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“For me to send you back to Georgia. And since I amnota nice Southern gentleman, I told him to fuck off.”
“I would have paid good money to see the expression on his face when you told him that.” I rub a hand against my forehead. I knew something like this would happen. Curtis will do whatever it takes to get his way, even if it means trampling all over my dreams and plans to get it. That’s why I never made it to Paris for culinary school. I was accepted, bags packed and ready to go, but he tightened his grip on me, manipulating me with my trust fund until I relented and went to Emory instead. It’s happening again now that I’m finished with my degree. He wants me working with him, wants me to share his misery, and he won’t give up until I’m back in Georgia.
Theo must have been able to read my mind because he says, “I have my lawyer working on a contract right now. We’ll both sign it and send it to your brother.”
“That’s not going to stop him. He’ll fly out here and get me himself.”
“Then, I’ll challenge him to a duel.” He kneels in front of me and places his hands on my legs. “You’re not going anywhere, Hadley.”
And then I say the one thing I don’t want to say. “I can’t exactly be your nanny either.” It’s not as if I want to go home to Georgia and dedicate my life to the family business like my brother, but I don’t feel right taking money from Theo.
“Then you’re fired.” The way he says it so casually is odd. This job is supposed to pay for the repairs to my van. It’s supposed to pay for my trip back home.
“You can’t do that,” I insist. “My van isn’t even fixed.”
“Send me the bill when it’s finished. I’ll pay it.” He pushes up, leans over me, and places a kiss on top of my head and tells me to get dressed. “We have to meet the contractor and then, unfortunately, I need to get back to Portland.”
This new arrangement doesn’t sit well with me, and I let it fester inside me all day, ruining the bliss of being in a new relationship. If Theo notices, he doesn’t acknowledge it, at least not right away.
He moves through the appointment with the electrical contractor calmly, working out the details of the schedule, asking questions about insurance. It’s over sooner than I expect and when we leave, he keeps his distance as we walk to the car.
I fucked up. That’s the only way to explain his coldness toward me. I did something wrong, and rather than confront him, my silence is the soundtrack of the ride back to Portland. When we pull into the parking garage of Theo’s building, he pushes the car into park, turns off the engine, and exhales loudly.
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong or should I guess?” This is the first time he’s ever spoken to me in a harsh tone, and it surprises me.
“Nothing is wrong,” I mumble, keeping my head low.
“I told you never to lie to me, Hadley.”
My head snaps up and I finally look at him. “I’m not lying! Nothing is wrong.”
“Then why have you been quiet?”
I blink, wondering for a moment what he’s talking about. My mood is a response to his. He’s been the quiet one. I shrug. “I thought you were mad at me for something.”
He runs a hand over his face and attempts to chuckle. “This is what I get for dating a younger woman.”
He pulls at the handle of the car as if to exit, but I stop him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’ve been in a bad mood all day, ever since I offered to pay for your car’s repairs.”
“Because I don’t want you to! I have millions sitting in a trust fund I can’t access until I turn twenty-five unless I beg my brother for scraps. I didn’t do anything to earn that money except be born. And now you’re offering to pay for car repairs because morally and ethically it’s wrong to keep me employed as your nanny since we’re now sleeping together.”
“So you want to end our relationship before it’s even started because you want to earn the money to pay for the repairs yourself?”
Well, when he puts it like that . . . “No, I don’t.”
“Then, what’s your solution?”
I’m backed into a corner. I don’t have a solution.
He leans across the console of the car, places two fingers under my chin, and presses until my face turns toward him. “The solution is to let me pay for my girlfriend’s car repairs.”
