Page 13 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

"I owe you one, Arch."

"Yeah, you do." Archer's gaze trails to mine as he hangs up on Silver and folds his tattooed arms over his chest. He draws in a breath and tenses his jaw. "Do I even want to know why Vito's after you?"

I shrug. "Probably not."

He rubs at his beard, and I wish like hell I could make it all stop. I don't want his pity, I don't want his help, I don't want anything from anyone, other than to be left alone. But isn't that all Archer wanted, too? And now here I am, disrupting just that.

"It won't be for long," I add. "Just until I can get on my feet and find somewhere else to stay."

“He’s untouchable.”

“I know.”

“If he’s after you, this is a problem that will never go away.”

“I just need a little time.”

"He told me to keep you safe."

"All I need is a place to crash until I can find something else. Then I'll be out of your hair."

"How long?"

"I don't know, a month or two." The idea of living with a complete stranger isn't lost on me, but I don't exactly have any other options. I left everything behind when my father died, everything except the clothes I showed up here in and the injuries he left me as a parting gift.

"We'll need some ground rules," Archer says.

"Of course," I comply, because what other choice do I have in the matter?

"Do not touch my computers."

I roll my eyes. "Very protective of your porn stash, got it."

"I'm serious, London. Do not mess with them. Do you hear me?" He stands up straighter, as if he isn't already a foot taller than me, his voice stern with each word.

"I hear you, grumpy. What else?"

"No falling in love."

This time, it's my turn to laugh. But once I come down from the absurd remark, I realize Archer is stone-cold serious. "Oh, you weren't joking."

His intense stare doesn't look away. "I wasn't."

I walk toward him, my head tilting upward when I finally reach him. I pat his chest with my uninjured arm. "Don't worry, big guy. Plus, if anyone's falling in love, it's you." I leave him to return to the kitchen, his gaze hot on my back each step of the way.

Is Archer attractive? Absolutely. But could I see myself falling in love with him? Absolutely not. We're nothing alike. Archer is wound so tightly he's set to explode at any given moment. He's grumpy, way too mysterious for his own good, and clearly a loner. The only thing we have in common is how familiar with the underworld we are. And that is not a good thing to build a relationship on.

"So, then we're in agreement?" Archer joins me at the counter and goes to work clearing off where he was sitting.

"Yeah, Archer, no falling in love." I extend my hand toward him. "And I won't get on your computer."

He finishes rinsing his plate off and puts it in the dishwasher before giving me his full attention. Archer slides his large hand around mine, giving it a firm but gentle shake, like he's afraid I might break in half if he does any harder. "Deal."

I release him after a long moment, ignoring the heat of his skin scorching my hand in its absence, and think about the rules we've set in place. I've come to terms with the no falling in love, that one being the easiest of the two, but I can't quite figure out why he's so damn jumpy about his computers. It's clear he's into some kind of illegal activity, but what could be so bad that he's worried I'd see? Maybe he really does have some weird fetish and is embarrassed by it. I hate how intrigued it makes me, but I have to comply, otherwise I won't have a place to live for the next couple of months. I can't imagine it's going to be difficult to find somewhere else to live, but at least I have some time to figure it out.

First, I need to go shopping and get some clothes and necessities if I'm going to succeed at this whole starting over thing. I can't do it in Archer's sweatpants and t-shirt, no matter how comfortable they might be.

"Are there any shops around here?" I ask him once I've drank the rest of the coffee he made me. "For clothes."

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