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“I have my high school diploma. I hadn’t planned on going to college because I can’t exactly afford it,” she replied. My jaw tensed in aggravation, not at her, but at the situation she found herself in. I drummed my fingers on the table. I found myself staring at her lips and when I realized what I was doing, I turned my eyes back down to the table.
The door opened and my assistant walked in with several bags of food. I hadn’t known what Cami would like, so I’d had him order the whole breakfast menu from the local diner. He bowed his head and left the room, leaving the two of us alone once again.
“This is from Miss Ethel’s place,” she said excitedly.
“You know her?”
“Yeah. She lets me help out in the kitchen sometimes. She’s really nice,” she added.
“Do you spend much time in town?” I asked.
“Yes. Sometimes the restaurants have extra food. My favorite is the pizza place. Sometimes they make mistakes and I get the extra food if I show up at night,” she smiled.
That was no way to live.
“What about the homeless shelter?” I inquired.
“It’s full most of the time. They run out of food if you’re not one of the early ones in line and the beds are awful. The ones here are old, but so much better,” she replied. She licked her lips, staring at the bag as if she was waiting for my permission to serve herself.
When she lifted her gaze to me, I was certain she was, and my cock hardened pretty much immediately at the sight.
Fuck. Get it together, Mason. She’s fifteen years younger than you, you fool.
“Go ahead. Dig in,” I said, only just able to hide the strain in my voice. Thankfully, it appeared that she didn’t notice in her hungry excitement.
I watched as she opened the first package. Inside was a breakfast sandwich of some kind and she dug right in without even really looking at what was in it. I slid her coffee across the table after adding cream and sugar to it.
“Thank you,” she offered. She took a tentative sip of the coffee and grinned wildly. “Oh, that’s delicious!”
“Good,” I replied.
I found a simple omelet with sausage and peppers. There were sides of bacon and sausage as well and I ate several forkfuls of eggs as I watched her eat. She was quiet as she chewed. She tried to be polite and take small bites, but it was obvious she was really hungry.
I considered what to do with her. It was clear that she had a place here in this small town and my public reputation was important to me. It would be in very poor taste to take this young girl to court over her claim of squatter’s rights, and it would look even worse for me if I just kicked her out on the street. To be honest, neither of those were options I would even remotely consider anyway. I wasn’t an asshole. Dragging this young girl into court would be a dick move. Not only would it be a major hassle, but she didn’t deserve it anyway. She hadn’t damaged the property at all. There wasn’t a single broken window or graffiti or anything like that. She’d simply used it as a place to live.
This girl had no one. No family. No home. Nothing.
I had this great big mansion all to myself. Maybe her company would be a refreshing change from living here alone. I tried to tell myself it would be the kind thing to do, but a tiny selfish part of me wanted to get to know her a bit better too.
“I have a lot to do in this place to bring it back to life,” I began again, and her eyes lit up.
“My friend Sophie and I like to watch those home renovation shows on television sometimes. There’s so much you can do in a house this big,” she smiled. Her eyes sparkled with possibility. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but she had a cute little dimple on each cheek.
I tapped my fingers on the table. In that moment, I made my decision. “Cami, I’d like to make you a deal. I’d like to ask you to stay. I’m not going to kick you out, but I have a few requests that I’d like for you to agree to before you accept,” I said quietly.
She blinked and pulled back just a hair. “What do you mean?” she asked timidly. Her wariness had returned tenfold.
“The first condition is that the upstairs wing where I found you sleeping would be your wing for your own personal use. I won’t disturb you there. With that being said, the rest of the house will be for my individual and business use. When I am working, you are to entertain yourself and stay out of my hair,” I said.
She studied me for the longest time before she answered. “That sounds reasonable,” she replied. She was sitting on the edge of her seat. She didn’t know what to expect and I could read it all over her face.
“The second is that I’d like your help in updating and designing this place. I think a woman’s touch would make it homier rather than something of a bachelor pad,” I continued.
She cocked her head, trying to read between the lines. “I’d like that,” she finally said. She fidgeted in her seat and took a sip of her coffee. I studied her expression. Her uneasiness had faded a little more. I wondered if she had any aspirations for her future, but I didn’t want to push too much, not yet. She was guarded, maybe rightly so.
“What do you think? Does that sound fair?” I asked.
“Is that all?” she asked nervously.
