Chapter 13
Elijah
The food was a fuck-up. I hadn’t meant to get so much, but I also had no idea what the hotel’s menu looked like so had given a throwaway order. Bonnie scowled over her bowl of granola then searched the kitchen for containers for the rest of it.
I scarfed down the last of the hot food then went to help.
“In my defence, I didn’t expect them to do this.”
Raising her head from where she opened and closed mostly empty cupboards, Bonnie glowered darker. “No? Are your regular staff mind readers who only bring a selection of the complete food order of a small country?”
I laughed. She didn’t.
“It was a mistake. I was trying to impress you.”
Some of her annoyance bled away. “I don’t like wasting anything. If it isn’t obvious, I don’t live like you do. There have been times…”
Her words dried up.
My heart thumped. “I didn’t grow up with money. We were dirt-poor. I know what it’s like to want. To go to bed hungry.”
Her gaze briefly flicked to mine, and she returned to a drawer that thankfully had containers inside. “That was a long time ago, right? Ancient history when you no longer have to bat an eye at a hotel bill the length of my arm.”
True. I wouldn’t even see the bill. Mitch handled all things like that for me.
We boxed up the disastrous breakfast in silence, then I called Alton to come take away the plates.
“Will you need your driver today, sir?”
“No. I think I need to head out on a run. And call me Elijah, please.”
“Very good, sir.” The butler disappeared in the lift.
Across the space, Bonnie watched me. “You have a driver as well?”
“The hotel has a service on call for guests. Just the same as Alton isn’t my member of staff. He comes with the apartment. I don’t travel with an entourage like a rockstar.”
Her shoulders sank a degree, some of the hostility leaving her. Bonnie had a problem with my money. I could only guess at why, but it left me with a dilemma. How to get her to fall for me while resisting the urge to spend every penny I had on impressing her.
I could order her diamonds, the contents of high-end boutiques, any luxury shit that existed to please her.
The only problem was, I was pretty sure that would be the trigger for her to walk away when thirty days were up.
Money was not the way to this woman’s heart, and that fact only made me want her more.
I passed her, heading towards the hallway. As I did, I stripped my shirt.
Bonnie’s eyes flared.
Gotcha.
The key was in how badly she wanted me, which if it was anything like the degree I wanted her, was a constant distraction.
“Come on,” I ordered.
“For what? I mean why?” she stumbled.
“After that huge spread, we’re going for a run.”
If on the way we found a quiet spot where I could fuck her, then all the better.