Forcing himself go through his emails after making himself breakfast, Reaper didn’t look up from the computer when he heard Ginny come into the room.
“Good morning.”
“Morning.”
Opening an email from Viper, he started reading, tuning her out as she went to the kitchen.
“You’re up early.”
He didn’t respond, continuing to work on the computer.
“I can make us something to eat, if you’re hungry?”
“I ate.”
“Couldn’t have been much. I don’t see any dishes.”
“I did them.”
“You already did them and put them away?”
“Yes.”
“I knew you were the perfect man for me.”
His attention flew from the computer screen to Ginny, whose smile showed she achieved her goal.
“I’m going to make a cup of coffee. Would you like a cup?”
“No, thanks. If I want one, I can get it.”
Her smile disappearing, she turned from the counter to get her coffee.
Staring at the computer screen, he couldn’t remember where he left off and had to start over. When he read the email for the third time, he admitted to himself that he was listening to the small sounds Ginny was making instead of concentrating on working.
Answering Viper’s email became a trial in endurance when she took a seat opposite of him, taking a bite of her toast as she stared a hole through the back of the computer. He ignored it as long as he could before raising glowering eyes.
“What?”
“Are you usually this quiet in the morning, or is it just me?”
“Both.” Becoming exasperated, more at himself for letting her divert his attention, he added, “I’m trying to work.”
As she stared at him thoughtfully, Reaper tried not to squirm uncomfortably. His eyes dropped to her throat when she swallowed a bite of her toast, trying to prepare himself for what would come out of her mouth next.
“Go ahead. I won’t say another word. I promise.”
Well, that wasn’t fucking good.
Taking a sip of her coffee, she took her cell phone out and started doing something on it.
Lowering his gaze back to the email, he tried again to focus, unable to prevent himself from looking at her intermittently through his lashes as she finished her toast and coffee before gathering her cup and plate and going back to the kitchen. When she didn’t come back to the living room, he began to wonder what she was doing. The more he told himself not to look, the more he wanted to. Hearing her opening and closing cabinets, then going to the refrigerator had him thinking she was doing it to irritate him. He was about to give in to his curiosity and ask what she was doing when she breezed out of the kitchen and went into her bedroom.
With her finally gone, he was able to finish Viper’s email and had pulled up another when she breezed back in again, carrying a jacket.
“Where are you going?”
When Ginny pinched two fingers together and slid them across the front of her lips, then pretended to throw something over her shoulder, he knew he was getting payback.
“Locking your lips and throwing the key away is juvenile. I need to get this done, but hey, if you want to go out ….” Snapping the computer shut, he started to get up to go with her, irritated the work he told her he wanted to get done would have to wait. When he would have gotten up, though, she raised a hand to stop him as a knock sounded on the door.
Walking to the door, Ginny flicked the locks before opening the door.
“Don’t open ….” He got up so fast his thigh hit the leg of the table.
She didn’t listen, opening the door as Reaper came to limping stop to see Nickel on the other side.
“You ready?” Nickel asked, eyeballing him from over Ginny’s shoulder.
“Yes. I hope I didn’t disturb you.” Ginny gave Nickel the same sweet smile she gave him that turned his dick on like a circuit breaker.
“No.” Nickel grinned at her. “I could use some groceries, too. Rider only left half a jar of peanut butter and a few cans of soup. You mind if we grab some lunch before we go? I’m starving.”
“Works for me. All I’ve had is toast. You in a mood for some burgers?” Ginny asked, placing her phone in her purse.
She was taking him to their restaurant? Technically, it wasn’t their restaurant, and he hadn’t wanted to go back, but she didn’t know that.
“Are you kidding? I eat so many burgers the brothers call me the burger king,” Nickel bragged.
“Since when?”
Nickel glared at Reaper at the snide question.
Ginny ignored the exchange between them, going through the doorway as if he didn’t exist. “Then you’re going to love the restaurant I’m going to take you to.”
How in the fuck did she consider that dive a restaurant?
“Ready?”
“Ready is my middle name,” Nickel joked back at her.
“Your middle name is Dwight,” Reaper mockingly revealed the truth.
Nickel gave Ginny a pained look, taking her arm. “I can see why you wanted to get out. I’m buying.”
Reaper shut the door on her muffled laughter, cursing when he realized Nickel had the only set of keys to the rental car.
Before he could barrel out of the apartment after them, he got a text. Looking at his phone, he saw it was Nickel telling him that he left the keys on the counter in the other apartment. He wanted to follow to make sure she wasn’t being tailed, but he also needed to establish a routine of them being apart to give her stalker an opportunity to find a pattern of behavior.
Pacing around the room, he felt caged in with her being out without him. He didn’t give a fuck if was with Nickel; it didn’t lessen the antsy feeling that had him wanting to climb the walls. He had planned for her to be in rehearsal or somewhere else where there were multiple people around, not out alone with Nickel, going to the same place she had taken him.
Fuck it. He was going.
His hand was on the doorknob when the phone vibrated in his pocket. Ginny sent him a text this time. His mind started going to a horror-ridden scenario where Nickel had been blindsided and she was running for her life, and she was begging him to save her. Pressing down on the message, the dark path his mind was going down took a second to comprehend what he was staring at. A fucking happy face emoji. Below was a picture of the diner. Ginny was letting him know she was safe and where they were.
Shakily sitting back down at the computer, he forced himself to open his emails again, trying to get his breathing back to normal. He was tempted to take his pulse, then decided he didn’t want to know if he was about to have a heart attack.
Let it be a fucking surprise.
Resuming work on his emails, an hour later, she sent another happy emoji, showing which grocery store they were at with the address below. Searching on Google maps, he saw it was just four miles away from her apartment.
Without Ginny’s presence, he was able to finish his work, only to be left wandering around the rooms, waiting for her to come back. Glancing at his watch, he timed how long it should take them to shop then drive back. Giving them an extra fifteen minutes, he went to the window, looking down at the parking lot anxiously waiting for Ginny’s car to appear.