Page 64 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

Archer swallows harshly and his gaze meets mine again, this time something else hidden in his eyes. "Wait, you knew who I was and still chose to come here?"

"I didn't know that first day," I admit. When Silver sent me here, the only information I had was Archer's first name, last initial, and address. Silver told me he was a friend and that he would keep me safe. I figured he was connected to the life somehow, but it wasn’t until Grace told me that I started piecing things together. Still, it doesn't change the fact that I'm here, and that I'm not going anywhere.

Archer stands there, waiting for me to fill the silence.

"I'm not afraid of you," I tell him.

His intense stare threatens to undo me as he says, "You should be."

Chapter 18

Archer

London and I haven't spoken in forty-eight hours and I don't know what's worse, her silent treatment or her incessant nagging. Part of me wishes she'd go back to yelling at me about nothing and everything instead of closing me out.

But closing me out is what is best for us. Every time we talk, we argue, for no real reason, and it ends in the same heated passion between us that neither one of us can seem to ignore.

This is better. London is here temporarily and once she's gone, I'll return to my life of solitude. My life of numbing the pain and ignoring everything else as much as I possibly can.

"Will you wash my hair?" she asks me, the sound of her voice startling me from my daze.

I blink a few times and turn toward her, unsure of whether I imagined her to begin with.

"Uh, hello?" She snaps her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Archer."

I clear my throat and stand from my desk. "Yeah." I make my way over to the bathroom but notice she's already got the supplies sitting in the kitchen on the counter. How unaware wasI that she managed to do that without me noticing? I change my course of action and go to the counter, my mind begging to be anywhere but here.

London stands at the end of the island, her hands to her sides, her eyes trained on me.

"Right." I approach her, grab under her arms, and hoist her onto the counter.

"Are you okay?" she asks me while lying on her back. "You're being weirder than usual."

"I'm my normal weird," I tell her and turn on the water, adjusting the faucet until I get the right temperature.

"Are you going to keep giving me the silent treatment?" London looks up at me from her position on the counter, her eyes squinted when I bring the nozzle over.

"I thought you were givingmethe silent treatment," I tell her and rinse her hair, making sure to cover her forehead and not splatter her too much. I lather some shampoo into my hands before massaging it into her hair, paying special attention to her scalp and not pushing too hard. The last time we did this she mentioned a skull fracture, and I don't exactly want to make that worse.

"Truce?" London says, and I can't tell if she's being genuine or not. "I mean, I'm still mad at you for ruining my birthday, but you kind of made up for it."

"How about I let you ruin my birthday? Then we can call it even?" I rinse the shampoo from her hair and squeeze as much water out as possible before putting some conditioner through her ends.

"Deal." London closes her eyes and for a minute it's like she's enjoying this. "Hey, we should probably go to the grocery store."

"Yeah, we're getting low on supplies. I was going to go tomorrow morning, but if you want to go."

"I've never been."

I stop moving and look at her. "What?"

London shrugs. "We had a housekeeper and I'm pretty sure she went."

"Okay, yeah, we're definitely popping your grocery store cherry then."

"Ew, that makes it sound gross."

"We can go when we're done with your hair, if you want." I finish getting the conditioner out, smoothing some of the tangles, and wrap her hair in a towel. "I can blow-dry it for you."

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