Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Simon
After I showered and got dressed, I walked into my study and grabbed the paper I’d printed off the printer.
I figured Bella was still asleep and would stay that way as long as possible to buy herself more time here.
I was ready to go into her bedroom and wake her up, until I walked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the island drinking a cup of coffee.
I stood on the other side of the island and set down the paper in front of her.
“What is this?” she asked, looking as beautiful today as she did yesterday.
“Rules,” I said, taking a mug from the cabinet.
“I’m sorry. What?” she asked.
“If you’re going to stay here for the month of October, there are rules you have to follow. I’ve agreed to let you stay here until October 31st.”
“How incredibly gracious of you,” she said.
“Do you want to stay or not?” My brow arched.
“Yes. I do.”
“Then read them.” I pointed.
She picked up the paper. “Okay. RULES. I can’t believe you titled it.”
“Keep reading.” I tipped the mug to my lips.
“Rule number one. My bedroom is off-limits.”
“Completely,” I said.
“I haven’t even seen your bedroom since I’ve been here, and I plan to keep it that way,” she said.
“Good. Then that rule shouldn’t be a problem.”
She continued. “Rule number two. My office is also off-limits.”
“One hundred percent,” I said.
“What’s in there?” she had the audacity to ask.
“My office.”
“That answer makes me want to go in there,” she smirked.
“Do it, and you’re out.” My eyes narrowed.
“Wow. Grumpy much.”
“I’m dead serious.”
She raised one hand. “I won’t go into your precious office, Simon. Rule number three. Do not touch or move my things.”
“I mean that,” I said. “You are not to touch or move anything.”
“Rule number four. No guests. Period.”
“Correct. No guests,” I said.
“So, what if I meet—”
“No.” I snapped.
“I haven’t even finished my sentence.” She looked up at me.
“I know where that sentence was going.” I set the mug on the island.
“No, you don’t,” she said.
“Yes, I do.”
“What if I make a friend?” she asked.
“You can see them somewhere else.”
“And what if I meet a man?”
“Definitely somewhere else,” I replied immediately.
“Interesting.” She looked down at the paper.
“What’s interesting?”
“The way you answered that so fast.”
“Because I’m not coming home and finding some strange man in my penthouse.”
“Oh. But it’s okay if you bring women here?”
“For fuck’s sake. This is MY home. I can bring anyone here when I want. These rules are for YOU. Not me.”
“Rule number five. “Primary bathroom is off limits.”
“You have your own bathroom,” I said.
“I know. Why would I use yours?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Are there secrets in your shower?” she smirked. “Bodies?”
“Knock it off and keep reading.”
“Rule number six. Don’t rearrange my kitchen.”
“I didn’t.” Her brows furrowed.
“You moved the jar with the coffee pods from the cabinet and put it next to the coffee maker. It doesn’t belong on the counter.”
“But why? It’s easier just to reach over and grab a pod than having to reach up into the cabinet,” she said.
“It’s my rule, Bella. Cabinet!”
“You might actually need professional help.” She frowned. “Rule number seven. Clean up after yourself. I’m clean.”
“There’s a coffee mug in the sink from God knows when, and the boxes that were sitting on the island yesterday.”
“The boxes had just been delivered,” she said. “I was going to put them in my room after my shower, but before I could, you scared the shit out of me.”
“Keep reading,” I said.
“Rule number eight.” She stopped and looked up at me. “No.”
“What?” My eyes narrowed.
“I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Why? What does it say, Bella?”
“You wrote it, Simon!”
“I want to hear you say it.” I gripped the island’s edge.
“Quiet after ten p.m.”
“That’s right. Not a sound after ten o’clock.”
“I’m twenty-nine, not nine,” she said. The irritation in her voice was very clear.
“I get up early,” I said.
“So do I!”
“You were watching TV after midnight last night,” I said.
“How do you know? You were sleeping. Besides, my room isn’t by yours.”
“I was up getting a bottle of water, and I heard it,” I said.
“You are unbelievable.” She shook her head. “Rule number nine. Don’t eat my food. Really?” She cocked her head. “You don’t even have any food.”
“That’s because I was supposed to be gone for three months. But now that I’m back, my housekeeper will do the grocery shopping. You buy your own groceries and keep them in the cabinet down there.” I pointed.
“What is this? Kindergarten? I’m assigned my own cubby for my things?”
“Pretty much. And as for the refrigerator.” I walked over and opened the doors. “You can have this side of this shelf only.”
“You are literally insane,” she said. “Rule number ten. THIS ARRANGEMENT ENDS ON OCTOBER 31ST. NO EXCEPTIONS.”
She looked up at me.
“October 31, your contract ends, and you move out the morning of November 1st.”
“I know that, Simon!”
“I mean it, Bella.”
“And so do I. You think I want to stay here longer than necessary? In this prison.”
I removed the pen from my suit coat and handed it to her. “Sign.”
“Seriously?” She laughed.
“Very. Sign.”
She forcefully grabbed the pen from my hand and signed her name at the bottom.
“I want to make it very clear that this is only a temporary arrangement for the month of October,” I said.
“I know that for the hundredth time. This October arrangement might just end up killing me. Then what?” She stared at me.
“What do you mean?”
“How are you going to explain to people that I died from your absurd rules?”
“So, you’re the dramatic type,” I said.
“Takes one to know one.” She smiled as she hopped off the stool. “Have a good day, Mr—shit. I don’t even know your last name.”
“It’s Montclair.”
“Have a good day, Mr. Montclair. You stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours.”
“The house better be spotless when I get home,” I shouted as she walked out of the kitchen.