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“You telling me to grow up? You don’t even know me.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” And she had no intention of doing so. “I don’t need to know you to see exactly what you are. You’re a bored, entitled brat who apparently has nothing better to do with his day than terrorize people who drop things off at your father’s house.” She snatched the key off the desktop and pocketed it. “And yes, I have a key because your father trusted me enough to have one. Do you?”
She was pretty sure he did, or he wouldn’t have been there, but given his lack of response, wondered if that were actually the case.
Huh.
She didn’t have time to psychoanalyze the kid. She needed to get back to Shora and meet up with her boss who’d sent her an email stating he’d be on site by three. Valerie needed to get back and put her game face on. She was hoping that today would be the day that he told her, “All right, we’re winding this phase down. Time to pack up for Miami.”
She nodded at Kevin and squeezed past him. “It’s been lovely meeting you.”If you make those plans disappear, I will drive back here to throttle you.She had put hours of work into the preliminary plans in that tube, and it wasgoodwork.
“Hey,” he called after her.
“Hay is for horses.”You little brat.She cleared the front door and cringed as she saw that damned incline she needed to back out of. If she’d been smarter, she would have backed into the yard upon arrival so she could see better how to get out.
“Okay, wait, lady.” Kevin jogged after her, holding his pants up at the waist. He hiked them high enough that she could see the plastic monitoring cuff around his sock-covered ankle.
Oh, hell.
She recognized those things all too well. Her ex-dom had worn one for several months thanks to a crime that, fortunately, had nothing to do with his acquaintance to Valerie. She’d severed ties with his erratic ass a couple of days after his sentencing. She’d had a reputation to maintain and couldn’t handle having a known screwball attached to her name.
She pulled her car door open and fell into the seat.
Kevin jogged over and leaned onto the top of the door. “Look, don’t tell my Dad you saw me. When you talk to him, if he asks, tell him I didn’t come out of my room.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I just don’t want to deal with the fuckin’ nagging. It’s too much.”
“Adults get nagged all the time by the people they work for, but less when those people trust them. It’s refreshing, actually, how they get out of your hair to let you work in peace. So, what’s that tell you?”
“I know he doesn’t trust me. That’s fine. Feeling’s mutual.”
Oh, God.
She drew in a bolstering breath and wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel.None of my business.“What makes you think your father isn’t trustworthy?”
She’d had to ask, because of all the things she thought about Tim, him being untrustworthy had never been one of them. In fact, she’d wondered if she trusted himtoomuch. His candor and honesty had made her too comfortable—reckless, even.
“Come on, what do you think his priorities are, huh? Making boats and making money. I don’t fit anywhere in that.”
“Would you prefer the alternative?”
“Huh?”
“Himnotmaking money? Because I’ve got to tell you, being poor ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. I’m not ashamed to tell you that growing up, I didn’t have a dad. I have no idea where he is or if he’s even still alive. He didn’t send money and didn’t stick around for anything but to sign me and my sister’s birth certificates. And then my mother died. That left my sister and me in some pretty rough circumstances for a while. I assure you, we were far more worried about having food in our bellies than counting the number of hours our grandmother spent with us in her limited free time. That’s called prioritizing. Maybe you should try it. And get off my door, please. I have somewhere to be and I’m sure you’re eager to go back into your cave.”
Kevin took a couple of steps back from the door, jaw hanging open and eyes round with shock or horror or maybe he was just high, she didn’t care.
He was Tim’s problem.
Dodged a bullet there.
And that totally explained why the guy was single. She knew there had to be a reason.
She got her seatbelt on, closed the door, and said a little prayer as she put her foot on the accelerator and backed up the driveway.
Kevin looked on, so she didn’t stop and start like she might have. She kept that car moving and hoped a big truck didn’t T-bone her before she had a chance to look both ways and didn’t draw in another breath until she shifted into drive and was on her way to Shora.
