Now, I was alone. And I reveled in every glorious minute of my solitude. Trey was still at Headquarters for another hour or two, and Bram was coming over as soon as the sun set.
I'd spent all day working on my Bram book and was now up to chapter seven. Even though I hadn't had a chance to interview Bram, I figured I could pepper the book with his stories later on. For now, I just wanted to get the bare bones finished.
Two strong knocks on the front door broke my concentration. I closed my file before approaching the door, palming the Op 6 at my side.
“Who is it?” I demanded, hoping it could only be the best looking man I'd seen in Splendor who also happened to be the most frustrating. “Knight.” Ding ding, I won. My hand hovered over the lock while a grin spread across my face.
“I'm sorry, I didn't hear you,” I glanced through the peephole to find Knight laden with grocery bags. His brows pasted together in annoyance. Time to get him back for pulling the naked in my bed stunt.
“Dulcie, my arms are full, and I don't have the patience to play games with you,” he snapped. “Open the door.”
My grin broadened. Retribution is a beautiful thing. “Didn't you read the sign that says 'no solicitors'?” I eyed the peephole again, relishing every minute of his discomfort. The words: “don't get mad; get even” echoed through my head and inspired another grin on my lips.
Knight's sigh was long and loud enough to get through the door. “I'm giving you to the count of three, and then I'm taking the door down.” Hmm, apparently he was impatient and short-tempered. “One.” He wouldn’t dare.
I crossed my arms against my chest and continued watching him through the tiny hole in the door. His face was flushed red and dripping with irritation. “Two.” Okay, maybe he would dare. He put the bags on the ground while I clutched the doorknob. “Three.”
I yanked the door open before he could do any permanent damage. “Knight, why didn't you say it was you?” I asked with a beaming smile.
Knight frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Very funny.”
Then he dropped his gaze to the paper bags sitting on the ground beside him. “You wanna give me a hand with these?”
Making no motion to assist him, I glanced into one of the paper bags and noticed Captain Crunch cereal, a bag of apples and a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup. “Groceries?” I asked, as if the idea that he'd gone to the store was completely foreign. He grabbed four bags and carried them inside while the other two sat there idly, seemingly upset at having been left alone. “You have no food in this place. And I'm a hungry man.”
I shook my head. Knight going grocery shopping was one subject I'd never considered. I finally bent down and gathered the remaining bags into my arms, closing the door behind me with a kick of my heel. Watching him stroll through the living room, I tried to judge whether or not it seemed like he had any inkling about my dream. It didn’t seem as though he did.
“Well, I don't cook,” I said, retiring the bags on the kitchen counter. Knight was already unloading the ones he'd brought in. I took a seat at the kitchen table and watched him. Hey, he bought them, let him unload them. Knight faced me with a broad smile. “You don't do anything domestic.” “Just because I'm a woman…” “Dulcie, I didn't mean it like that. It's just an observation. I like your modern Wonder Woman sensibilities.” Wonder Woman? What?
I shook my head and watched him pull open the vegetable bin of the refrigerator. He fished out a bag of rotten onions, holding just the tip of the plastic bag as if afraid the onion would crawl out and rub itself against his hand.
Casting me a look of disdain, he dropped them into the trashcan. “Any other surprises in here?”
“I guess you'll find out soon enough,” I answered in a saccharin tone.
Knight chuckled and filled the vegetable bin with bags of carrots, onions and potatoes. Shaking his head, he turned his baby blues on me. “You take things way too seriously, Dulcie, you need to lighten up.”
My lingering smile vanished. Who in Hades did he think he was? “I don't take things too seriously,” I started but was interrupted by Knight's sarcastic expression. “I mean, I wouldn't describe myself as easy going…”
“By any stretch of the imagination.”
“Hey, what is this? Bash Dulcie day?” I knew I could be…tough…at times, but that's the type of personality a Regulator needed. What did he expect me to be? Some weakling who cried at the drop of a hat? Like Trey? “See, taking me too seriously again.” I muttered something unintelligible even to my own ears before changing the subject. “So, where were you all day?” He held up a box of Hungry Jack pancake mix. “Isn't it obvious?” “Going to the store takes maybe an hour or two at most. You've been gone all day, smart ass.”
Hoisting a twenty-bottle pack of water, he placed it atop the counter and tore through the plastic, tossing a bottle to me as he grabbed another for himself. “Been keeping tabs on me, have you?”
Why weren’t conversations with Knight ever easy? “No…well, yes, I just wanted to tell you I didn't appreciate your little stunt last night.”
Knight leaned against the counter and crossed his arms against his massive chest. “There was plenty of room on the bed. You seemed to fit alright.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So, you were awake even though you pretended to be asleep?”
He chuckled and grabbed the chair next to me and straddled it.
I took the cap off my bottle of water and sipped it, hoping it would give me time to come up with a good response. “Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor again.” Apparently, it wasn't time enough.
He nodded. “That's fine.”
“And you're not sleeping in my bed again.”
He stood up and started collecting the clutter of paper bags littering my floor. When he faced me with raised brows, I pointed to the cupboard next to the stove, and he packed the bags in, closing the cupboard door behind him. “I can't sleep on the floor,” he said. “I have a bad back.” “Well, you should've thought about that before pulling your little naked stunt last night.” “Fine, I'll wear boxers.” Knight chuckled. “Do we have a deal?”
I was just waiting for him to bring up the dream but he never did. Thank Hades. “Fine.” I cleared my throat, not at all okay with the image of Knight's tight ass in boxers. “And about where you were for the rest of the day today…”
“Confidential.”
“You're impossible,” I snapped and stood up from the kitchen chair so fast, I banged my naked ankle against the wooden leg. I yearned to grab it and hop around the kitchen in pain, since that’s the only thing that seems to help. Instead, I just bit my lip and threw myself into the desk chair and reopened my word document.
I decided to ignore Knight for the rest of the evening.
The sound of the door opening startled me to attention, and I turned to observe Trey striding in, acting like he owned the place. “Hey, Dulce, whatcha doin?”
“Nothing,” I grumbled.
Trey dropped his man-bag at the foot of the couch and started for the kitchen, his first pit stop whenever he returned from work. He ran headlong into Knight who kept him at arm's length. “Hiya, Todd.” “Hi, Trey, how's it going?” “Good. You guys eat dinner yet?”
I didn't bother responding but glanced back at the door, waiting to see if Quillan had followed Trey. After a few seconds, it looked like he hadn’t. So, because of the Knight-staying-with-me thing, he was avoiding me. Just great.
“I went to the store so help yourself,” Knight said as he headed into the living room.
Trey nodded. “Word.”
I sighed and returned to my computer while Trey rifled through the cabinets, apparently hell-bent on finding something to contribute to his weight problem.
“What's the plan for tonight?” Trey asked, while opening the box of Captain Crunch. He shoved his hand into it, throwing a handful of nuggets into his mouth. Note to self: avoid Captain Crunch. I glanced at Knight, who'd collapsed into the sofa and resumed his channel surfing.
“You guys are on your own,” I said. “Bram's coming over.”
Knight dropped his feet from the coffee table, and the sound of his boots hitting the floor was like a bowling ball falling from two stories up.
