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I wanted to call her out on her bullshit, but I was enjoying watching her squirm. She located the plates and set them out beside the box of pastries.
I had to admit, all the food did smell and look good. I wasn’t going to get used to this, though. I wasn’t planning on keeping her around, and I didn’t want her feeling too much at home.
I grabbed one of the bagels from the box and picked up the coffee without thanking her. “I’ve got work to deal with. You’ll be eating by yourself.”
She pressed her lips together. “Fine.”
Holding the bagel in one hand and the coffee in the other, I took myself back upstairs to get dressed. It was impossible to relax knowing she was down there, though—not that I was much into relaxing anyway. I still had to figure out who the fuck had taken our money, and that was not only going to take some time, it was also going to mean getting my hands dirty.
Chapter Eight
Hallie
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THE RED RING AROUNDmy wrist looked worse than it felt, but the sight of it still filled me with fury.
I’d woken that morning to find Tam asleep beside me. I was surprised that I’d managed to doze off, too, considering I was in a strange bed, and the man beside me was less than friendly. But he’d seemed different in his sleep—softer, and younger. His dark lashes had been resting on his cheeks, and his lips were parted. The bedcovers had been pulled halfway down his chest, and it gave me a moment to appreciate his body. The boys, and men, I’d had any kind of contact with before had always been younger and leaner, but Tam was thick with muscle. A flash of his blurred silhouette through the shower glass screen pushed its way into my head, and I shoved it away.
But he still hadn’t touched me. He’d threatened it before he’d left, but when he’d come home, he’d taken care of himself. I knew better than to think Tam Cornell was all talk, but perhaps he was kinder than he made out.
When Tam showed no sign of waking, I’d slipped out of bed in search of food. I hadn’t eaten the previous evening, settling on a liquid dinner instead, and now my stomach felt hollow. In the kitchen, I’d flicked on the radio to fill the uncomfortable silence and then proceeded to search the cupboards for food. Tam had warned me that there was no food in the house, but I hadn’t taken him literally. Surely everyone hadsomething,even if it was just a few slices of bread and a can of beans. But, it turned out, he hadn’t been lying and my searches had come up empty. On a whim, I decided to order us breakfast. People always said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, so I thought I’d get us both a decent spread and, when he woke, he might actually appreciate me being here.
That clearly hadn’t worked either.
My phone pinged with a message from Layla.
How was your first night with the old man?
I checked Tam wasn’t anywhere around to see what I was writing and typed back.
Uneventful.
She sent back a couple of eyeroll emojis, followed by a heart, and I couldn’t help laughing.
I wondered if I should call my dad and let him know how I was getting on. I was hurt that he hadn’t been the one to phone me yet, but I knew he was busy. Still, it would have been nice to know he was thinking about me, especially since I’d made my feelings clear about this arrangement. That was probably the reason I hadn’t heard from him. He’d never been good with emotions—especially female emotions—and would rather avoid a conversation than deal with it. There were times where I didn’t know how my mother had put up with him. She’d been the opposite, always willing to hug and cry and talk about anything and everything. It had been years since she’d died, but I still missed her every day.
