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“Sutton…” He starts, his eyes trailing down my body until they veer off to the back seat of my car. “Why is your back seat filled with boxes?” The question is so innocent, yet it’s clouded in the shame that washes over me. “Sutton…” His warning tone has my gaze averting, concentrating on the concrete below my feet.
The truth is on the tip of my tongue as Colton gently grasps my chin with his thumb and lifts my eyes so they connect with his, and the second they do, I cave. “Because I live here.”
“In this part of town?” he asks, wary of my answer. I shake my head, leaning it back against the car door as my eyes stare at the cloudy night sky. Admitting that I’m homeless to anyone causes a crushing weight on my chest. I take a deep breath, my heart racing as Colton’s fingers find my hips, gripping me tightly.
“I live in my car.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I want to take them back. I want to go back to yesterday when I felt sexy and confident and wanted. I want to ignore the pitying look in Colton’s eyes as the realization hits him square in the chest.
“What happened to school? Zack told me you were accepted and were working on your master’s…” I nod because all of that was true…nine months ago. Before my life fell apart at the seams.
“I did. But it turns out you need money to do that, and it seems my well has run dry.” I shrug, his fingers still lingering on my hips, the air around us thick.
“What about your parents?” I shake my head, hoping he gets the idea without me having to explain everything. “How long?” he asks. I avert my eyes once more, and that’s when he lets go of me, cursing under his breath. “How long have you been living out of your car, Sutton?” I can’t help the blazing desire that rams into me at his tone. The worry, fear, and anger I feel washing off him is such a fucking turn-on that I need to remind myself why this is such a bad idea.
“About two months.”
“Fucking hell,” Colton whispers, his hands lacing through his hair as he paces back and forth. “Is that why you were on Sinful Phoenix? You needed the money?” I nod, and the realization that he’s paid for all my meals for the past few weeks dawns on him. “Why didn’t you go home?”
The sigh is long and frustrated, but it gives me time to come up with something to say that doesn’t make me sound like a whiny brat. “Because I’m an adult, Colton. I’m twenty-five years old, I’ve been fending for myself for over six years, and the idea of crawling back to my high school bedroom isn’t exactly ideal. So excuse me if I wanted to see if I could figure it out for myself.”
“But selling yourself on the internet? That seems a bit extreme.” I nod, my hands gripping the door handle behind me for dear life as Colton steps in closer, his cologne surrounding me as I bask in its musky scent.
“I didn’t plan for it to go that far. I have a part-time job, but it’s kind of hard to get a full-time job when you don’t have a permanent address. But Sinful Phoenix allowed me to start saving. At first, it was just pictures of me in lingerie, which allowed me to get my car fixed. Then you happened.” His eyes widen, his breath shaky as I continue. “I didn’t go into this expecting to sell myself to someone for a week. That was never the plan. I just needed some money until I figured out how to get a job without a physical address, and the auction seemed like a great idea. I didn’t have to say yes. I just had to participate, and until you, I never thought of actually agreeing.” Understanding settles behind his eyes, and I breathe out, wishing things had been different.
“That contract would have changed everything for you,” he admits, and my slight smile is enough of an answer for him. He’s right. That money would have changed everything, but that’s over and done with, and now I need to figure something else out.
“Anyway, I should get going…” I say, turning my back to him and opening my door.
“Stop,” Colton demands, the tone sinking deep into my skin and causing way too many memories of him to gather at the surface of my brain. “Come home with me.” He spins me, and I freeze, my entire body molten at the thought of going home with him, but I know it’s a horrible idea. He said it best. I’m his son’s ex-girlfriend… so I can’t do that.
“Colton, you don’t need to save me.” His eyes soften, and that sliver of a smile creeps out of the corner of his lips. “I can take care of myself.” He nods.
“I can see that, but you don’t have to.” His eyes flicker down the street and then back to mine. “I’ll make you a deal. You come home with me and stay the week, then you can keep the money at the end.” My chest compresses, the flicker of fear settling against my throat.
“And what do you get out of this deal?” My voice is barely above a whisper as the realization of what his offer means hits him.
“Fuck.No, Sutton. I get nothing but the knowledge that you’re okay and taken care of. That’s it. We will not doanything, but I need to know that you aren’t living on the streets anymore. I feel semi-responsible since your breakup with Zack.” I shake my head, the idea of living with Colton for a week rolling around inside my head.
“I can’t live with you, Colton. What about Zack?”
“He’s living on campus and hardly comes home anyway. I see him on holidays and on birthdays, that’s it. He won’t be a problem. Now get in the car Sutton.” A part of me knows this is wrong. A part of me knows that being inside that house with him will only lead to things I will never be able to take back. But another part of me wants it. Not only for the money but because I see that sliver of desire lingering behind those kind eyes. I want that, I need that, and I want him even though I know it will never work. I want to find out what it all means.
“What about my car?” I ask, not wanting to leave it sitting here for god knows how long.
“I’ll have someone pick it up and bring it to the house.” I take a moment to think, but I already know my answer.
“Okay, deal.”
CHAPTERTHREE
My legs stick to the leather of Colton’s front seat, causing me to fidget as he drives. Every once in a while, he glances over and eyes me for a second before glaring back at the road. I quietly stare, wondering what’s going through his mind as he takes me far away from the bar and closer to a house I wish I wasn’t so familiar with.
“You know I could have driven myself,” I mutter, hating that all my things are in my back seat, and all I’m left with right now is the purse in my lap and the skintight dress that barely covers my ass.
“And risk you running off? Not a chance Sutton,” he growls, stopping the car at a red light. I don’t know what it is about hearing my name come off those lips, but it does something to my body, causing my legs to rub together. I don’t say a word since we both know that’s exactly what I would have done. I clear my throat, horns sounding behind us as Colton’s gaze flicks back toward the road, muttering something about testing his patience.
My mind is reeling as the silence surrounds us once more, and I wonder for the millionth time since I climbed in this car if I made the wrong choice. My desire for this man overtakes every one of my senses when he’s near, and living in the same house as him, knowing what he wanted to do to me before knowing I was the one behind SexKitten34, is causing my brain to short circuit.
The car stops abruptly at the front door of the one house I never thought I would step foot in again. Its grandeur is still intimidating, and its beauty still takes my breath as I stare out the passenger side window. Before I can say a word, Colton is out of the car, rounding to my side and opening my door.
