AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mr. Quinn had arranged for her to spend three weeks with his client, but Iris wasn’t always the most organized of people and she’d been concerned that she may have under packed for the trip. But she was happy to note that she’d brought enough warm clothing and underwear to last for the duration of her stay. Hoodies, cardigans, jeans and sweatpants, lots of short-sleeved tees though—she rolled her eyes at the sight of those—and a flippin’ bikini, of all things.
She’d also packed—thank the gods of small things—socks! So many, many warm pairs of thick socks. She immediately rolled a pair onto her cold, numb feet and spent a few minutes massaging some warmth back into her extremities.
Once she was fully unpacked, she tucked her suitcases into an out-of–the-way corner in the small living room and curled up with her laptop on the big easy chair facing the front door, hoping to find an email from Mr. Quinn. She didn’t necessarily believe Trystan Abbott about his manager being uncontactable. It beggared belief that an important, busy man like Mr. Quinn wouldn’t check his phone at least once a day.
She swore beneath her breath when she realized that she wasn’t—of course—connected to the Wi-Fi, and picked up her phone instead.
“Shit!” Looked like her international roaming data plan had run out. Her own fault for cheaping out and getting a plan that was good for only twenty-four hours. She’d fully expected to have access to TDH’s Wi-Fi after arrival and hadn’t seen the need to switch out SIM cards or get a more comprehensive roaming plan. Now she was as cut off as she’d been when her battery had died.
She needed to remain in contact with family and friends, people who loved her—it was essential to her mental and emotional well-being—if she was to remain trapped in here.
She stared into space for a few moments, dreading yet another frustrating interaction with TDH, but knowing that she’d have to bow down to the inevitable and attempt to persuade him to share the Wi-Fi password with her. She was still considering her current predicament—choosing for the moment not to dwell on the bigger picture—when the key turned in the lock, catching her off-guard.
She didn’t have time to react, before the door opened—without warning—and he stepped into the suite with a tray balanced on one brawny forearm.
He didn’t spare her so much as a glance, merely stepping inside, taking a few strides to the dining room table and placing the tray on it. Luna followed him into the room, and padded over to where Iris was sitting. The dog’s head was the same height as Iris’s and she booped her wet nose against Iris’s cheek, clearly demanding an ear scratch.
For a moment, Iris forgot all her woes and giggled. She tucked her laptop between her bum and the side of the chair and used both hands to frame the dog’s endearing face.
“You’re such a sweetheart,” she crooned into the dog’s ear, before giving her the scratches she deserved.
“Luna, let’s go,” TDH called the dog in his most commanding Batman voice, and Luna spared him just one glance, before blatantly opting to ignore him in favor of Iris’s scratches. “Come on, Luna.”
“Please, can she stay with me for a while?” Iris asked, hating the beseeching note in her voice. But maybe, with Luna’s companionship, the room would stop shrinking with every breath she took.
“No.”
“I promise not to trick her into revealing any of your deepest darkest secrets.”
He looked directly at her for the first time since entering the room and visibly flinched at the sight of her.
What the heck?
“Jesus, I didn’t think I’d ever see a color more hideous than your luggage, but that hoodie has it beaten by miles.”
Iris gasped.
“How rude,” she spluttered. “We can’t all walk around in mopey blacks, grays, and neutrals, like you.”
“I’m literally wearing a red shirt right now,” he pointed out. Iris blinked, nonplussed by that indisputable fact.
“Red and black,” she eventually retorted with a disdainful little snort. “Besides, you’re such a grumpy little storm cloud, you leech the color out of everything. So that red might as well be gray.”
He was staring at her in that probing, intense way of his again, and Iris betrayed her unease by shifting her weight from foot to foot before continuing doggedly, “Anyway, my point is, some people happen to like color.”
“There’s color and then there’s whatever the fuck that is,” he said, pointing at her hoodie. He looked more animated than she’d seen him since arriving here. “You look like a glowstick.”
“Just because I’m your prisoner doesn’t give you license to relentlessly mock me.”
His face tightened and his eyes went flat, as if her words had reminded him of exactly who she was and what she was doing there. Iris instantly regretted the loss of that bit of animation from his expression, and now wished she’d bantered with him instead of getting so offended. But she was exhausted, stressed, and quite honestly, petrified that she was going to wind up in jail at the end of all this. The uncertainty was eating at her, and the fear and vulnerability had her on the verge of a panic attack.
“Eat your breakfast,” he snapped, jerking his head toward the tray on the table, and Iris registered the food for the first time. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was he’d brought her to eat, but her eyes flooded with tears of gratitude.
He took a step back, appearing uncomfortable at the sight of her tears.
“Thank you so much,” she whispered. Her words were punctuated by her growling stomach and his brow lowered at the sound. She swiped at her wet eyes, embarrassed by her weepiness. “I wasn’t sure if you’d bring me any food and there’s not much to eat in here.”
His frown turned into a glower and he moved his shoulders in a jerky, awkward up-down motion.
