AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wanted to tell him that he was an ass, but remembered that he was now her client and she earned a very large salary to be kind and patient with her clients. Plus, she needed her past clients to tell their friends about her skills and services. Her business was mostly based off word of mouth.
“You’re correct, Doctor Armstrong,” she replied. “However, my process is very effective. I have a master’s degree in psychology and I’ve done extensive research into personalities, ensuring that the people I introduce to each other have a very large probability of success. I do a great deal of research on the people I introduce, with a process based off the latest psychological studies. I’ve matched up thirty-five couples during my career, and all of them are still happily together.”
There was a long silence after that litany. “Shall we go?” he finally snapped.
Go? Where would they “go”? Raven definitely didn’t want to “go” anywhere with him!
He’d stepped away for a moment, bending down to write something on a post-it note.
Raven was confused and peered through the doors behind him. “I thought we would talk in your office,” she asked when he turned toward the door. “What’s wrong with right here?”
He put a hand to her arm, turning her so that they were heading back the way she’d come.
“Just yesterday, I was told by Bailey and Matteo that I needed to get out of the office more. So, we’ll discuss whatever it is that you need to know at the coffee shop down the street.”
Raven wanted to tell him to go to hell. She wanted to jerk her arm out of his grasp and tell him that he could revive his social life on his own time, not hers!
However, talking outside of a business atmosphere was actually a common thing for her to do with her clients. Many of her clients didn’t want their staff to know about her and her services, so they often met with her outside of their work environment.
So, she pasted an overly bright smile on her face, gritted her teeth, and nodded. “That sounds delightful!” she lied. As long as he stopped insulting her methods, she could work with the guy.
Tim grunted in response and she had to restrain herself from turning and stomping on his foot. Instead, she muttered something under her breath and turned around, heading back toward the elevator. They passed by the long hallway and Raven kept her curious gaze away from the activities behind the glass windows. She wasn’t going to ask him anything other than his preferences in women! He’d probably answer in a smug, superior tone, which would just irritate her further.
There were people in laboratory coats walking briskly from the office area through a set of double doors. Everyone badged through from one place to the next. As she walked through to the next area, there was another long hallway with glass walls where there were about a dozen people working with glass tubes and flames and…actually, Raven hadn’t been any good at chemistry. In fact, she’d hated the subject.
However, in order for her methods to work, she needed Doctor Armstrong to give her information. Success was contingent on communication. Besides, Raven wasn’t exactly sure why Doctor Armstrong irritated her so much. Well, besides his insulting attitude towards psychology in general and her profession in particular.
“What’s going on in this area?” she asked, trying to sound like she cared. But it all looked very technical and Raven doubted that she’d understand, even if he deigned to tell her anything.
“Chemistry stuff,” he replied, his deep voice grumbly and irritated as he stabbed the elevator call button. “A psychology buff wouldn’t understand.”
His response pissed her off all over again and she turned, glaring up at him. ‘Psychology buff’? Is that really what he thought of her work?
Stuffing down her anger, she tried very hard to pretend that she wasn’t thinking about wrapping her hands around his throat. “What kinds of stuff?” she asked, tilting her head and stepping back.
Carefully, she watched him, trying to understand his body language and facial features. But he simply pulled back his shoulders and looked down his nose at her as if she were some sort of bug. A bug he wanted to crush under his five thousand dollar loafer.
Granted, Doctor Timothy Armstrong was brilliant. And ridiculously handsome. Hell, the man should be on a football field, not hidden away in a laboratory! Features like his should be on a billboard, advertising men’s underwear. Okay – so the guy couldn’t be both a nerd and a jock. However, Raven didn’t need to make sense. Not at the moment.
Maybe he wasn’t a nerd. Maybe he was a jock. A really smart jock with lots of muscles.
And of course, that image caused her to wonder what he looked like naked.
Darn it! Raven never pictured men, especially her clients, naked! It was definitely not professional!
Client, she reminded herself. Doctor Armstrong was her client! An insulting client with a superiority complex.
Maybe. If his grouchy demeanor was any indication, she suspected the man didn’t want to be her client any more than she wanted to help him.
Thankfully, the elevator door opened and she stepped inside.
As soon as the doors closed, she heard him huff. Raven was just about to turn and give the man a piece of her mind when he surprised her.
“They are working on a formula that will eventually soften fabric without a toxic impact to the environment,” he explained as the elevator quickly moved down through the floors.
She glanced up at him, startled. That’s when she noticed his jaw clenching. Was he irritated by his answer? And why would that irritate him?
Were the experiments a secret? “I don’t reveal secrets,” she announced, then turned to face him directly. “Under no circumstances will I tell anyone anything you tell me.”
