I quickly dressed, but couldn’t leave without cleaning up from last night. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but I needed to leave her place looking just as good as when I got here last night.
After that, I thought about going home, but I had this nagging feeling that I needed to check in with Ellie—to make sure she was okay. Maybe she just said she was okay, but was really having a hard time dealing with the ground rules I laid out. In which case, I couldn’t allow those feelings to fester.
After stopping by The Daily Grind for coffee, I headed to her shop, surprised to see her hard at work behind the locked door. Knocking on the glass, she glanced up and smiled, laying down the clothing she was folding before rushing over to me and unlocking the door.
“Morning, handsome,” she grinned. “What brings you by?”
“Well, I woke up alone in bed, and I thought I’d come check in with you.”
“Why?” she frowned, then eyed the coffee. “Is that for me?”
When I nodded, she greedily took it from my hands and headed back to her work.
Why?She wanted to know why I was checking in with her. I woke up and she was gone after having this whole discussion last night about what she needed, and then in the morning, she vanished.
And she wanted to know why.
“I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” I said, making my way further into the store.
“Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, you left your own house with me still in your bed.”
“I had an early delivery,” she sighed, opening a box. “I thought my entire shipment came the other day, but some of the items were on back order, and the delivery guy was going to be here bright and early. If I wasn’t here to let him in, he would have marked them as non-deliverable. And then I would havehad to sort out that mess and wait for a second shipment to arrive.”
So, this had nothing to do with me. She really did need to come to work.
“And that’s it?” I asked.
She looked up from where she was untangling necklaces that got linked together. “Is what it?”
“The reason you left,” I prodded.
Her eyes slowly shifted in thought, like she was trying to work out the puzzle.
Me.
I was that puzzle because I was standing here questioning her about her intentions when she already told me the reason she left so damn early.
“I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t done anything to piss you off,” I clarified. “After our discussion last night, I was worried that I said or did something that?—”
“Ryder, seriously, we don’t have to do this. I’m perfectly aware of where you stand, and you know my stance as well. I didn’t see the point in waking you up when I had to leave so early. I mean, it’s not like you were going to steal anything from me.”
“No, but what if I had rifled through your things like a woman?”
She shot me an amused look. “One, I have never rifled through a boyfriend’s things?—”
I cringed at the word boyfriend, but didn’t say anything. She was just trying to make a point.
“And second, if you had, all you would find is my secret box filled with paperwork.”
That was interesting. “What kind of paperwork?”
She widened her eyes, then looked around to make sure we were alone. “Taxes. Oh, and that one ticket I got for prostitution.”
“Excuse me?” I snapped.
A smile twitched across her face at my anger. She was fucking teasing me.
