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There was no hint of a smile or a tease on his lips. Instead, his forehead crinkled, and he surprised me by asking, “Is your natural hair color brown?”
What a strange thing to be curious about.
I cocked my head to the side as I brushed my fingers through my hair. “Yeah.”
Easy guess, I supposed, since my eyes were brown.
“Your brother said you lost your job and apartment.”
“I did.”
“You don’t seem like someone who just lost their home and income,” he stated.
I tried not to let his words get to me. Whether he was being judgmental or curious, he pushed a button I didn’t like being pressed.
I hit the power button on my Kindle and stood. “If I cried and fell apart every time things went wrong in life, well, I’d always be crying and falling apart.” He made a sound in his throat, and I thought he might say something, so I blurted, “I’m going to bed.”
???
I was optimistic about finding work. Almost every place in town had aNow Hiringsign. The problem was that the pay wasn’t going to be what I was used to working for the corrupt lawyer.
That asshole. My stomach got all bubbly at the thought of the creep. I made the mistake of looking at a Facebook news post about him and regretted it. Of course, I was mentioned—not by name--but as the secretary who the police questioned for being in contact with him. Some of the slandering comments were about me, saying the assistant would have known what he was doing.
“He or she was likely working with him!”
“These people deserve their money.”
“Arrest everyone who worked for him until they talk!”
I had to stop reading because it was fine.Everything’s fine.
Every second, I tried not to peek at my phone, expecting the police to call me in again. Maybe they would think the same things as those people.
Driving back to Hudson’s, I sang along with the radio until my throat was hoarse. Singing helped keep my thoughts quiet. Hudson had been kind enough to leave a spare key out by the front door with a note that said, “Use it and don’t wait outside again.”
The gesture wasn’t enough for me to forget his eyes on me the previous night. I spent way too much time thinking about it and decided Hudson was judging me. Was he doing it the entire time he watched me? I could only imagine the facial expressions I made while reading. I also thought about his comment about my hair. He must be one of those people who disliked women dying their hair bright colors. Why else would he ask about my natural color?
Ugh.
Just a few more days. I could do it for my savings account’s sake. While I couldn’t handle a creep, I could handle a jerk.
When I reached Hudson’s cabin, I let Max out to pee. The big guy nearly knocked me over every time he greeted me, but it was okay. I’d always wanted a dog, but I always lived somewhere that didn’t allow pets or had a boyfriend who hated animals.
As a teen and then as a young adult, I was such a dumbass when it came to men. Oh well. I forgave myself, but that didn’t mean I didn’t cringe. I fell prey to pretty men and nice words. Their fake words always turned to venom.
While waiting for Max to finish up, I pulled out my phone to check the weather. It was so cold that day and had been raining the last couple hours. I wondered if it might turn to snow because of how fast the temperature seemed to be dropping. Before I opened the weather app, I spotted Max running for the front door. My heart stopped. The giant dog was solid white, but you wouldn’t know since he was buried under a layer of mud. Max looked as if he’d found a puddle, then caked dirt and grit onto his fur. Oh, no. I tried to beat him to the entrance, waving my hands to get his attention.
In my head, all I could see was Jared’s furious face and how angry he’d be if an animal tracked mud all over his home. My stomach cramped.
“Oh, my God! Oh, shit! No, Bear,” I yelled, but it was pointless. Max darted into the house. I chased after him and screamed every time he tried to jump onto the sofa or anything he could dirty up.
As soon as I got close enough, I tackled him, not caring how dirty I got in the process. I cared more about how furious his owner would be if I let him destroy his furniture with mud. The floor was already a mess at the entrance. “Let’s go to the bathroom,” I said, leading him by the collar.
Max was super satisfied with himself. His tail was beating the shit out of me as I walked him between my legs. I didn’t trust him to bolt. I had to clean up Max and the mud before Hudson returned from work. My stomach bubbled with unease.
“You betrayed me, Bear,” I told him as I stepped into Hudson’s room. I gawked. His room was beautiful. The bedroom furniture was made of wood similar to that in his cabin but stained a darker color. The bed sheets were solid black. There were two doors in his room. The closed one must be his closet. I went to the bathroom and flipped on the light. I gasped. A huge porcelain tub rested in the center. A shower was at the other end of the room and took up the entire back wall. He had his and her sinks. Like his sheets, everything was black, including his sinks, shower, and tub. The lights were dim, and looking at the wall, I believed there was a knob to adjust the brightness. It was breathtaking, and I fucking shouldn’t be in there.
“Maybe I should have used the upstairs bathroom,” I whispered as my anxiety skyrocketed.
