She gripped the bar rail in front of her. “There is no good way to remove oil. If you were really serious about saving the environment, you would have looked at the plans I showed you. We could pull more energy using wind—”
“No, Olivia. We can’t. I looked at your plans. You’re at about eighty percent capacity, but that’s not going to be enough for Dyson. Who, may I remind you again, is a fucking OIL COMPANY.”
Now her high-heeled shoe was tapping rapidly on the floor. “I know what you think. You think I caved by going to work for big oil. You think I compromised my values for a paycheck when that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m fighting from the inside. Dyson isn’t an oil company, you old-fashioned meathead. It’s an ENERGY company.”
She had a point. That was true enough. I took my beers to the table and handed them off to Jackson and Cal. Then I turned my chair toward the bar and continued to watch the fireworks.
I saw Shelby make her way toward us with a worried look on her face. She sat and I handed her a beer. “This isn’t going to get violent, is it?”
Cal smirked. “Lord, I hope so. There is nothing more fun than when Ark presses that final button and Olivia hauls off and slaps him in the face. Over under boys?”
I took a ten out of my pocket and put it on the table. “Under five.”
Jackson shook his head. “Ark’s been working on being reasonable with her. I say over.” He also put up a ten on the table.
Cal took a ten out of his wallet and tossed it on the pile. “Then I’ll go for the push at the ten-minute mark. Olivia has also been working on being more professional with him. She’s going to try to hold out this time. I can feel it.”
“What does all that mean?” Shelby asked me.
“I think she’ll hit him in less than five minutes. Jackson think she’ll hit him but later than five minutes. And if in ten minutes she hasn’t hit him at all, Cal wins the pot.”
“Hmm. Seems wrong to be betting on what are obviously extreme emotions. Sitting here, I can’t tell if they want to punch each other or…”
“Or?” I asked with a smile.
“Or fuck each other,” she said purposefully being bold.
“Oh, they want to fuck each other,” Cal agreed. “They just haven’t figured it out yet.”
“So now you’re saying what? Because I like SHOES, I’m a sell-out?” Olivia was back to screeching.
Ark sneered at her. “Those aren’t shoes, they’re fuck-me pumps.”
Her face got hard then. “You’ve got a problem with a female engineer who wears high heels. Why am I’m not surprised?”
“Please.” Ark barked out laugh. “I’ve got a problem with a woman who’s working in Alaska on an oil rig maintained by men and who thinks it’s okay to walk around in fuck-me pumps. Are you intentionally trying to stir up trouble? Are you hoping that some guy will make the wrong move and I’ll have to shut him down hard? Is that what you’re looking for? A little drama, a little flirting and then bam! Hell, maybe you’re hoping the guys will throw down at your feet just for a chance to fuck you.”
Slap!A hard, open palm right across his cheek.
“And I’ll take that,” I said, reaching for the small pot of money in the middle of the table. It wasn’t even close.
“I said she was working on being more professional, I forgot to factor in Ark.” Cal sighed and stood as if it was time for him to intervene.
“Relax, Cal. You know Ark. This is the part where he mutters under his breath and walks away.”
Only this time the two of them stood there glaring at each other.
“If you were a man…” Ark said finally, shaking his head.
Olivia lifted her chin. “If I were a man, what? You’d fight me? Well, I’ll sign whatever waiver you want me to sign saying I gave you permission to hit me and we can go right here, right now.”
Ark snorted.
“I’m serious. You might be big and strong, but I’ve got rage on my side, Noah Aikens.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I turned my head in the direction of where Eve and Zeke had been sitting. Eve handed the baby to Zeke then turned toward Ark and Olivia. “You can’t fight him and win, Olivia. But I can. I’ll be your surrogate.”
