Page 84 of Devoured

“Not if you’re going to New York. We both know what happened last time you were there.”

Actually I had no idea what the fuck had happened the last time I was there. But I was pretty sure that was his point. “Don’t be an obvious tail, Ian.”

“Me? Never.”

I looked up from my phone when I heard footsteps. Penny reappeared in a pair of jeans, a sweater, and some brown leather boots. She looked beautiful, if a little apprehensive of me.

I slid my phone into my pocket and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry,” she said as she approached me.

But I could feel the distance between us. I ran my hand through my hair. I just needed to fix this. "Let's go."

"James."

I forced a smile onto my face. "I feel like when you call me by my first name I'm in trouble. I don't want to fight."

"I don't want to fight either."

"Good." I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the elevator. As soon as her hand was in mine, it felt a little easier to breathe. "I need to pick up some things."

"What kind of things?" she asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

"Well, my girlfriend needs her own toothbrush."

She laughed. "Sorry, I didn't know what to do."

I pulled her against me as the elevator doors slid closed.

"I don't want to go back to reality tomorrow.”

I smiled down at her. "Me either."

"Let's just run away together."

"Just name the place." I wasn’t sure if she meant it, but I did.

She sighed and pressed her the side of her face against my chest. I ran my hands down her back and stopped when they were on the small of her back. I wanted to freeze time. Just like this. Everything was better when we were in our own little bubble.

"Let's do something fun today,” she said. “I don't want to go shopping."

I was happy to hear that she didn’t want to go shopping. I’m not sure I’d ever dated anyone who liked me more than my Amex. "Good, because we're not just going shopping."

She looked back up at me. "But you just said we were going to go buy toothbrushes."

"Yeah." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I lied."

The elevator doors dinged and opened. I grabbed her hand and led her toward my cars.

Ian was wearing a baseball cap and was just climbing into his Tesla. His whole deal screamed security detail that was trying but failing to blend in. But Penny was just staring up at me.

"Wait, then what are we doing?" she asked.

"It's a surprise." I opened up the car door for her. She smiled and climbed in. I closed the door behind her. Today was going to be fun. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Isabella’s favorite spots. Which was easy, because I’d made a habit of that years ago. Penny and I would be able to blend into a sea of people. We could just be a normal couple for once.

I climbed into the car and started the engine.

"Am I at least dressed okay?" Penny asked.

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