She shrugged, her gaze sliding down towards the floor, and Michael inwardly cursed. Dammit, he’d made her withdraw again. Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he tugged her against him, watching her carefully for any signs of panic. To his relief, she snuggled in against him, her hand creeping around his waist almost tentatively. He dropped his lips to her ear to whisper.

“I promise I only said nice things.”

Turning her head slightly, she peeked at him. “Yeah?”

He couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward the extra couple inches to drop a kiss on her lips.

Slowly.

So she had time to pull away if she wanted to.

She didn’t.

Smug but cautious, Michael didn’t extend the kiss. “Yeah.”

Hoping no one had caught their private moment, Michael looked up again. He shouldn’t have worried. Everyone was watching Luke, who was leaning against the counter and trying to talk to Olivia, who was being polite but distant.

Dammit. Looked like he might lose the bet to Patrick after all. Luke was a pretty charming guy. Michael had thought he’d be able to win Olivia over immediately, but it looked like she wanted to be a harder case than he’d anticipated. The expression on her face was reserved, as if she was withholding judgment while she studied Luke.

Neither Rick nor Justin looked entirely pleased at Luke’s interest in Olivia. They all knew he’d expressed interest in the club. If he thought Olivia was a submissive, he was going to be in for quite a surprise.

“I’m looking forward to working with you,” he said, giving Olivia a wide, warm smile.

Olivia nodded her head. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Her tone said anything but.

“Hey Luke, can we get you a beer or sangria or anything?” Michael asked, deciding to rescue the poor man, who looked like he was trying to think of something charming to say to Olivia. At this point, he was better off being pulled back. Olivia remained reserved, and the more anyone pushed her, the more likely it was she would bite someone’s head off. Since they hadn’t finalized the deal with Luke yet, Michael would prefer not to lose the man before he became their newest partner.

After the deal was set, it would be funny if he tried to be dominant with Olivia.

She’d hand his ass to him on a silver platter.

“Water would be great, actually,” Luke said, turning towards him. As Patrick grabbed a glass from the cabinet, Lexie started telling Rick, Maria, and Olivia about Luke’s rescue dog Molly, who was apparently too cute to be believed and the reason they’d been running late. Lexie hadn’t wanted to leave the adorable mutt.

“She’s a total cuddle whore,” Lexie said. “She’s like, fifty pounds, but she thinks she’s a lap dog.”