I suppose if we continue like this—if things become more serious between us—I’ll eventually have to sleep in the master bedroom. But not yet. It still smells like Nina in there. Her stench clings to everything.
Andrew’s eyes crack open and a smile spreads across his face when he sees me lying there beside him. “Well, hello,” he says.
“Hello yourself.”
He runs a finger down my neck and over my shoulder, and my whole body tingles. “I love waking up next to you. Instead of her.”
I feel the same way. I hope I get to wake up next to him tomorrow. And the morning after. Nina didn’t appreciate this man, but I do. She took her life for granted.
It’s crazy to think that now it will be mine.
He leans in and kisses me on the nose. “I better get up. I have to get to a meeting.”
I struggle to sit up in bed. “I’ll make you breakfast.”
“Don’t even think about it.” He climbs out of bed, the blankets falling from his perfect body. He’s in really good shape—he must work out. “You have been getting up and making breakfast for us every single day since you’ve been here. Today, you sleep in. And do whatever you want.”
“I usually do the laundry on Mondays. I don’t mind running a load and—”
“No.” He gives me a look. “Look, I don’t know exactly how to work this all out, but… I really like you. I want to give you and me a real try. And if we’re going to do that, you can’t be my maid. I’ll find somebody else to clean and you can hang out here until you figure out what you want to do next.”
My cheeks flush. “It’s not that easy for me. You know I have a record. People don’t want to hire someone who—”
“That’s why you can stay here as long as you want.” He holds up a hand to cut off my protests. “I mean it. I love having you here. And who knows—maybe it’ll end up being, you know, a permanent thing.”
He gives me this sweet, charming smile, and I just melt. Nina had to be insane to let this guy get away.
I’m still scared she’s going to want him back.
I watch Andrew thread his muscular legs through his boxer shorts, although I pretend not to be watching. He winks at me one last time, then he leaves the room to take a shower. And I’m all alone.
I let out a yawn, stretching out in this luxurious double bed. I was thrilled when I got the cot upstairs, but this is on another level. I didn’t even realize I had been walking around with a crick in my back, but after one night on this mattress, it feels better. A girl could get used to this.
I had abandoned my phone on the nightstand next to the bed, but now it starts buzzing with a phone call. I reach for it, and frown at the message on the screen:
Blocked Number.
My stomach fills with butterflies. Who is calling me at this hour of the morning? I stare at the screen until the phone goes silent again.
Well, that was one way to deal with it.
I drop my phone back down on the nightstand and snuggle up back in the bed. It’s not just the mattress that’s comfortable. The sheets feel like I’m sleeping on a bed of silk. And the blanket is warm yet somehow light. So much better than the itchy woolen thing I’ve been sleeping under upstairs. And that awful scrawny blanket I had at the prison. Nice, expensive blankets feel good—who knew?
My eyes start to drift shut again. But just before I fall asleep, my phone starts ringing yet again.
I groan and reach out for my phone. Once again, it has the same message:
Blocked Number.
Who could be calling me? I don’t have any friends. Cecelia’s school has my number, but school is out for the summer. The only person who ever calls me is…
Nina.
Well, if it’s her, she’s the last person I want to talk to right now. I press the red button to reject the call. But there’s no way I’m falling asleep again, so I get out of bed and go upstairs to take a shower.
When I get downstairs, Andrew is already wearing his suit and sipping on a mug of coffee. I run my fingers self-consciously over my jeans, feeling incredibly underdressed compared with him. He’s standing by the window, looking out at the front yard, his lips turned down.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
He jolts, surprised by my presence. He smiles. “Yeah, fine. It’s just… That goddamn landscaper is out there again. What the hell is he doing all the time out there?”
I join him at the window. Enzo is bent over a flower bed, a spade in his hand. “Gardening?”