Malia’s POV
She giggled and I rolled my eyes.
“One of these days, Mary is going to surprise us by waking up in the middle of the night and coming into this kitchen,” I said.
“Well, I don’t think she’s going to throw much of a fit if she catches me eating as opposed to if she sees you necking with the Alpha,” she replied.
“We weren’t necking,” I argued.
“You looked all but ready to force him to take you on the kitchen table,” she said giggling.
I sighed. “You’re unbelievable Penelope. I’m going back to bed.”
I headed towards my room and wasn’t surprised when she fell in step beside me.
“Ronan isn’t going to like this if he finds out. He’d be so heartbroken,” she said in a small voice.
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I thought you’d be happy to discover that I’m not into him. And besides I’ve made it clear to him. We can only be friends.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s still going to be heartbroken. And it’s going to be more painful for him because the other man happens to be his brother,” she replied.
“And I’ve told you this before, it doesn’t matter if you’re interested in Ronan or not. He’s not going to magically fall in love with me,” she added.
“Can we just stop all this talk about men? I have no intention whatsoever of allowing any man into my life. It doesn’t matter if he’s an Alpha. There’s no space in my life for a man,” I declared.
“Alright. If you say so,” she replied.
We walked the rest of the way in companionable silence.
I turned to face her when we reached my door. “Would you like to come in and spend the rest of the night?”
She gave me a slow smile. “You said earlier that you have no space for a man in your life. Does that mean you might fancy a woman?” She winked.
I stared at her in silence for a moment.
“I know I’m not as hot as the Alpha is but….”
“Penelope you are surprisingly full of shit,” I interrupted as I twisted the door handle.
“Can I still spend the night with you? She asked with a grin.
I gave her a look and pointedly shut the door in her face.
I took off my sundress and changed into something more comfortable before sliding underneath my covers.
I woke up to the most irritating sound of all. The tinkling of a glass.
I groaned and put a pillow over my ears to block out the sound. My action was futile.
“Stop that,” I ordered without opening my eyes.
Whoever was performing the action pointedly ignored me.
I swore an oath and sat up in my bed.
I turned towards the sound to find Pen with a shit-eating grin on her face holding a spoon in one hand and a wine glass in another.
“Penelope,” I groaned and lay down back on the bed, pulling the covers over my head.
“Oh no, you don’t,” I heard her say.
Within seconds, the covers were pulled off me.
I sat up again and glared at her.
“Good morning to you too, Malia,” she greeted with a cheery voice.
“I need to get some more sleep and you need to leave,” I said firmly.
She giggled.
“Well, I could do that, but the Alpha instructed that I wake you up and get you ready by this time or risk losing my job. I like you but I like my job even more.”
I groaned in frustration. “Why does he do this to me?” I grumbled as I rolled out of the bed and landed on the ground.
“It beats me,” she murmured and tried to hide a smile.
“Here, drink this,” she said, handing me a mug of mocha. “It’s going to help you become fully awake.”
I accepted the cup gratefully from her.
She brought a tray of fresh fruits and sandwiches and laid it on the floor in front of me.
“How are you wide awake? We were both up at night,” I said.
“I’m used to it. Besides, I have no other choice. I’m a servant. No one cares if you didn’t get enough sleep,” she replied.
“I might as well be a servant then, seeing as Ryder didn’t give me much of a choice this morning,” I grumbled.
“Or maybe he’s doing it because he’s sweet on you,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “Please. That’s for teenagers. Only little boys are mean to the girls that they like,” I replied.
“Perhaps, you bring out his inner child,” she grinned.
“His inner child could go to hell for all I care,” I murmured.
I was soon done with my breakfast and while I had my bath, Penelope picked out an outfit for the day.
I had donned a pair of shorts and a T-shirt but was still struggling with the laces of my sneakers ( I had refused Penelope’s help because I was hell-bent on doing it myself) when the door swung open and Ryder walked in.
“You should learn to knock,” I scolded and I heard Penelope gasp. “What if I was naked?”
“I gave you an hour to prepare and the time’s up,” he said. “Or were my instructions not fully passed across?”
I turned to Penelope and saw that her eyes had widened in horror. “I forgot,” she mouthed.
I brought my gaze back to Ryder. “Why did you even want me awake by this time anyway?”
“Really?” Is it not abnormal to still be asleep by this time?” He asked.
I ignored him and kept on battling with my shoelaces.
“Let me help,” Penelope tried again.
I gave her a warning look and she raised her hands in surrender. She bowed to Ryder and left the room.
“Oh for the love of the goddess!” Ryder suddenly sighed and knelt in front of me.
Swatting my hands away, he expertly tied the laces.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” I grumbled.
“Whatever. Let’s go.”
He started to walk towards the door.
“And where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
I scoffed and followed him out the door.