“Well, I can’t eat on my own. That would be extremely bad manners. I was really looking forward to a burger too.” He sighed dramatically.
Cady barely resisted from rolling her eyes. “Fine, but I’m paying for my own.”
“I never said anything different, did I?”
She blushed slightly as she realized he hadn’t actually offered to pay, she’d just assumed.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
They placed their orders with the waitress then Gray sat back and looked at her. “So, you want to tell me what Hunter said?”
“He offered me a job, said that you’d been bugging him to hire a woman.”
Gray nodded, taking a sip of the iced tea the waitress had brought over. “There have been times when it would have been good to have a woman on the team.”
“And then he proceeded to tell me the conditions I’d have to agree to.”
Gray raised an eyebrow, looking slightly disapproving. “You have an objection to medical benefits and the pay we’re offering?”
Her cheeks heated. “No, I mean, we didn’t even get into that.” She didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful.
“Then what conditions were you talking about?”
She resisted the urge to squirm.
“Maybe you should talk to Hunter about this.”
“Hunter’s not here. I asked you, Cady,” he said firmly.
“He seemed to think that there should be side benefits. Look, he didn’t come right out and say it, but it was obvious that my main job would be fucking him. Why else would he be so concerned about my safety and where I live? I’m sure he doesn’t take such an interest in every employee. I’ve taken care of myself for years and although I might live on the streets I’m not a charity case and I don’t need anyone to take pity on me.”
Gray sat back and folded his arms. Luckily, the food arrived and she had a reason to look away.
“Have you ever had anyone who has cared about you, Cady? Worried over you? Wanted to help you?”
She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with where this was going.
Gray cleared his throat. “When I ask a question I expect an answer, Cady.”
Okay, she recognized that tone of voice. Gray sounded as intimidating and stern as any Dom she’d ever met. Crap. She moved the fries around on her plate.
“He barely knows me. You don’t offer someone you don’t know a job, things like that just don’t happen. So I knew there would be something more to it.”
“And that something more was Hunter wanting to fuck you?”
She shrugged. “What else have I got to offer? He kissed me. He pinned me against the wall. He seemed to be attracted to me.”
At least she figured he couldn’t fake that fucking huge erection that had been pressing against her stomach.
“I’m not about to tell you that Hunter isn’t an overbearing bastard or that a lot of his views on woman belong in the eighteen hundreds, but he doesn’t need to pay for sex and he would never make that a condition of a job. I think there has been a misunderstanding here. I’m surprised he let you out of his sight without making this clear.”
“Well he didn’t exactly have a choice,” she muttered, moving around on the bench seat uncomfortably. “Why else would he offer me the job, though? It can’t have been real.”
“Sometimes, Cady, people do something nice without expecting anything in return.”
“He wants to control me.”
Gray watched her for a long moment. “I can see how you’d think that. He is a bit of a control freak and he’s not always the best communicator. Hunter is a protector, he always has been. Sometimes he comes across as pushy and controlling because he’s trying to do his best to keep everyone around him safe. He’s one of the good guys.”