humming noise as he chewed.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, him being an asshole. And doingillegalshit just because he could.
“Maybe,” I muttered, “but lawsshouldapply to everyone.”
“You’re right.” His gaze met mine again. “They should. So I guess I’ll have to find some other reason not to hire you. Your cookies are dry.”
Theballson this guy! I couldn’t decide if Abydos was still trying to intimidate me, or if this was him just being…him. “That’s a lie.” Why was I having to fight to keep my scowl in place? I was ready to laugh at this ridiculousness. “My macarons aremagnificent. If you’re going to be one of those asshats who comes up with lies to fire me because I’minconvenient, then at least come up with a believable lie.”
His brows drew in—the left one crisscrossed with scars so heavily it was almost nonexistent—and I winced at the realization not only I’d stood up to him, but I’d cursed as well. Cursedathim.
But he honestly didn’t seem to be shocked as he reached down almost absentmindedly and scooped up the maple pecan macaron. “You said that as if you’ve seen it happen before.”
I gaped.
Was he…asking? For my history? After trying to kick me out of his home because I washuman?
