“We didn't look through your closet when we?—”
“Kidnapped me,” she helpfully supplied, giving him her sweetest smile, which made him chuckle.
“Not going to let me live that one down, are you, little ladybug?”
“Would you if you were me?”
“No.” The smile slid off his face, and Rose regretted making the comment, true though it was.
They might be making nice with her because they had found a new use for her, but the facts were, they were still holding her prisoner, even if her cell was nicer now, with a huge comfortable bed, a bathroom, and a big picture window. If the door was kept permanently locked, it was a prison cell, and she needed to make sure she remembered that.
Still, Steel appeared to be making an effort, so she should, too.
Stepping up to the bed, she poked one of the bags a little to glance inside. “Clothes?”
“Pretty sure I guessed your size right, but I don’t know if you're a dresses and boots, or jeans and sweater kind of girl.”
“I can be either,” she admitted the small truth, not to try to make Steel see her as a real person and be more willing to let her go, she knew he wasn't going to change his mind, but because she couldn’t figure out how she felt about this man.
She hated him, yes, absolutely, for everything he’d done to her. But he set her body alight in ways she hadn't experienced, had never wanted to experience, and there was some strange sense of security in his obsession.
“Then you have something to wear no matter how you're feeling.”
“I'm sure my bedroom will be pleased to see me dressed up with nowhere to go,” she shot back with an eye roll.
Something that might have been as close to guilt as this man was capable of feeling flickered in his dark eyes. “Rose?—”
“It’s fine,” she quickly cut him off. She was already having trouble keeping him squarely in the captor role, she didn't need him to say anything to make it even harder. “What else did you get?”
“Snacks. Again, I didn't know what you liked, so I got some of everything.”
Rifling through the bags he indicated, she found potato chips, popcorn, and a whole array of different types of candy. Locating some M&Ms, Rose pulled them out, finding they were the peanut ones she loved and quickly ripped open the packet.
“Mmm,” she moaned as the sweet taste exploded on her tongue. “These are my favorite.” Her stomach growled loudly, and she might have been embarrassed, only it was Steel’s fault she was starving so she saw no reason to hide it.
“Uh, yeah, about that, sorry, I should have brought you lunch earlier, only I had an important phone call to make, and you were still asleep when I brought up breakfast.”
It helped a tiny bit to know he’d brought her breakfast, and she hadn't woken up until at least lunch time. Much as she’d love to ask about the phone call, Rose merely shrugged. “Would have been nice if the room came with food, but at least I have a bed and a toilet.”
“The room does come with food,” he growled.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Reaching over for one of the bags, he picked it up, stuck his hand inside, and brought it out with two freshly wrapped sandwiches. “I made us lunch.”
“You made them?” she asked dubiously, not bothering to reach for one. “Last time you said you made me something, you also mentioned adding drugs to it to knock me out. I think I’llpass.” Her stomach grumbled loudly again as she said it, and the huge man standing before her growled again.
“Do you have to be stubborn all the time?”
“Yes.”
“I said I added the sedatives to the food because I was intending to take you home.”
“Yet I'm still here,” she reminded him.
“To keep you safe. Would you just eat the sandwich?” Unwrapping it, he took a big bite, then handed it over to her. “There. See? No sedatives.”
Since she really was pretty hungry, Rose reached out a trembling hand and took the sandwich he offered, hoping he wasn't going to point out the way her hand shook. Thankfully, he didn't, just strolled across the room and sat down on the chaise lounge, opening up his own sandwich and beginning to eat it.
