Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (12 page)

Suddenly, Sahara got silent and looked at her closely like she was trying to see into her soul. Instantly, it dawned on her what was happening.

“Stop it,” Raya said, holding up her hand.

“Stop what?”

“I know you’re trying to read my mind and I won’t have it. I swear I’m not keeping anything important from you. It’s just personal and when I’m ready to open up you will be the first person I will come to with it.”

Her best friend opened her mouth then shut it. “Fine, I’ll stop pushing you. I know all it does is make you clam up even more. I’ll leave, but if you don’t show up to my house for the party I’ll send your favorite person to get you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare send Thorsten. I’m afraid you might cause him bodily harm; however, Jax wouldn’t care. He would just bring you to the house without thinking twice about it.”

Before Raya could say another word, Sahara waved at her before disappearing right in front of her eyes. No matter how many times that might occur, she wouldn’t ever get used to it. Some things were just too unbelievable to be true and that definitely was one of them. She glanced at the spot once last time before turning on her heel and heading back to the closet.

She wanted to get all of her new clothes arranged inside there before fixing something to eat. The weekends always went by so fast for her and she wanted to make the most of it before Monday morning rolled back around.

Monday morning, a figure stood in the office doorway watching as Raya worked away at her computer. Lost in thought, she nibbled at her bottom lip as a frown wrinkled her usually smooth forehead. She hadn’t even felt him there yet. She was too busy trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

If she hadn’t gotten involved with ruining the more than lucrative deal he set up with her brother, she wouldn’t be going through the stress she was experiencing right now. Why did Raya have to be so damn difficult?

Thorsten believed finding his mate was supposed to make both of their lives easier, but that wasn’t the case with Raya August. She pushed him away at their every meeting. She didn’t want to budge when it came to going out on one simple date with him.

For a while, he doubted she was even his mate, or one of the mysterious
Unique
women his family talked about with awe and wonder. But, when he saw Raya with Sahara over a year ago, the magnetic pull he felt towards her as she walked away was indescribable. He knew then she was a
Unique
woman, but he had made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t lose his head over her.

He was Thorsten Irizarry. Women chased after him, not vice versa.

Yet, all of his best lines and flirting tactics weren’t working on her. Raya really acted like she hated him for real, which couldn’t be possible.

He didn’t think he had done anything to make her dislike him so much. Sure, he might have been a little aggressive over the past several months, but he was only doing what it took when it came to business. It wasn’t personal, at least not when it came to her.

The sight of her looking so worn down and small, sitting in front of him, bothered Thorsten, but he couldn’t figure out why. She wasn’t his official mate yet. They hadn’t gone through the ritual of her accepting him with her heart and soul, bonding them forever with her love. He wasn’t against the fates picking Raya as his because he loved her passion.

The way her chocolate eyes lit up with fire when they argued made his cock hard and blood sizzle. If she showed him this kind of passion out of bed, what would it be like when they got between the sheets? Truthfully, it was something he was looking forward to more and more with each verbal exchange they shared.

As the minutes ticked by, Thorsten realized that Raya was so enthralled with her work. She was honestly unaware of him standing there. He didn’t get ignored by the opposite sex and it wouldn’t start with her.

She needed to stop pretending she wasn’t aware of the motivation causing him to pursue her so intensely. She was born to be his and it was past time she admitted it to him and, most importantly, herself.

Pushing his shoulder away from the doorframe, Thorsten pulled the sleeve of his suit jacket down before walking into Raya’s office. He couldn’t wait to see what his little firecracker had in store for him this morning. He didn’t have any doubt sparks were going to fly.

His fangs started to tingle just thinking about it, if only he could get a taste of her blood. The warm, rich sample would probably answer so many of his questions.

“I swear, if I hadn’t seen you at the farmers market over the weekend, I would think all of your time was spent here in this room. What’s the problem, Ms. August? Don’t you have a love life?”

