sofa to pull my calf-length boots on. I'd opted for a pair with a higher heel, knowing full fucking well I needed the height advantage today. Yet at the same time, I'd opted for a short woolen skirt with a flared hem. The weather had warmed up a bit, but not that much. My only reasoning was that it'd drive Archer nuts, and I was all for that.
Neither of us spoke on the way down to the lobby, but I shot off a text to Cass, letting him know I was leaving with Archer.
Stepping out into the street, I frowned as I looked around. "Where's your car?"
He cocked his head to the side, giving me an amused stare. "You thought I drove here with that much alcohol in my system, Princess? I'm reckless, not stupid." He started along the sidewalk. "Come on."
Thunder rumbled across the gray sky above us as I hurried to catch up with his long strides. Motherfucker was doing it deliberately, forcing me to take two steps to every one of his. Apparently I wasn't the only petty asshole this morning.
"Where are we going?" I asked, gritting my teeth to keep from cursing him out in the middle of the street. I was hungry and I needed coffee and, goddamn, I had a serious case of blue-ovaries. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed things so far with him in the shower, because as a result, I was all achy and needy, which made me an even bigger bitch than normal.
Archer just shot me a quick grin. That was going to take some getting used to, even when it was an evil sort of grin.
"You wanted breakfast, right? Well, then hurry up and quit your crying. We probably want to get there before this rain starts." He peered up at the sky without slowing his pace for even a moment, and I huffed my anger.
Two blocks later, he stopped abruptly in front of a nondescript diner and tugged the door open.
"After you, darling wife," he said, gesturing for me to enter ahead of him. I scowled, but did so anyway. My stomach was rumbling hard enough to hurt, so I'd probably have happily dined with the devil.
Maybe I was about to, anyway.
We took a seat in one of the window booths, and I eagerly scanned the menu. When I got this hungry, I wanted one of everything and could never make up my mind. It was a serious affliction.
Archer took the decision out of my hands, though, ordering me a tall stack of pancakes with syrup, ice cream, and caramelized bananas when the waitress came over to see us. He also ordered us coffee, which I knew would probably be his usual brand of swamp water.
"What the fuck was that?" I snapped when the waitress disappeared back into the kitchens. The diner was decently busy, being a Saturday morning, and I hated when people dragged wait staff into their domestic disputes. So I'd smiled politely when he ordered, but now I was going to poke his eye out with my fork.
Archer didn't look concerned, though. "You're a sugar addict," he informed me, like this was some big secret. "You would have ordered eggs or something dumb, then you'd sulk about it when my pancakes arrived. Quit acting so outraged, sweetheart, you secretly love that I pay enough attention to order for you."
I had nothing to say to that, so i just gritted my teeth and stared out the window at the storm rolling in. I loved storms, especially when the rain turned into torrential downpours. They calmed me, easing tension with every droplet on the ground or flash of lightning across the sky.
Archer seemed in no hurry to fill the silence with conversation, so we just chilled while waiting for our food. I watched the storm, and he... watched me. Yet it didn't make me uncomfortable. It just allowed me some breathing room to assess the shift in his personality and in our dynamic.
I'd pinpointed it perfectly in the shower. Archer's whole mood shift had occurred after I’d found out about the marriage contract. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he was no longer punishing me for the secrets he kept.
"Steele has probably already told you this story," Archer commented shortly after our massive plates of pancakes arrived, "but I knew you before all of this... mess."
My mouth was full, so I took the time to chew and swallow before responding. "He mentioned