hands wide.
“My needs are very simple.”
“Evidently,” she said, looking around.
“You don’t like my place?”
“I didn’t say that.” He made a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a rumble. “I guess it’s a little lacking in feminine touches.”
She didn’t want to ask the next question, but it was an absolutely standard interview question, and it’d be weird if she didn’t.
“I take it there's no Mrs Adams?” she said. Several emotions flashed through his eyes, too fast for her to identify a single one of them.
“Sadly, no. I haven't yet found the one.”
“What would it take for a woman to be the one for Magnus Adams?” Her tone was snarky, revealing the hurt that had welled up at the reminder that he had dismissed her as not being good enough for him.
“She’d have to be goodhearted, passionate, hungry, not obsessed with superficial things. And, of course, beautiful and deliciously curvy.” As he said those final words, his gaze doubled in intensity. She squirmed. Was he playing with her? She had the distinct impression that he was flirting with her. Probably to bolster his ego. Whatever. Screw him. He’s clearly a loser anyway, despite his ridiculous good looks.
“And, not to mention, happy to live with you in a shed?” the sound he made was unmistakably a snarl. She’d definitely offended him this time.
“You may be a woman of superficial values. But, thankfully not everyone is like that.”
“You know nothing about me!” she said, far more loudly than she'd intended.
“No? I think I can pick up quite a lot about you from the way you’re reacting to my home.”
“Your home? If you want to call this hovel a home, that's up to you. But none of the women I know would see it that way.” She stopped, took a deep breath. What the hell am I doing? She’d never been unprofessional like this in an interview before. It was just that he was touching all her pressure points, all at once. She thought about what would happen if she went back to Kristin without an interview. It would be disastrous. But the expression in his eyes was furious and smoldering.
“I’m sorry,” she said, with an effort. “It might be best if we kept my character out of the interview. Maybe we can run through some standard questions?” He nodded briefly.
“Age?”
“35”
“Where were you born?”
“Maine.”
“Favorite color?”
“Yellow.”
“Star sign?”
“Leo.”
“Are you planning on having children?”
“Yes. At least four.” Andrea gulped. She’d always secretly wanted a big family, but she’d repressed the desire, as it wasn’t exactly compatible with being a New York journalist. And then she couldn’t even find a guy to have one kid with, never mind four.
“When did you first hear about Hope Valley, and decide that you might want to live here?” Magnus’s gaze softened.
“I heard about it through the shifter community, but of course you can’t print that in the paper. I knew it was a place where a lot of shifters lived, who’d also moved there to find the curvy girl of their dreams.” Andrea gaped. So he does recognize me, otherwise he wouldn’t mention shifters to me . Tamika had impressed on her how important it was that no one discussed shifters with outsiders. So we’re both pretending that we don’t know each other. Great. “But if you want a printable answer, you could say that I have a distant relative who lives in Hope Valley, and I used to visit as a small boy, and always dreamed of moving here one day,” he continued.
“Ok,” she mumbled, scribbling on her notepad.
“Actually, no. Scratch that. Can you please say that I’d heard that Hope Valley has the most beautiful, voluptuous women on the planet, and I moved here in the hope of finding the one for me.” Andrea raised an eyebrow very deliberately.
“Are you trying to turn this interview into a dating ad?” she said. That flash of hurt passed across his face again.
“No. That