Page 28 of Surrender to Me
“Vegetables?”
How mundane. And yet necessary for our survival. I’ll need energy after I regroup and form a new plan.
Forcing myself to concentrate, I select potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic.
The act of selecting each item helps me regain my center.
In the next section, I grab a roast. Then I think about breakfast, other meals we’ll need, and caffeine. “How about paper products?”
“Fully stocked. And there are a bunch of provisions already there. Things you’d find in a typical pantry.”
Makes sense.
Fifteen minutes later, the basket is loaded down, and we head toward the front of the store.
Halfway down the aisle, he stops to toss box of brownie mix into the cart.
I narrow my eyes. “Really?”
“I saw you looking at the cakes in the baking aisle.”
The brand he selected is my favorite. Bastard. “That’s a dirty trick.”
He shrugs and grins. “I’m noticing every little thing about you, Allie.”
When we finally reach the checkout lanes, I grab a bar of milk chocolate and toss it in. Then another. Because honestly, I want to eat my bodyweight in it.
“Sure that’s enough?”
Suddenly it occurs to me that he is planning for us to be together for a while. That’s something I can’t afford.
Even though I offer to split the cost of the groceries, he won’t hear of it. “Stryker?—”
“For once”—he shoots me a quelling glance that would terrify an ordinary human—“don’t fucking argue.”
Eyes wide, the cashier looks from him to me and back again.
“Fine.” As part of my strategy, I’ll let him win this skirmish. I gift him with my most dazzling smile, determined to be the model prisoner in an attempt to get him to let down his guard.
“That’s better.” He taps his credit card, and I can’t help but notice the tiny Hawkeye logo on it.
He’s using his company’s account?
Probably it has less chance of being hacked.
Outside, the sky has shifted into the first shades of dusk. The air smells like pine and a cold future.
He drives us out of the town, following winding roads that get narrower the farther we go. Eventually, he turns onto a dirt road flanked by tall trees, their branches like silent sentinels.
We pass through a series of gates that he enters codes for.
Stars emerge against an inky backdrop as the tires crunch over gravel and packed earth, jostling the vehicle with every dip and rise.
When we near the cabin, the area floods with light.
Smart. Not only is that safer, it also renders night-vision goggles useless.
He breaks to a stop, and I realize the place is much more than I expected.
