AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Water!
I don’t have my regular water bottle. I open the fridge and see a dozen bottled waters. I feel like gagging. Single-use plastic is one of my ultimate pet hates, but of all single-use plastic, I despise bottled water the most.
“For fuck’s sake,” I grumble, closing the fridge door without taking one. First-world problems. I grab a glass, fill it from the tap, and chug it down. I’ll buy a new water bottle at the studio.
I skid back to the front door, hoping for the bodyguard’s approval. He’s looking at his watch as I open the door, breathless.
“Will I make it?” I ask.
“We’ll make it,” he replies, and motions for me to follow him.
“Er,” I say, “you’re coming with me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
That will be super weird. “On the tube?”
He blinks at me. I think he’s trying really hard not to smile. “Not on the tube.” When I don’t move, he adds: “The car is waiting.”
The car is waiting. Okay. I probably should have seen that coming, but I didn’t. When Alistair said I was free to come and go, I didn’t think he meant that I’d be chauffeured with a bodyguard in tow. Holy shit.
“Okay,” I say. “Thank you.”
It’s a red flag.
Obviously.
But I push the thought away and just appreciate how easy it is to get through your morning when you have people on your side. People who are paid to smooth out life’s little challenges, get you places safely and on time. It makes me realize how chaotic my regular life is. At the same time, I know I mustn’t get too used to this.
It’s just a week. Don’t overthink it, I tell myself.
We sink to the lobby in the elevator, which is a long way down, and then I get swept outside and into the back of a shining black Jaguar (ha! I was right about Alistair’s spirit animal). Before the car glides away from the hotel, I turn to look at it. I didn’t see the façade when I arrived—due to being unconscious and all. When I see it’s called The Raven, I realize Alistair didn’t hire the penthouse for me. He owns the whole bloody building. I hold in my gasp, but my eyes must bug out, because the guard seems amused.
“How do you do that?” I ask him.
“Ma’am?”
“You look amused without smiling.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he replies.
“So you’re saying I’m not amusing?” I tease. “You’re saying I’m boring.”
“No, ma’am,” he replies.
It’s his eyes. There’s a smile in them.
“You’re Irish,” I say.
He replies with the slightest nod.
“I adore Irish people,” I say, then realize I’m nervous and it’s making me blather.
“I’m Ivy.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says. He knows my name. Obviously. If he knows where the studio is and what time my lesson begins, he certainly knows my bloody name. But if we’re going to be travel buddies, it would be good to know his.
I try again. “It’s usually good manners to introduce yourself.”