Raya’s eyes shot up from the computer screen and locked with his. “Good morning, Mr. Irizarry. What have I done to deserve your unwanted presence in front of me?”

“I didn’t come here to argue with you. I came here to apologize for the way I treated you Saturday. I shouldn’t have yanked you behind the stand the way I did. I stayed up most of the night thinking about how wrong I was.”

Sliding back in her swivel chair, Raya crossed her legs and then tilted her head to the side and stared at him. “Apology accepted. Why don’t take a seat? You can finish telling me why you came all the way here to see little old me. I know it isn’t personal so it must be business.”

“Raya, the reason I came to see you is all personal,” Thorsten said, taking the seat she offered him. “I can find a way to put our business relationship on the back burner and move on to better things. We both know you would rather find out if I’m a good kisser. Why don’t you admit it?”

Jumping up from her chair, Raya glared at him from across her desk. “I have never thought about kissing you. I find you
very
unappealing and not worth my time. Besides, I’m—”

“Stop lying to me,” he interrupted, shutting her up in mid-sentence. “I can feel your attraction to me growing. It’s so hot that it’s taking over the air. Don’t you sense it as well?”

He slowly got out of his seat and moved closer until he was at the edge of her desk. He cautioned himself not to move too fast because she wasn’t aware of the powers he had.

Slowly, Thorsten touched Raya’s mind with his. He read a lot of fear there, but most of it came from anger more than anything else. Once he got Raya to see him as her mate, he could get past all of her roadblocks. Now all he had to do was get the perfect plan in motion to make her see things his way.

“Do I scare you?” he asked, moving a step in her direction.

Thorsten hid a smile as Raya straightened her back and looked him directly in the eye. The spunk in his mate was a very attractive feature. “No, you don’t intimidate me, Mr. Irizarry. I can deal with anything you have running through your head.”

His body vibrated with new life as he continued staring at his mate. She had an air of calm and self-confidence he liked, but he wondered if she was willing to go all the way with him.

“Alright, I’m going to take you up on your offer,” he said, grinning. “What time should I pick you up for our dinner tonight?”

“I—”

“Unless your confidence is only for show and you are afraid to go out with me, which I can completely understand. I might be too much man for a woman like you. I bet you’re used to dating guys who let you take the lead. Sweetheart, I’m always the one who wears the pants. I can’t help it. It’s in my blood.”

****

Raya merely stood there, tongue-tied at the way Thorsten spoke to her. She wasn’t scared to go out on a date with him. How dare he analyze her like he knew anything about her? He didn’t know a damn thing about her, especially the guys she had dated. It didn’t matter how some of what he said was true.

“I have dated plenty of strong men before and not one of them has been as pushy as you.”

He chuckled. Thorsten shook his head as he came even closer into her personal space until he was almost within touching distance of her. “I don’t believe you, because if the right man had captured you he would have tamed some of this wild streak in you. I believe you’re still very untouched and are just waiting for the right man to get past your stubborn nature.”

Her breath caught at his words. She watched in an almost dazed state as Thorsten came suddenly so close she could feel his breath tickling her cheek.

Grabbing her by the hand, he brushed his thumb over the back. His touch was oddly soft and caressing, something she wasn’t expecting from him.

“What are you doing?” Raya whispered and tried to withdraw her hand, but Thorsten kept his grip firm. She took a step back. He moved with her until she felt her back hit the wall. She was trapped between the hardness of the wall and Thorsten’s unyielding chest.

She hated him. Why was she allowing him to be this close to her? They were literally chest to chest.

“I’m just trying to get to know you better,” he finally answered, looking directly into her eyes. “We are always at each other’s throats over nothing. I’m thinking it’s past time we found some common ground.”

He ran the tips of his fingers down the side of her arms. His gaze boldly raked over her body. The smoldering flame she saw in them startled her. Raya felt a lurch of excitement within her that she had never felt before and it scared her. She didn’t want to feel a hint of attraction towards him.

