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Have I acted on it? Absolutely not.
“This is fucking bullshit.” Kendall gets up and starts pacing around the room. “Where the fuck would they even get anything like this? How the hell and why the hell do gossip magazines care that I’m living with you?”
“I can’t answer any of that,” I say, sliding the phone back across the desk as she marches by. “This is all just speculation though.”
Except that someone knows that she’s staying here and managing my household while she completes her schooling, which means that someone in my life leaked this to the press.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been involved in a scandal and this is a piece of news that they will all eat up.
I can practically see the dollar signs floating through the air. If I go out in public with Kendall anytime soon, we’re going to have to be careful. I don’t want to expose her to the shit that goes along with being rich.
The entire reason I offered her a job here was to protect her.
Now, it feels like I’m doing the exact opposite of that.
“It’s not all just speculation though. You might not think that this is a big deal, but do you know what’s going to happen to me? I’m still in university, Evan. There is no way my classmates aren’t going to see this.”
“Do you really think that they’ll even care?”
“High school doesn’t fucking end, Evan. Just because you have enough money to make your problems disappear doesn’t mean that the rest of the world works that way.”
“What’s your point?” Irritation has me sitting up a little straighter and crossing my arms.
“You are an older man with money. That solves the problem for you. People will look at you and think that you’re just doing what other men with your status do. You’re dating a younger woman. It’s different for me.”
“In what way?” I know the things people could say about her. I’m not naïve to the world, but I doubt that her peers would care about who she’s sleeping with.
“I’m going to be labeled a gold digger by everyone who sees that article. They’re going to think that I’m sleeping with you for money when all I’m doing is working for you.”
I sigh and rub my temples as a headache starts to form. I know that this isn’t the ideal situation for either of us, but I think she’s starting to blow it out of proportion.
Sooner or later, this will all blow over. The damage is already done and all we can do is wait.
“Kendall, I need you to stop pacing. It’s going to make me sick.”
She glares at me and continues to pace. I’ve never seen her this worked up and I don’t know how to calm her down. Everything I say to her only seems to be making it worse.
“I don’t know what you want me to do here, Kendall. This is already out there, and people are seeing it. The only thing you can do now is keep your head high and ignore them.”
Kendall shakes her head and runs her hand through her hair. “I knew that coming here was a mistake. I should have figured out some other way to make the money I need.”
The words cut deep but I try not to let my emotions get involved. She is hurting right now and the last thing she needs is for me to make it worse. I thought that this was the way to get her the help she needed but after my mother and now this, I’m starting to wonder if I was right.
I promised her father that I would always take care of her but I’m not sure that this is what taking care of her looks like.
“Enough. You can be as upset about this as you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that the article is out there and a dozen more are going to be popping up that look nearly identical. Hell, people might start following you around to try to get more pictures.”
“Great.” Kendall looks at me and rolls her eyes. Her mouth slants into a frown. “This is only going to get worse. That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear.”
“It will all be over before you know it. You just need to take a step back and realize that this is the reality of working in my household.”
“I wish I had known that before!”
Me too.
Only a few people know she is with me, but the people on that list aren’t ones who would betray my trust. Although, my driver might. He is still new and he might not be familiar with my expectations yet.
I make a mental note to have Blake question him before focusing on Kendall.
