He slowly looked up from his file of papers. “What?”
“I have to go out. Do you need anything?”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re to stay here until I need to go out. Then, you can come with me.”
“Well, yes. That’s the agreement for when you go out. Not when I do.”
“Then, if you leave, I leave with you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Says who?”
His eyes fell back to his papers. “Says me. When I leave, you leave. So, when you leave, I leave. It’s that simple.”
“But —”
He flickered his eyes up to mine. “That. Simple.”
I stared him down until he looked back at his handful of papers. All right. So, he wanted to play this game. That’s fine. I mean, a compromise was a compromise. But my plan for the day wouldn't work if he was at my side. I had things that needed to get done outside of grocery shopping, and if I had any chance at succeeding in my endeavors to prove to Israel that I was on his side, I had to get him to agree to staying behind.
I tapped my pen against the marble countertop. “So, guess I’m ordering groceries then?”
“Guess you are,” he murmured.
I clicked my tongue. “Want anything specific?”
“We’ve run out of olive oil.”
“Oh, the humanity.”
“Bonnie.”
I giggled softly. “It was just a joke. Lighten up. I’ll get you some more olive oil. Anything else?”
“Some chips.”
I paused. “Chips.”
“Yes. Chips. You know, crunchy potato slices.”
“Yes, I know what chips are, jack-off. I’ve just never seen you eat chips, though.”
He grinned, his eyes giving me a momentary glance. “I do now.”
I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Are you pulling my leg?”
“Trust me, you’d know if I was doing that.”
The dulcet, lowered tone of his voice made my stomach tremble with anticipation. Maybe tonight would be the night he finally cashed in on the agreement we set up. After all, I held up my end of the bargain. I was back in his bedroom, sleeping with him as if nothing was the matter. All he had to do was roll over, run his hand along my waist, and take what was rightfully his. While he wasn’t in love with me yet, I knew he wanted it. I saw it in the way his eyes lingered along my legs every time I wore a summer dress around the penthouse. I saw the way he stole glances at me every time I wore my makeup a bit differently, or whenever I tried out a different perfume. And I had to admit, my body was longing for his again.
Longing to be beneath him as he commanded my pleasures with his tongue.
I drew in a deep breath. “Okay. Well, I’m headed upstairs to order groceries. Yell up if you want anything else,” I said.
He didn’t bother looking at me. “Will do.”
I walked over to the kitchen doorway and peeked over my shoulder. Now that his attention was back on work, I could focus on getting out of there. The last thing I needed was him at my side while I went and talked with the owners of businesses I knew were on the side of my uncle. One of the things my uncle loved about me was my ability to talk my way out of any situation. I knew my tongue, and my words could be put to good use. If I could convince them to hop ship in exchange for Israel’s protection against the wrath of my uncle, we could strip Pava of his power in this city without ever firing a damn bullet. I had to find a way to get out of this penthouse.
All right, Bonnie. Think. Think hard.
I made my way upstairs and didn’t start rushing until I closed the bedroom door behind me. Then, I lunged my body over to the closet and threw open the doors. I stared at what I had, wondering if I could really pull this off. I mean, if I dressed in all black, that would certainly look suspicious. But, when my eyes settled onto my accessories, a smile slipped across my cheeks. Thank goodness, big sunglasses were the ‘it’ fashion right now, because they were also a great face-concealer. I plucked the largest pair I owned and slid them on, pleased that they covered about half of it. I plucked a silken scarf out of the drawer and draped it over my head, seeing how much of me it covered with the sunglasses. And the shadow it cast alone covered the rest of my face.
“Perfect,” I whispered.
I tossed both of the items onto the bed behind me and started stripping out of my clothes. I needed something that made me look inconspicuous. Something that everyday people wore and didn’t bat an eye at. I rummaged through my dresses and my gowns. I pulled out a few blouses before tossing them down to the floor. Everything I had was so expensive, and I never thought that would play against me in my life. But, as I continued rifling through dozens upon dozens of name-brand clothes that everyone would stop to ogle at, I cursed myself,
Of course, I don’t have regular clothes when I need them.
“Come on. There has to be something,” I murmured.
Then, it hit me.
I rushed over to Israel’s drawer and started rifling through his clothes. I know I’d seen them. He’d worn them once, and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I dug down deep into his drawer. Beyond the sweatpants and the t-shirts and the undershirts and the socks. But, when I reached way back into the bottom drawer, I felt them. I felt the rough, torn fabric against my fingertips as I stretched and maneuvered my arm, trying to get a good grip on them. The denim jeans he owned.
Then, I felt my hand grasp them against my palm.
“Gotcha,” I hissed.
I pulled them out and quickly slid them on. I’d have to roll them up since they were much too long,
