“There are a dozen visiting CEOs we’ll try to touch base with before we move into the auditorium. Are you okay with that?”
His discomfort flashed to anger. “I’m not a bohemian. I know how to behave in public.”
Amy stiffened, her fingers cutting into his arm.
Great. Evan took a deep breath and pasted on his most pleasant expression.
She answered a wave from a couple and led Evan toward them. He fought the urge to do something outrageous, which was kind of annoying, since she obviously didn’t think he belonged in this world and him being an ass would just affirm her belief.
The next twenty minutes were filled with banal conversation and polite nothings. Or at least that’s the way Evan thought of it. He made sure he kept a smile pasted on his face although the edges got a little more ragged each time the conversation turned to employment. He’d announce his occupation only to be greeted with raised brows and almost sympathetic congratulations.
The current bastard pontificating in front of them was the fifth, and Evan’s patience had been stretched thinner than a small order of wings at the pack house.
“I think that’s fascinating. You must be thrilled to have so many opportunities to observe human nature while you’re in that bar of yours.” The behavioral-scientist expert, or whatever the hell his job had been—there had been too many letters and shit for Evan to be able to repeat it. The man wore an oh-too-familiar expression of “let’s humour the peon” that was really beginning to grate on Evan’s nerves.
Evan laid his fingers over top of Amy’s to make sure she didn’t run away as he spoke. “It is a great place to hang out and people watch. I’ve even analyzed exactly how the evening is going to go based on what people order to drink. There’s a science to it, you know.”
His opponent blinked. “Really? That’s fascinating—”
“For example, the beer drinkers have a totally different objective to their evening than the ones who order fancy mixed drinks with names that are hard to pronounce after they’ve had three or four. But my personal favourites are the customers who are so pretentious they ask what years our wine cellar carries, and then go on to recite some memorized spiel to show exactly how knowledgeable and classy they are.”
The man’s face drew tighter as Evan spoke, and he lowered the glass of red wine he’d praised only moments earlier.
Amy tugged Evan’s arm, smiling sweetly as she made her apologies. “If you’ll excuse us. It was lovely to see you again.”
And then they damn near ran across the room as Amy dragged him toward a door that said Staff Only.
“Oh, goody, do I get a new job?” Evan asked. “Maybe I should go back and tell that ass I’m moving up in the world. Now I get to use a broom instead of pouring drinks.”
Amy shoved him through the door and jerked it closed behind them. “Could you not hold your tongue for a couple of hours?”
Evan snorted in derision. “No, I think it would make it really difficult to tell that jerk off if I was actually holding my tongue.”
The hallway lighting was dim, but it was bright enough to see the frustration on her face. “You know what I’m talking about. Yes, I agree, Dr. Winston is an absolute jerk.”
“Then why do you care if I let him know he’s a jerk?”
“Because he’s not a dangerous jerk, he’s a potential business opportunity for the pack, and that’s worth putting up with a little bit of jerkdom for. Plus, there’s no need to prove I have more balls than everyone in the room. I already know I’m smarter than most of them, and that I’m nicer than most of them, and so I let the stupid things they do go.”
Evan narrowed his eyes. “You’re not making any sense.”
Amy rubbed her temples in frustration. “No, I suppose I’m not making any sense to you. The point is, I asked you to be polite, and it’s now only thirty minutes after I asked you that, and it doesn’t seem you’re capable of following any kind of instruction.”
Evan caught her by the upper arms, rubbing his palms up and down against her bare skin in an attempt to soothe her. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. I have no objection to being polite, but I do have trouble being polite when there seems no need.”
“And sometimes it’s not worth the fight. That’s the point I’m trying to make.”
She crossed her arms, brushing his hands away and breaking the contact between them. Evan was more disturbed by that than by her words.
“Were you going to introduce me to this Giorgio of yours?”
“After the show. Right now I want to talk to Laney.”
“The woman from the café?”
Amy nodded. “She plays the violin. Or, she did before her ex broke her fingers. She’s still trying to regain her skills, but she loves coming to these concerts, so I bought her a pass. She’ll be hiding down here until the lights go out.”
She tilted her head to indicate the hallway. He followed her, mentally rearranging his plan of attack so that he could get through the evening without pissing her off again.
He was smart. He was strong. He should be able to be suave and debonair for a couple more hours, especially when impressing his mate was on the line.
Only he did miss his comfy chair and the game that was going on back at the pack house. But if this was what it took to bring him and Amy back on track, he’d make the sacrifice.
Amy’s headache had a headache. They were finally seated in the auditorium, and for the next forty-five minutes there should be no necessity to put out any fires or sit on Evan to stop him from offending anyone.
Up on the stage the string quartet was already into the second movement, and the peaceful sounds flooded the room. Perfect acoustics carried the gentle performance of a soothing melody.
Her soul needed a whole lot of soothing. At her side Evan slumped, totally relaxed with his hips forward on the seat, his upper body set against the chair back. His knees were wide apart, his entire muscular body seemingly too large for the delicate auditorium chairs.
He’d dressed up, and she had no complaints about the external packaging. In fact, everywhere they had gone, people’s gazes had followed them as if he were a highly sought-after model. Whispered conversations from those in the room who were visiting made it clear they were all intrigued by the handsome stranger on her arm.
But the chip on his shoulder seemed to get bigger by the second. She had no issues with his job choices—owning the bar and hotel. Both were good solid positions and perfectly suited for his role in leading a wolf pack. Bringing him to the symphony hadn’t been about making him feel inadequate.
His defensive responses every single time someone questioned him had gone from bad to worse. He didn’t seem to get the concept that if the person didn’t matter, their opinion didn’t matter either.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. By the time the performance was over, she hoped Evan would have settled down enough she could take him for a brief meeting with Giorgio. They could escape before tensions rose again.
A few others of her pack were scattered through the auditorium. Laney had smiled hesitantly at Evan when they’d met, but the rest stayed away.
Joining the packs was going to take a lot more finesse and planning than even she had expected.
The music swelled, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to soak in as much relaxation as possible. The biggest thing she could sense, though, was the man at her side. The scent of him filled her nostrils, his presence borderline overwhelming. She wanted him so badly, and she hated that she wanted him when he didn’t seem to care about her in the same way.
Their knees bumped, and she jerked away from the electric connection between them that remained as strong as ever. He reached over, and for a second she thought he was going to take her hand. She was already opening her fingers to accept his touch, kicking herself for wanting it. Craving contact with her mate desperately.