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Could he blame me for checking?
“Okay,” I muttered after a long, dense pause. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. “I’ll agree, but only if I can get it in writing.” I needed to make sure he’d hold up his end of the bargain this time.
Adrien nodded, a dangerous glint lighting up his dark eyes.
And I knew, right then and there, that he was going to do everything he could to make me regret this.
7
“A slave.You’re going to be Adrien Cloutier’s slave for a month, then.”
Jamie was standing at the foot of my bed, arms crossed unhappily as I stuffed my suitcase with clothes.
“He prefers the term ‘personal assistant.’”
“That’s like slapping a floppy dildo onto a donkey’s forehead and calling it a unicorn,” she deadpanned.
“Fine,” I conceded, ripping my laptop charger out of its socket. “I’m his slave for a month. Happy?”
“No.”
“Great. Neither am I.” I twisted the charger around my wrist with a lot more aggression than was necessary. “But it’s not like I have a whole lot of other options, Jamie. He’s not giving me any.”
She tapped her foot impatiently. “Does Alba know?”
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet.” And before Jamie could say anything else, I pulled an envelope out of my bag and held it out to her. “Here. Next month’s rent.”
I had exactly ten weeks’ worth of living expenses put aside for emergencies, which gave me around six weeks to find a new job after this whole nightmare with Adrien was over. The timeline was a little tight, but it could have been worse.
“Take it,” I insisted when she hesitated. I could tell she didn’t want to, but I also knew she couldn’t afford not to.
“Thanks,” she muttered. Though it sounded more like a sullen apology than anything else, so I squeezed her forearm gently to let her know it was fine.
An uncharacteristically long silence followed as I went back to packing, and Jamie kept shifting on her heels like she was trying to decide something important.
“All right,fine!” she suddenly blurted, making me jump. Toebeans glared at her from atop the pile of folded clothes on my bed. Shouting wasn’t tolerated in his home. “We’ll move with you.”
My hands froze midfold. “What?”
“Stop begging. I already said we’d do it!”
“I didn’t—”
She pressed a hard finger to my lips. “Shhh, it’s okay. Toebeans and I are willing to make this sacrifice for your sake.”
Toebeans yowled his disagreement, tail tapping against my clothes irritably. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“He’ll get over it,” Jamie claimed, knowing full well he wouldn’t.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from my face. “I’m not making you move with me.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I’m insisting.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “but I love you and I’m not gonna let you do this alone. Sorry.”
Sometimes I really didn’t think I deserved to have Jamie in my life. She was loyal and supportive to a fault.
