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“Good morning, Bond. I was hoping you were up. I want to go for a sunrise walk,” I said, pacing on the opposite side of the kitchen island. “I won’t be long, though.”
“No, Solitaire, where you go, I go. Give me five minutes to change into that awful red sweat suit. But if you’re going to keep this up, I have to get a black sweat suit before my reputation is destroyed.” He laughed at his own joke all the way to his room.
The fireplace was already on and the couch was inviting me to sit for a bit. The staff must have snuck in while we slept, like elves, and did the laundry and started the coffee I could now smell.
I wonder if Gunner turned on the fire or the staff did that too?
I laid back and lounged on the couch waiting for Gunner, watching the fire flicker, when I heard someone walking by. The room was only lit by the fire, so I sat up slowly to see if it was Gunner, or maybe one of the elves still at work, only to find Asher in full walking gear about to enter the elevator.
“Are you trying to go out practicing your walking?” I accused him as I approached.
I really thought I had him fooled, that I wasn’t also going for a walk, when Gunner entered the room and blew my story. We both had gotten the walking bug the day before and Gunner wasn’t letting me go anywhere without him. By the time we hit the pavement the sun was almost all the way up. The temperature was a little colder than any of use had anticipated, and our grand idea of walking turned into a short walk to the pastry shop two blocks over, where we enjoyed coffee. Well, the men had coffee, I had a hot chocolate. Conversation flowed until Asher’s cell started going off.
“Sorry, I need to get back for meetings and the cook should be there waiting to prepare breakfast.” Asher stood and pushed his chair in. “You guys ready?”
He has a cook that comes in just to make breakfast? Why am I surprised by that, he has his own plane.
On the walk back Gunner walked behind us talking on his cellphone to an old Navy seal buddy. We walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes then Asher spoke first.
“I have local designers arriving at eleven am. to show you dresses, and I took the liberty of having Halima make you a hair appointment for early afternoon.” He hurried on before I could respond. “You don’t have to go to the hair appointment if you don’t want to.”
“Thank you for doing that for me. I think you read my mind. I’d love to get my hair done.” I pulled my ski cap off, exposing my very own dirty blonde hair. “I’ve been wearing that red wig for a week and I think I like it better than my natural color. What do you think?”
“That’s not a fair question.” Asher let out a nervous laugh. “I like both.”
“You must have an opinion. Stop being afraid to answer. I’ve told you several times I’m low maintenance.” I ran my fingers through my blonde waves. “Asher Hawthorne must have a favorite color hair.”
“I really think you should pick what color you feel pretty in,” he answered without answering.
“Ugh, just give me a real answer.”
Chapter 42
AUGUST
My cell was ringing non-stop by the time we reached the penthouse and it was only eight am. I went straight to my office to put out a few fires then jumped in the shower. I dressed quickly and messaged my assistant, Pierre, to collect the blueprints and files for my meetings. I headed to the kitchen where I found Gunner and Imogen, surprisingly, elbow deep in scrambled eggs and bacon.
“You would think I haven’t fed you two since we arrived by the way you’re shoveling that food in. Did you save any for me?” I asked, sliding into a barstool next to Imogen, and reached for one of her five pieces of bacon.
“Off my food, Mister.” Imogen slapped my hand, making me drop the bacon. “I have a big day. I need my nourishment.”
“You need nourishment to have people hold dresses up in front of you and sit in a chair and have your hair fixed up?” I questioned.
“Well, if you like doing that kind of thing then no, but I’d rather wonder through stores and pick things that call out to me.” Imogen said between bites. “Of course, after eating all of this I’m gonna have to get a dress two sizes bigger.”
“Very funny.” I jabbed her in the side with my elbow. “The way you pace all the time I doubt you’ll even gain a pound from the five pounds of food you’re eating.”
They both stopped mid-bite to give me matching scowls, then went back to shoveling it in.
“Not our fault you can’t see a good thing right in front of you,” Gunner snarled.
Did he just snarl at me?
We sat eating and talking about mundane things, like ice cream flavors and getting new workout clothes. Pierre arrived and collected all the appropriate paperwork, then we were on our way. I stopped and laid a credit card on the island next to Imogen.
“This card is for you to buy everything your heart desires. Don’t worry about the designers today, they’ll bill me,” I said, then turned to leave for the day. “Oh, and try to have fun today.”
I stepped into the elevator with Pierre, but instead of Lobby Level, I entered Penthouse Two. I had requested the jeweler I used here in Paris to bring me engagement rings. He had the usual shapes and sizes. Nothing called to me, but I had to pick something, so I chose a five carat ring I thought would be Asher’s flashy style. After all, it wasn’t a real engagement for me.
