Page 25 of The Protection Agreement

“I’m leaving for the office. Will you be okay here with Ice?”

“Yeah, I should be fine. I slept all night, so I should be okay.”

“Are you comfortable in that position?” I ask. Her posture will hurt later.

“It’s okay, I can manage.” Her voice is flat.

“Let’s move this table to my office. You can puzzle in there.”

“I don’t want to invade your space. I should be fine,” she says, not realizing she already invades my mind, which for me is more damning than my space.

“My parents taught me to share; I think I can manage to share my space.”

“Okay, can you give me a hand?” she asks as she moves towards the table to lift it. I assist her, and we move the table back to my office. There is a sofa in there.

“This is better, and you can stay in here.”

“Thank you. Are you going to be gone for long?”

“No, but if you need me, have Ice call me,” I say, and she nods.

I close the office door and return to the kitchen. Ice gets up when he sees me. “Keep an eye on her; she’s in my office. Call me if she needs anything.” He nods.

I know he wants to question her being in my office, but he doesn’t. I nod to Chef and leave without speaking.

Chapter thirteen

Lexi

I know when he exited the unit, it was weird waking up completely disoriented in his room, and more so in his bed. I always feel like I’ve lost a bit of my memory whenever there’s a gap between the times I’ve taken the meds. It’s all for a moment as I try to recharge my brain and regain awareness of my surroundings. I’d looked at him and wondered if the dreams of him kissing me and holding me close in my sleep were real. I want to kiss him, so I know the real feel of his lips on mine. Though my mind keeps telling me that I know and I like it. In my dreams, he kept telling me not to forget his name as we danced. I giggled each time he said that to me, but I guess it worked because, at first glance this morning, I stared deeply at him, recognizing him from my dreams before his name came to mind.

Now, I must keep my focus on the puzzle and try to forget about Bruce. Ice checks on me from time to time like he normally does, and I just nod to him. I start to feel hungry and head to the kitchen. I find Ice and the chef.

“What’s for lunch?” I ask openly and take a seat next to Ice, who’s still a bit unfriendly towards me.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Ice answers without looking my way.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you yesterday when I was being a crazy woman,” I whisper to him.

“It’s alright, we all have our moments.” I chuckle and nod to him, though he doesn’t look my way, but I can tell he sensed my nod. If only he knows my moments are a bit more than usual, but I keep that to myself for now.

“I was thinking tacos for lunch,” the chef says.

“I don’t really like tacos. I’m sure I can find something to make on my own.” I shrug.

“Not on my watch.” He gives a playful scowl, making me laugh. “What do you have a taste for?”

“Fries and burger sound good to me right now,” I snicker.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Ice echoes, just as Chef raises his hand in defeat, like he had a three course taco meal planned and I’ve just reduced it to fries and burger.

“Fine, I’ll make you fries and burger.”

“Thank you, and I can help.”

“Come on,” he says. I happily jump out of my seat and join Chef Wayne to prep the meals. We make burgers and fries with loud music and laughter. Ice eats everything and tells us it’s “meh”. Chef Wayne and I make dinner and set it in the oven for us. I made a list of the ingredients I need to make puff puff and give it to the chef, with my ice cream and sprinkles request. He frowns at the size of sprinkles but doesn’t say anything. Ice just watches Chef and I, and I notice a smile tug on the side of his lips a few times.

The next few hours go by quickly. Before leaving, Chef promised to get everything on my list.