Page 14 of The Prodigal

Why is he here? Or better yet, why is he such a dick?

“First of all, my name is not Eve. It’s Eden.” Seems like he would remember that since his nosy ass rooted through my purse.

He grunts like I’m wrong about my own name, but it’s fine. I think I’m figuring out a theme with him. He’s grumpier when he’s hungry.

“I have some fries for you,” I taunt in a silly voice, earning an almost laugh out of him.

“You mean, you have the friesI ordered?”

I didn’t say Iboughthim fries, only that hedeservedsome—hence the reason I only ate one and not the entire box. “Yep. But you’ll have to come get them.”

“Don’t I always have to come get them?” He sounds pretty put out about it, but it’s best he realizes now this isn’t some five-star resort. We don’t have room service.

“You could always have the driver deliver them to your door and not the lobby.” I smile just thinking of his next jab, but it never comes because his asshangs up!

Just for that, I’m eating another one of his fries. He shouldn’t be eating unhealthy food this often anyway. A few fruits and vegetables might help that attitude of his, but then again, they never help mine. Only something saturated in frosting can do that.

A moment later, the door to Room 101 flies open, and there stands the dark, surly savior of mine. I can’t see his eyes because they’re covered by sunglasses, though the sun set long ago. But by the way he slams the door loud enough for me to hear, I’m assuming he’s in a fantastic mood this evening.

“Evening, sunshine,” I tease, as soon as he steps into the lobby. “Tonight’s dinner looks like a burger and fries. How very American of you.”

He lowers his shades and cuts his classic annoyed stare my way. “Am I to assume you owe me another order of fries?”

I hand him the bag, all proud of myself. “Nope. Your full order is there.” Give or take a fry or two, but it’s not like there’s a set amount. “Consider it a thank you for sticking up for me today.”

His hand pauses on the bag. “Is that what you think I did—defended you?”

I take a deep breath.He doesn’t mean for his words to come out that way, Eden. He’s a dude. They aren’t the best communicators.

“Maybe not defended me,” I clarify, since he seems highly offended by my comment. “More like retaliated on my behalf.” I lift one shoulder shyly. “I would have been fired if I talked to Caroline like you did.”

He frowns, his eyes narrowing at my interpretation of the events. “I didn’t retaliate on your behalf—she was holding up the line, and I don’t like to wait.”

Well, that’s true. He’s an impatient little shit.

“Regardless of the why, I appreciate you putting her in her place.”

The bag of food crumples in the silence that follows. Then, “Youshould have put her in her place. There are no heroes in this world, Eve.”

Again, with the wrong name. I open my mouth to correct him, but he holds up one finger, telling me to wait until he’s finished.

“You can’t sit back and wait for someone to rescue you from the Carolines of the world.”

“I wasn’t waiting on a hero,” I interject. “I was handling the situation before you got involved.”

He snorts. “If you say so.”

“I say so.” I lift my chin in defiance, and surprisingly, Remington throws his head back and lets out this raspy laugh that is incredibly attractive. Unfortunately.

“I stand corrected,” he finally says, after pulling in a few breaths and stepping back toward the door. “You might survive this yet.” He flashes me a charming wink that I’m sure keeps his bed warm. “I’m rooting for you, love.”

And then he turns and pulls open the door.

“Wait!”

His whole body tenses and I swear he lets out a frustrated sigh. In the seconds that follow, he never responds; he simply waits.

“I wasn’t stealing change from the fountain like Caroline said.”

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