“Good morning,” I said, stepping into the kitchen.
She spun around to face me. “Oh, I didn’t see you there.” She reached for the digital radio and switched it off, so silence fell over the room.
“You didn’t need to do that,” I told her. “I was enjoying the show.”
Her cheeks pinked up. “I didn’t know anyone was watching.”
Her gaze drifted down to the front of my grey bottoms, and her eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of my semi outlined in the material. I held back a smirk. Things were always active down there first thing in the morning, and having a pretty girl bumping and grinding in my kitchen certainly helped things along.
The buzzer for the front gate went, and I frowned at it. I hadn’t been expecting anyone, but Hallie hurried over to let whoever it was in. I stepped in close behind her, and as she reached for the button to open the gates, I grabbed her wrist and spun her round to face me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I growled. She was getting far too comfortable for my liking. She hadn’t even been here twenty-four hours yet.
She started in surprise. “What? You said I could order in whatever I wanted, remember? And since you don’t have anything other than milk or booze in your fridge, I thought I’d order breakfast.”
I scowled. “You don’t just go letting anyone in here, do you understand? If it doesn’t fit between the bars of the gate, you don’t get to have it.”
“Bloody hell. I really am in a prison.”
“It’s to keep you safe, stupid girl. You know what line of business our families are in. You open that gate to let someone in, and then next thing you know, you’re tied up, or raped, or kidnapped, while some arsehole is ransacking my house, looking for something they might be able to use against me.”
She wrenched her wrist out of my grip.
Her eyes met mine, sparks of grey flitting through the green, like thunderclouds mirrored in the ocean.
She spoke through gritted teeth. “It’ll fit through the bars.”
I jerked my chin towards the front door. “Go then.”
I released my grip on her arm. A red ring encircled her pale skin. I’d hurt her. Good. Maybe next time she’d be more sensible.
She put her head down and left the kitchen. I followed her progress as she opened the front door and ran down the driveway to the electric gates. I waited by the open doorway, watching. She gesticulated to the delivery driver then motioned back to the house, most likely saying the man she’s currently living with is a controlling psychopath who won’t let her open the gate.
It wasn’t as though she was wrong.
Eventually, the delivery driver slid the box of food—which luckily was rectangular but fairly flat—followed by a couple of large coffee cups and a cardboard cup holder through the bars. Hallie balanced the cups on top of the box and turned back to the house.
I slipped back into the kitchen, not wanting her to know I’d watched her. I retuned the radio to an old rock channel, another way to remind her that this was my home, and she was no better than an intruder here.
She came into the kitchen, her arms laden, and placed the box and cups onto the marble kitchen island. The aroma of baked goods filled the air, and my stomach growled, my mouth watering.
Hallie ignored me and opened the package. It was a graze box of breakfast foods—muffins, waffles, croissants, ham and cheese bagels, plus a fruit platter of blueberries, strawberries, slices of watermelon, nuts, and yogurt.
I cocked an eyebrow. “How many people did you think you were feeding?”
She looked me up and down, and I noted how her gaze lingered on my chest and biceps. For someone who kept trying to make out like she had no interest in me, she certainly had a roving eye.
“I thought, given the size of you, that you probably had a good appetite.”
I allowed one corner of my lip to curl. “I have a good appetite for everything.”
A blush rose to her cheeks, and she glanced away but kept talking. “Here, I even ordered you a coffee. I figured you’d need it after your late night.”
“You noticed me coming in late then?”
What else had she noticed? Had she been aware of what I’d done in the shower after I got back?
She didn’t look at me but busied herself opening my kitchen cupboards, hunting for plates. “Barely. I was half asleep.”