I WOKE UP ALONE AGAIN. To my surprise, Hanes is still in the hotel room as he paces back and forth, looking through his phone. I sit up slowly, remembering that his anger could turn into a dangerous situation for me. Last night proved that he was able to cope with it to a certain degree but I fear what might be his breaking point.

He notices me sitting up and glares at me, not angry with me but rather carrying his anger from whatever caused it.

"Good morning..." I say quietly, still unsure of what situation I'm in.

"Morning." He says bluntly before looking back down at his phone and pacing across the room again.

I slide out of the bed and begin to make my way over to the bathroom.

"For fucksake, okay, fuck it..." he sighs, causing me to freeze. "We're going out in a half-an-hour. We'll go for brunch or something." He jams his phone into his pocket and heads across the hotel room, searching for something in his bag.

I'm not sure why we're going out but that will be more comforting than staying here. Being in private with him while he's angry strikes a fear in me that I worry I'll never get rid of around angry men.

I GOT READY and we hit the town exactly a half-an-hour later. Hanes and I now walk down the street as he looks for the brunch place he had look up earlier on his phone while we took the taxi into the main part of the city.

I struggle to keep up with his large strides as he walks with propose. I slowly find myself falling behind while I wrap my jacket around myself tightly to shield from the cold dry air that slightly stings my cheeks.

"Here," Hanes stops, extending his elbow to me as he keeps his hand in his pocket. "Take my arm so you can keep up."

I wrap my arm around his and he squeezes it tight to his body as we walk together. I feel like a child holding onto its mother. He doesn't wait for much but I could sense a bit of empathy in the gesture. If he truly didn't care, he would have left it up to me to keep up and carried on himself.

"I can't believe we're going to... brunch." He says "brunch" as if it's sour on his tongue.

"I think it will be good for you."

He stops abruptly, finding the place he had picked out, cussing under his breath a bit about how difficult it was to find. In reality, it took us maybe five minutes to find but I guess, to him, that's enough time to complain about. He acts as if all time is money, and maybe to him it is.

We stand inside and he wastes no time waving someone down anxiously to seat us. I get secondhand embarrassment from his inability to wait and act appropriately in this setting but a hostess quickly seats us and we take a seat.

I watch as he bites at the inside of his cheek as he looks over the small menu.

"You don't take many off days, do you?"

He looks up at me with only his eyes in an intimidating glare.

"I'm far too busy for this shit. I can't believe I decided this was a good idea..."

"It's okay to take time off sometimes."

"Not in this game." He says quickly.

"And what is this "game"?" I use air quotes. "You're very vague about what you do."

"It's for good reason. Besides, what good would it do you to know?" He looks back down at his menu.

"Well, I am one of your employees, am I not?"

He looks up at me with an unimpressed look. I know I'm not working for his "company" but I'm still working for him. If I'm going to be a companion to him, I think it's good for me to know what he does.

"Whether you know or not is irrelevant to your job. It doesn't change anything you do. It doesn't affect you." He seems irritated by my asking.

I back off a bit, realizing that I've pissed him off.

"Well, any time you have outside of your work — however limited that is — you can spend it with me." I say in a smiley sort-of-way.

He still doesn't seem impressed by me but he nods and then looks up for a waiter.

"The stack of pancakes and two glasses of orange juice." Hanes nearly demands for the waiter who barely greeted us before he ordered.

"—please." I add.

"Of course," the waiter does a small bow before walking away.

"I don't see the point in that." Hanes looks at me unimpressed.

"What? Being polite?"

"You don't know who that man is. He could be cruel and you would have no idea."

"And? I barely know you and I think I'm pretty polite to you."

"You work for me." He says deadpan.

"I'm just being a good person. You should try it." He's starting to get on my nerves.

The more time I spend with him, I get a little more comfortable but this leads me to also feel more comfortable expressing my irritation. That could end badly for me but we will have to see.

          THE PANCAKES came out in no time with a jar full of syrup and the two glasses of orange juice. Hanes actually said thank you to the waiter when he set it down on the table, making me smile at his attempt at being decent.

"What would you like from this arrangement, Viv? I know we've discussed this quickly but I know what you'd really like from this." Hanes says as he takes three pancakes from the stack and slaps them down onto his plate.

"A place to stay and food on my plate."

"You must want more. Everyone wants more." He take the syrup and, drizzling only a small amount over his pancakes.

"The rest I can figure out on my own. I don't need your help." I take the rest onto my plate and begun to pour the syrup over them, nearly drowning them.

"I never said I was helping you, I was simply trying to make a business deal that I thought we could both benefit from."

"Anything is better than where I was and I'm quite happy with what I have right now."

"You wouldn't want an allowance? Clothes? Gifts?"

"I don't need any of those things."

"It isn't about need. Sometimes, you just need to focus on what you want."

Something about the way that rolls off his tongue makes me shiver. What I want is something I know I shouldn't have. Something about Hanes is beginning to intrigue me. Maybe it's the fact that he's just a decent human being and is giving me the bare minimum unlike the rest of the men in my life. Or maybe it's because of what he said last night. Either way, a part of me is beginning to want him more than anything else out of this deal. But I know I shouldn't. I won't. I can't get caught up with another asshole.

"The things I want I will work towards on my own. I'll find another job outside of my work with you."

He shakes his head as he finishes chewing a mouthful of pancakes. After he washes it down with orange juice, he speaks.

"That won't be necessary. I don't want that for you."

"Hm?" I cock my brow at him.

"If you're working for me, you'll get enough pay that you won't need another job. I don't want you out on the streets again, and I don't want you going over to the other side of the city to find work either — it could be dangerous."

"I don't think any of that is really any of your concern. Besides, I don't want to have to rely on another man again for as long as I live. No offence, but my experiences with that have been... not so good." I stand my ground.

I can tell he's not used to having to put up a fight for something like this. If I knew it wouldn't put me in a cage, of course I'd take his money. Hell, I still might. But he's not going to get a chance to own me. Not like Austin did.

"There aren't any strings attached here. I'm being upfront with what I want. I don't want to take advantage of you and I think that your time is worth more than my original offer. I'm sure we will work something out."

"We'll have to see. But you'll never own me. No one will for as long as I live."

He nods. "I'm not asking to own you. I'm only asking for your time."

And that right there, as sad as it may sound, made me fall into the daze of his lips even more. It's sad to  think that something like that is a rarity for me for hear, for me to believe. But this will stay professional. It's like I said before, I barely know him. So romanticizing him in my head will do me no good. I know he'll never be as good as I want him to be. No man is. The ones that are have already been taken.