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Mike seemed to catch hihtly "Well, look at ood day, Mr Archer"

I ed a nod and shut the door I had no doubt that Mike would be staying outside the door like Nikolai usually did It was strange that while I still felt safe knowing Mike was there, it was a different kind of safe than when Nikolai was the one standing on the other side of the thick wood

It made no sense

I let hts drift to Mike’s coured out that Nikolai lived at an address that was part of the sa as his family's bakery I wasn't sure if that meant he lived with his fa beyond the basics, but Mike’s comments definitely left me curious

The growing pain in ht out raine medication I sed a couple of pills and then cli ood twenty minutes under the hot spray of the shower and then crawled naked intothe curtains inat all, but thoughts of Nikolai kept drifting back into my mind Mainly, I wanted to knoas okay I wanted to knohat those daave a crap

At some point, I drifted off because when I next awoke, it was late in the afternoon My head was still throbbing, but not so badly that I couldn't move I cli my way to the kitchen As much as I wanted a cup of coffee, I knew caffeine wouldn't do ood so I settled for a bottle of water instead

The an to seep back into s were exactly like they alere and that never failed to sootheto do so and just take the rest of the day off I returned towithto see Mike there but found Nikolai instead My heart juht of him

"Oh, you’re back," I h I wasn't sure how I could even speak because it felt like I couldn't breathe

Nikolai looked perfect Completely unharmed and okay

"I’ry It didn't make any sense because I hadn't seen the ered him? Not towith Mike I openedwas okay when he suddenly let his eyes drift up and downthere, son that he found me attractive But all I saas disdain

It was a punch to the gut

"Will you be spending the evening at home after your workout, Mr Archer? Or do you have other plans?" Nikolai asked, his voice almost a sneer It hitthat I’d gone to see Cliff the night before for sousted by the fact that I wasup with someone as both my employer and considerably older than me

I berated ht sooted asshole who jumped to the same conclusions as everyone else

Well, fuck him

Cliff had asked me not to make waves with Nikolai, but that didn't mean I needed to be nice to theat all with him Childish or not, it didn't fazehim the silent treatment

I turnedfor the elevator Had he not been such a dick, I would've given hi for a run but screw him Hell, I'dto run Maybe I’d even push it to seven miles today Let the man suffer a bit He deserved it