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“Were you listening in on my call?”
He shrugs. “I got back to the office early and I was going to see if you wanted to go for lunch. I heard you telling someone to move in.”
“My new housekeeper.”
Dad raises an eyebrow, his mouth disappearing into a thin line. “And who is this new housekeeper? You should have asked your mother and I for our recommendation. We love Carrie and her sister. I’m sure one of them would have been more than willing to come help you.”
“Kendall Murdock.”
His eyes nearly bulge out of his head. Guilt starts to swirl in my stomach at his expression. I don’t know what he’s about to say next, but I know it isn’t going to be good.
Not only am I hiring the daughter of my dead best friend, but she has no clue who I am.
And then there’s the way that I’m lusting after her to make everything so much worse.
“Kendall Murdock, as in the daughter that disappeared with her mother after Dave Murdock died?”
I swallow hard, my heart beating faster. “Yeah, Dave’s daughter. She doesn’t know who I am though. I want to keep it that way for now. She’s in a hard spot in life and I’m just trying to look out for her.”
“You’ve been keeping tabs on her.”
“I went to the club she works at a few weeks ago and saw her there. Started looking into her life after that. It’s the first time I’ve seen her since Dave’s funeral when she was little.”
Dad smirks and shakes his head. “If Kendall is anything like her father, you’re going to be in deep shit once she finds out who you are.”
“I know. It will be worth it.”
“I hope you’re right, Evan.”
So do I.
3
KENDALL
AsIstareupat the massive mansion, made of glass and brushed metal and sitting on the edge of a lake at the bottom of the mountains, I can’t help but think that I might have made a mistake taking the job.
There is no way that I’m going to be able to keep this entire house clean while working my way through law school.
At least balancing the two is only going to last for a few weeks before I’m out of school. And the house is close to my university.
After that, I still don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep up with the cleaning, but there will be more hours in a day to try.
“Hello, you must be Miss Murdock,” an older man says as he opens the tall black doors. “I’m Blake, the house manager for Mr. Tucker.”
The man’s hair is more gray than the red it looks like it used to be. Wrinkles line the corners of his eyes and his mouth. He offers me a stiff smile, fully professional and not at all looking like he’s happy to see me there.
“Call me Kendall.” I hoist my duffel bag over my shoulder and glance at the driver as he takes off. “You know, I hope you talk more than that man does, otherwise we are going to have a very hard time getting along.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “I’m not going to do that.”
“I didn’t think so.” I look up at the house and whistle. “So, this is how the other half lives. You ever wonder what that’s like?”
“I’ve been working for Mr. Tucker for twenty years. I’ve seen a lot of what’s that’s like and I do very well at remembering my place. You might want to do that as well.”
I grin and shake my head, walking up the stairs to meet him on the front porch. He looks me over, his mouth slipping into a slight frown. I look down at my white shorts and sage crop top, wondering if there’s something wrong with the way I’m dressed.
“Come with me and I’ll show you to your room. After that, Mr. Tucker should be home and he’ll want to meet with you. I do have to ask, where are the rest of your things? I was told that you would be arriving with movers.”
