Archer just nodded, his gaze dropping to his plate. For a while, we ate in silence, and I grudgingly admitted he'd chosen well. It was exactly what I wanted for breakfast, even though I hadn't known it in my hangry state.
"Try the coffee, Princess," Archer muttered at some stage, hiding a smile with his own mug.
I peered at the pitch-black liquid and wrinkled my nose. "No, thanks. I enjoy the full use of my taste buds."
"You're such a snob," he commented with an edge of laughter. "Here, your highness, let me fix it for you." He added a heavy splash of cream to my coffee, then gave it a quick stir before pushing it towards me. "Just try it. I promise it's not laced with rat poison."
Rolling my eyes, I picked up the mug and took a cautious sip.
Shockingly, it didn't make my taste buds all howl like they'd been doused in battery acid. It was actually... not that bad. Still a long shot off the coffee at Nadia's Cakes, but it was drinkable. I'd give it that much credit.
"See, sometimes you just have to trust me, Princess." Archer's eyes flashed with a deeper meaning, and I shifted my gaze back to the rain that was now lashing at the window. For all my plans of pumping him for more information over breakfast, I found myself shying away from that conversation.
Weirdly, I just wanted to enjoy my breakfast... with him.
Archer had smashed my walls to dust with his drunken honesty, and now all I had left was a cardboard facade. He'd see through it in no time, if he hadn't already. But if he thought this new phase of our relationship would be nothing but rainbows and roses, he was severely mistaken.
After all, it was a fine line between love and hate, and our line was officially all tangled up in barbed wire.
32
After our surprisingly pleasant meal, Archer led me to where he'd left his car the night before. It was just around the corner from where we'd had breakfast, directly in front of a seedy-looking, underground pub, but I had to use my coat as an umbrella as we dashed through the pouring rain.
I chose not to comment on his choice of drinking establishments and slipped into the passenger seat when he popped the door open for me.
"Seeing as you're in such a sharing mood this weekend," I said, tossing my wet coat behind my seat and buckling my seat belt. "Why don't you tell me what Kody and Steele were really doing last night."
Archer shot me a quick glance, turning his engine on and pulling out into the street before answering.
"What did they tell you they were doing?" he asked, sounding cagey as fuck. Goddamn it, maybe he needed that coffee spiked with whiskey to maintain the honesty.
I blew out a sigh. "Kody had some urgent meeting with Jase, and Steele was supposedly working on security."
"What makes you think that's not what they were doing?" Archer pushed, and my temper sparked to life. He was deliberately making me question the guys at their word... even though I was already.
Gritting my teeth, I played his game. "Kody knew he would have gotten laid last night if he came over, so I find it hard to believe he took a meeting with Jase instead of telling him to get fucked."
Archer snorted a laugh. "Maybe you're shit in bed, Princess."
I glared at the side of his head. "You know that's not true, Sunshine."
The lightning fast glance he shot at me was full of heat and lust, and it made my thighs tense. "Fine. Jase needed me to sign off on some samples as a matter of urgency. If it hadn’t been done last night, we'd have missed the production deadline from the manufacturers."
I frowned, not making the connection. "So, why'd Kody have to go?"
He shrugged, driving at his normal speed through Shadow Grove, despite the bucketing rain that his windshield wipers could barely keep up with. "Because I was doing shots of whiskey at the Wreck And Ruin and not answering my phone. I imagine Jase called Kody to get the papers signed instead."
Huh. Okay. Kody had been telling the truth then. I was relieved, even though I hadn‘t truly thought he'd be throwing lies around again so soon. Not when he and Steele were working so hard to gain my trust back.
"What about Steele?" I asked, still curious about what security measures he'd been working