Jinx spun on his heel and made himself scarce.
Rule grunted. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
“You dressed?”
Feeling giddy for the chance he might want to leave the house with me, I twisted around to look at him fully. “I can be.”
His eyebrows rose slowly.
“I’m dressed, you perv, but not for leaving the house.”
There was a hint of a smile under that beard. I wanted to know how soft it was to the touch. I wanted to know if it would feel the same between my legs as it would against my fingertips.
I shook off the thought and met his gaze just as he said, “Get dressed. We’ll grab something.”
“Thank you!” I squealed as I shot up from my seat and hurried down the hall to the room I’d taken over.
I traded my shorts for my favorite jeans—the ones with pockets on the legs and a low waist. They were a bit baggy by design, but now they were loose enough to require a belt. I thought for sure I would’ve gained back some of the weight I’d been keeping off thanks to my excursion dates with Wes, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Since the extent of my exercise involved petting Waldo, every time I ate a bite, I imagined it forming itself to my waistline. Then again, I was spending a lot of time in the pool. It wasn’t made for laps, but I was getting in a brief workout every day.
I paired my jeans with a form-fitting black halter. It was simple and not something I usually wore out in public. I rolled the pants up several times and pulled on a pair of black and pink sneakers. Once dressed, I hurried to the bathroom to put on mascara and lip gloss. I didn’t wear more than that most days, if I even bothered with it at all. It took a minute to pull my hair up in a ponytail and fix a ball cap on my head.
Last but not least came my clunky rectangle frame glasses. They weren’t prescription. They were cute, but I didn’t wear them as a fashion trend. I wore them as a disguise. I’d learned they drew less attention than wearing sunglasses at night, and since I was merely the offspring of a celebrity, regular people weren’t usually expecting to see me. As for the paparazzi … I couldn’t do anything about them.
Because I couldn’t resist, I pulled on some jewelry—my rose gold Ferragamo mini watch, my diamond halo stud earrings, and my rose gold nose hoop. I reached for the Bvlgari bangle bracelet I always wore but stopped myself. I didn’t actually like the bracelet, and I only wore it because it had a tracking device implanted in it. One my mother gave me after the last time I was kidnapped, insisting I wear it in case something ever happened to me.
I stared at the damn thing and rolled my eyes. Had she felt any remorse whatsoever for what she did? Had there been an ounce of guilt when she pretended a bracelet might keep me safe from everyone but her?
I shrugged off the thought and palmed the bracelet before glancing once more at myself in the mirror.
“Good enough,” I said, content with it.
I found Rule in the kitchen, leaning against the waterfall island, his head tilted down. He appeared lost in thought, so I cleared my throat.
When he looked up, I instantly saw the familiar heat in his gaze.
I held out the bracelet for him.
“What’s this?”
“It has a tracking device so my mother knows where I am. I didn’t know if you wanted to get rid of it. Otherwise, she’ll know where you live.” If she didn’t already. Knowing Monica, she’d already looked to see where I was.
He set it on the counter. “I’m not worried about your mother.”
“Good.” I smiled. “Me, either. Now, where are you taking me?”
“Thought I’d leave it up to you.” He motioned toward the front door. “I parked out front.”
“Hmm.” I followed him into the early fall evening.
The sky was a perfect blue, with hints of pink, yellow, and purple beginning to form on the horizon as the sun got lower.
“Is there anything you won’t eat?” I asked when I joined him in the car.
“Preferably not salad.”
“No to Panera, then.”
