she’s trying to bail on the gym? Ha! No fucking way. I’ll take her myself if I have to.
I lie down in bed in an attempt to cool down. Only she can make my blood boil this way. Taking a quiet minute to myself works a little too well at relaxing me, and the next thing I know, I’m waking up. I turn my head and look over at the clock. It’s going on 5 p.m., the time Poppy’s supposed to be starting with her trainer. Fuck. I just know she’ll be late.
I push myself up and use my private bathroom before exiting my room. To my surprise, she’s no longer on the couch. The table has been cleaned and the couch is clear of crumbs. I walk down the hallway to her bedroom door and find it open and empty. Huh. Maybe she actually listened to me for once.
My cell phone rings and I pull it from my pocket. “Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Lewis?”
“Yes?”
“Hi, this is Jake from the gym. I’m here for the training session, but I’m not finding anyone by the name of Poppy. She’s still coming, isn’t she?”
“Well, she isn’t at home, so I assume she is.”
“All right, well, just a reminder, I’m booked with her three nights a week. If she doesn’t show, my rate doesn’t change. It’ll still cost you the same at the end of the week.”
“I’m aware. Just give her a few more minutes. She’s always running late.”
“Will do.” He hangs up the phone and I let out an annoyed breath.
Why do I have a feeling this is all part of her plan to drive me crazy? It’s bad enough she wasn’t up in time for brunch this morning with my family. I refuse to treat her like a child. I got tired of waiting around and left without her. Grandmother wasn’t too pleased that I came alone, and Dad was surprised by the news that I had a fiancée, which prompted a long list of questions.
I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt and don’t go down to the gym. I want to trust her to do as she says she will. If she doesn’t, then I’ll know she isn’t serious about this arrangement and I’ll just turn this video over to the police and be done with it all. Scaring her is the only way to get her to do anything. I find it odd how we seemed to do a 180—going from hating each other to getting along so well. Then we did another 180, putting us back where we started after I rejected her. How many more times are we going to turn in circles?
At 7 p.m., dinner is on the table and she walks in, looking calm and refreshed. She doesn’t look like she’s been sweating her ass off at the gym.
“Jake called,” I say, capturing her attention the moment she walks into the dining room.
“Who?” she asks, wrinkling her nose.
“The trainer I hired for you. You were just there, weren’t you?”
“Oh,” she breathes out, already looking a little guilty. “Well, I was at the gym, but I didn’t . . .”
“Use a trainer?” I ask.
“I didn’t work out,” she states.
I think I see red. “What do you mean you didn’t work out? What the hell have you been doing there for the last two hours?”
“Well, I got a back massage and a foot massage. I had some cucumber water and got a facial . . .”
I cut her off. “All of those treatments cost extra. They aren’t included in your membership.”
“Oh, I know. I just told them to add everything to the card on file. Hope you don’t mind.” She offers up a smile
I have to remind myself that I can’t kill her. I take a deep breath, hold it, and then slowly release it. But even that doesn’t help the anger. “Let me get this straight: you ruined the manicure and pedicure I paid for, then you skipped the trainer I paid for. But you used your gym membership to get in and have more spa treatments, which I’m also paying for?”
She doesn’t reply, but I see the guilt clearly written on her face.
“That’s it,” I breathe out, standing up so quickly that my chair nearly topples over.
“What’s it?” she asks, brows drawn together.
“This is over. Get your shit and get out. I’ll be turning in that video first thing in the morning and charges will be coming your way.”
“What? Wait!” she says when I