Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
“Really?” she asked, relief filling her. “But it’s not on your way home.”
“Going to go drop the cupcakes off. Get us some dinner, then come back here.”
“Um. Okay.” She wasn’t entirely sure why he’d want to come back, but the least she owed him was dinner. “But I’m paying for dinner.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening.”
“What do you mean? I’ve got some cash.” Loki always made her keep fifty dollars in her wallet in case of emergencies. Well, to be honest, it was his fifty dollars and if she sometimes spent it, then he replaced it.
Shoot. Would fifty dollars be enough? Great, she’d just offered to pay and likely didn’t have enough cash to cover it.
“Keep your cash, Princess. If I’m eating, I’m buying.”
“Is that a life motto?”
“You could say that.”
“But you bought all those groceries. And you’ve spent all day helping me. After you rescued me. The least I can do is buy you dinner.”
“You want to thank me?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then we go on a date. Dinner.”
Her insides thrummed with excitement and nerves. “You’re not playing fair.”
He just shrugged.
“If we go out for dinner, then I get to pay?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Is it because I’m a girl?” she asked with a frown.
“Nope.”
“Nope?” That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say.
“It’s because you’re mine.”
Dear. Lord. Help. Her.
Because she was starting to fall for him . . . and it was kind of terrifying.
10
Okay, so Remy Madison might be a stalker.
He might have some delusions that she was going to belong to him.
And he might be even bossier than Loki.
But the man sure did know how to make an awesome bubble bath. Seriously top-notch. It was so good that she might have dozed off for a while.
A knock on the bathroom door made her startle. “What?” Oops, that was rude. “I mean, yes?”
“I’m heading out now,” he said. “I put my clothes in the wash. Be back in just over an hour.”
He’d put his clothes in the wash? He wasn’t even going to ask or check in with her that it was okay?
Sheesh.
“Isa? You haven’t fallen asleep in there, have you?” he called out.
“No. Of course not. I, um, thanks.”
It didn’t matter if he washed his clothes here. It was a bit weird, sure. But she owed him.
“Have you got a key?” he asked.
“Key?” Why would she need a key when she wasn’t going anywhere?
“For the house. So I can lock it when I leave.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll be here and I don’t lock the door when I’m here.”
There were several beats of silence. It should have been a warning to her to tread cautiously.
But that had never been the way she lived her life.
“You don’t lock up when you’re here?” he said in a whisper-yell.
Yes, she knew that whisper-yell was a contradiction. But it was seriously a thing. Really. He was yelling but in a whisper.
“Um, I mean, I do when I’m sleeping or if I leave the house.” If Loki wasn’t home. But Loki didn’t usually lock up after leaving the house. He liked to leave his place open in case someone needed something.
“There’s really no need to lock up when I’m here. Not like anyone is going to steal something with me here. And really, there’s not much here worth taking.”
“What about you?” he asked in a low, dark voice.
He sounded upset, but she still couldn’t understand why.
“I’m hardly likely to steal my own stuff, am I?”
“What if they take you? Hurt you? Don’t you think you’re more precious than all this stuff?” he asked.
“I am?”
She heard him swearing and she winced. Wow. He was really working himself up. He had to be more mindful of his blood pressure. How old was he?
“Yeah. You fucking are. And I don’t like that you don’t know that.”
Huh? He was being so confusing right now.
“You’re going to start locking up all the fucking time. Got me?”
Okay. Well, she couldn’t quite agree with that. And what point was there in locking the door when Loki never really did?
But she wisely didn’t say that.
“Keys?” he asked.
“Um, I think they’re in my handbag.”
There was more silence for a few minutes. “Got them. Back soon. Stay inside. And don’t fall asleep in the bath.”
She honestly didn’t think he knew how to talk without being demanding.
Forty minutes later, she’d finished her bath and put on her pajamas, fluffy robe, and slippers. She just couldn’t be bothered wrestling herself back into a bra and proper clothes.
She headed into the kitchen. She’d clean up before Remy got back. He’d already done most of it, but there had to be a few things left to do when she’d gone to have a bath.
Coming to a sudden stop, she looked around the glistening kitchen.
Wow. Not only was he clean and tidy, but he moved fast.
Which meant more time for her to watch TV. After sliding her slippers off, she curled up underneath a blanket and turned on some cartoons.