Thorsten Irizarry wanted to bring her down and he was just using a different tactic to throw her off her game, but it wasn’t going to work.

“We don’t need to have any common ground with each other,” she insisted, not breaking eye contact no matter how much she wanted to do it. “I don’t want you anywhere around me.”

Taking one of his hands off her arms, he placed it above her head. She felt his body heat reach out, wrapping them up together. “You don’t like to back down, do you, Raya? You pretend you don’t like anything about me, but I can tell that you do. Maybe if you keep telling yourself those lies you will start believing them sooner or later.”

Thorsten’s hand reached out to touch her face, but she grabbed it before he made contact. “I don’t need your advice about anything. I’m very aware of my feelings for you,” Raya said, letting go of Thorsten’s wrist.

Placing her hands in the center of his chest, she gasped at how the warmth from his body practically burned her palms. After she regained her composure, she gave him a light push and when he finally moved she brushed past, putting some much needed distance between them.

Raya hurried away until she was on the other side of the desk. She turned and stumbled back when she found Thorsten directly behind her.

“God, what is your problem?” she asked.

“I’ll be at your house at seven o’clock for our date,” he said.

“I just remembered I have plans, so I can’t go out with you. Sorry about your luck.”

“Nice try, but you aren’t going to blow me off. Don’t think about standing me up because you won’t like the consequences,” he warned softly as he walked around her body.

Raya spun around in shock, watching as Thorsten went out her office door with his usual air of confidence. How dare he threaten her like he had some sort of claim on her?

Quickly she hurried after Thorsten then stopped in her tracks. No, she wasn’t going to follow him. He was probably standing out there waiting for her. She wasn’t interested in going another round with him today. She had more important things to do with her time.

Pivoting, Raya headed back towards the more pressing matters that needed her undivided attention, and it wasn’t a six-foot, four-inch man with an ego the size of Texas. She would put her comments to the side until he showed up for the “date” and then she would give him a piece of her mind.

I must be out of my mind to go through with this date
, Raya thought while staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had other things she’d rather do tonight, but Thorsten called her out and she couldn’t let him get the best of her. He got off from challenging her every move.

Leaning forward, she put on her red lipstick then laid the tube down on the vanity. She still didn’t know how he got under her skin so well. It had taken her best friend Sahara years to figure out something Thorsten had done in months.

She almost called Thorsten and cancelled their date, but she changed her mind. She wasn’t a coward, and backing out tonight would have made her one. However, she couldn’t stop pondering another reason she accepted this date from Thorsten instead of brushing off his advances like she usually did anytime their paths crossed.

Maybe you don’t dislike Thorsten as much as you pretend to,
the thought flickered into her head and then it was gone.

Denial came sudden and swiftly, then she was hurled back to reality. An even more terrifying realization washed over her: she actually
wanted
this date tonight with Thorsten. She hadn’t been out with a good-looking guy in a long time.

It was a little exciting, even if the guy was Thorsten. At least she would get a chance to show off her new dress while she was out with him. She might spot another man and he would give her his number. It wasn’t like her date with Thorsten involved anything romantic.

Stepping back, Raya did a spin, checking herself out in the mirror and noticing how the fabric hugged her ass. What she might be lacking in height, God blessed her by giving her extra in the breasts and ass department. Growing up, she hated her hourglass figure but now she loved having curves in all the right places. Thorsten might have gotten the upper hand at her job today, but tonight she was going to walk away the winner.

She winked at herself in the mirror, turned, and left the room. She couldn’t help but bask in the knowledge she knew something Thorsten didn’t.

****

A knock on her front door greeted Raya the second she stepped inside her living room. Walking over, she paused in front of the door for a few seconds. There was no way she would rush to it like she had been waiting for Thorsten to show up tonight. He could wait a little longer; it wouldn’t hurt him to cool his heels for a second or two.