I groaned and put a hand on my stomach. “I don’t think I can eat dinner.” Then, I remembered his promise of Greek food. “And I don’t think I could handle the Greek food you mentioned at lunch.”
“Maybe some soup?”
Since the day had grown even colder than the one before, soup sounded perfect.
“Are you going to whip up a big pot?” I asked, arching a brow at him.
“No, but I do have a couple of containers in the freezer from my last batch.”
I huffed out a breath and shook my head.
“What?” he asked.
“If you weren’t a vampire who’d kidnapped me, I would appreciate your domesticity.”
“I told you, I didn’t—”
“Kidnap me. Yes, you’ve mentioned that several times since you handcuffed me to a bed, chased me through the woods, and forced me to go everywhere with you. That all sounds like kidnapping-type behavior to me.”
The steering wheel creaked beneath his grip. “Well, our truce didn’t last long.”
“I think it lasted well enough considering this is the first time I’ve mentioned it since lunchtime. That’s a whole four hours.”
He grunted but drove the rest of the way to his house without a word.
As soon as we entered the house, he shucked his coat. “I’m going to change. Make yourself at home.” Then, he paused. “Just don’t move anything around.”
I laughed to myself as he bounded up the narrow staircase just off the kitchen. And made plans to hide all his remotes. Once I found the television in this place.
I rubbed my hands together against the chill in the house and walked down the hallway that ran by the stairs. I hadn’t gotten to explore the house last night, so I intended to do that now. The heavy metal bracelet on my right wrist bounced on my forearm and I realized that Daniel hadn’t explained what it was.
I also couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about it because it wasn’t exactly dainty.
I fingered the metal and cabochon-cut stones as I wandered past a room that seemed to be a butler’s pantry. At the end of the hall, there was another door, this one shut. I twisted the knob and pushed it open. I ran my hand over the wall next to the door until I flicked on a light switch. Then, I gasped. Followed by a laugh.
The room was an absolute man cave. And not in the sense that his study was a man cave with dark woods, books, a fireplace, and a few decanters of dark brown liquor.
No, this was a boy-man’s dream room. There was a pool table beneath a stained-glass hanging lamp that looked like it’d come straight from an old-fashioned pool hall. A few feet away, against another wall, was a foosball table. On the opposite side of the room was a hexagon-shaped poker table in glossy wood so dark it was nearly black. And on the wall next to me was the biggest flat screen television I’d ever seen, facing a giant black leather sectional, complete with cup holders and extra deep cushions. In the far corner, just past the television, was a wet bar with shelves full of liquor, the wood in the same glossy nearly-black finish as the poker table.
With another laugh, I walked deeper into the room and took it all in. Movie posters and shelves of memorabilia were crammed on the walls. There was even a dart board in the corner behind the pool table.
Oh, I was going to make myself very at home in this room. I might even leave Daniel’s remotes alone if I got to remain in possession of them.
I started pressing the buttons on the remote until the TV flashed on. I settled deeper into the sofa and started scrolling through the channels. Maybe I could find something guaranteed to make my captor flinch.
After a mostly boring day, maybe I could stir things up a little tonight.
* * *
My plans toannoy Daniel Ayres were an abject failure.
When he found me in the man cave, watchingWednesdayon Netflix, he grinned and plopped down on the other end of the sectional.
“I love this show.”
I gritted my teeth but didn’t say anything.
“Can’t watch it with Garrett though because all he does is bitch and moan about how wrong they got the werewolf stuff.”
