Lucky Strike (Super Harem #1) - Catherine Banks Page 0,11
the measurements, and he wrote them down.
As soon as she finished, she and the other suits left, leaving Austin and me alone with the Director.
He stared at us a moment and then asked, “Are you a couple?”
“No,” I said before Austin could even open his mouth. “I recently got out of a relationship so I’m not going into another yet. I’m starting to date, but no relationships.”
The Director frowned. “That’s a shame. Being able to put you two on-screen together would be huge for publicity.”
“I’d rather my dating wasn’t made public,” I said.
Austin had tensed when I’d responded, and he had yet to relax. I needed to talk to him someplace private.
“I’ll send you a list of the offers with my notes about which I suggest you take. Please, go rest for now.” He stood and left.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted, turning to Austin. “I can explain.”
He nodded. “Follow me.”
I obeyed, walking behind him with my eyes down.
How could I explain it without bringing up Transistor?
He steered and pushed open the door to his room. “It’s the only place I’m sure is secure,” he whispered as I walked in.
Once the door was closed, I said, “I sort of lied.”
He arched a brow. “Go on.”
Pacing back and forth between his bed and chair, I explained. “I want to date you, but I’m not ready for exclusive dating yet. Plus, I don’t want the public to know about my dating life. It would be way too much pressure. I don’t know how you feel and if that means you don’t want to date me—”
He interrupted me with a kiss, sliding his hands along my jaw before burying his fingers in my hair. He pulled back and said, “I don’t care if you want to remain non-exclusive. I like you and I want to see where this goes. I haven’t felt like this in a long time. I thought it might be better to push you away but when you were hurt, I didn’t care about the monster. I only wanted to get to you. So, I’m fine keeping our relationship private, so long as we can have one.”
“You’re really okay with me seeing someone else?”
He laughed mirthlessly. “I’d rather be your only, but I can deal with it, so long as you don’t flaunt your relationship with them.”
I shook my head. “I won’t.”
His smile slipped. “It’s not Cobalt, is it?”
I threw my head back as I laughed. “No way!”
Austin’s smile returned. “Okay. I can handle most anyone else, but he treated you like crap. I don’t know if I could deal with you going back to him.”
“I’m not an idiot,” I said and rolled my eyes. My own smile disappeared. “I need to find a different room.”
Austin’s body tensed and for a split second, his skin changed color.
“They drugged and ran tests on you, didn’t they?” he asked, his fingers resting against my inner elbow.
My eyes widened, and my mouth dropped. “You know they do that?”
He drew me to his bed, and we sat on it, side by side. “They tried to do it to me, but my skin shifted to stone before they could sedate me. I nearly killed the Genetics head and the Director swore he would look into the matter personally to ensure it did it happen again.”
“Obviously he lied,” I whispered.
“Let’s go talk to the Director together. We can ask for your room to be moved closer to mine. And I’ll tell him he needs to follow-up on his promise or I will,” Austin said.
“I think he knows,” I whispered. I think that was why he told him no tests were needed.”
“You can stay here tonight,” Austin whispered. “I won’t let them get to you.”
“If you don’t trust them, why are you working for them?”
He sighed. “It’s the only way to know what’s going on around the world. We’ll fix this, okay?”
“Are you sure I should stay here? Won’t that put you in danger? And send the gossip mill in to overdrive?”
He frowned. “To keep people from knowing about us dating you’d rather risk your life?”
I fidgeted with my fingernails. “I made a promise that my relationships wouldn’t be public anymore. To ensure I’m safe and to keep villains from wanting to use me as bait.”
“How many times were you kidnapped?” he asked.
I laughed and shrugged. “I lost count.”
“Between you and me, I don’t think Transistor is actually a villain. I’m not sure what he is, but a real villain wouldn’t have rescued you twice and returned you without