New Love

by Alyson Reynolds

  “She was the prankster, wasn’t she?”

  “Yeah, and my emergency key holder for when I turn up too drunk to remember where I left my keys.”

  Soleil chuckled. “Are you two close then?”

  “She’s a pain in my arse,” I muttered. When Soleil’s brows dipped in the middle, I added, “She’s lived here longer than me and kinda adopted me as her surrogate brother a few years ago. Now, she’s like this annoying sister I can’t get rid of. Just give me a minute.” I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.

  Thank you for the new artwork. Your boyfriend really appreciated it.

  Even as I texted Bekah, Soleil wandered through my small apartment. Her gaze fell over every little thing. I could’ve sworn she even did a finger check for cleanliness once or twice. Anyone would’ve thought she was doing a house inspection. I clenched my jaw to avoid saying anything to her just yet.

  My phone buzzed as a reply came back from Bekah. While he’s there, remind him to tell you how he got gonorrhoea.

  Serious though, where are my actual pictures?

  Soleil moved back into the living room, and I trailed her footsteps. There was no way I was going to let her wander around my house unattended. It was bad enough having her there . . . judging everything I owned.

  She picked up a small trophy from my TV cabinet. I grabbed it straight off her with a frown.

  “I was just looking.”

  “You look with your eyes, not your hands.” The last time I’d said that was to a pair of little brats who’d come into the corner store I worked at when I was a teen.

  You know it took almost a week for you to notice I’d changed them. Someone hasn’t been very observant. I could almost hear Bekah’s smug “I got you” voice in the reply she’d sent.

  A week? That couldn’t be right, could it? I walked past that photo every morning. Surely I would’ve noticed if it had changed a week ago. Then again, it was so similar in colour and tone that my gaze probably slipped on by without even realising it.

  “Is there somewhere I can have a shower?” Soleil asked.

  I didn’t respond immediately because I was crafting my reply to Bekah. No wonder I’ve been craving hot dogs all week. How about we get some tomorrow? Your treat?

  Soleil moved to stand in front of me, but I didn’t look up from my phone to acknowledge her. You’re giving me a treat? Great because I’m skint. I had to laugh at Bekah’s response. It was so typical of her.

  Soleil cleared her throat. No doubt she struggled with being ignored. At first, I was going to respond to her not-so-subtle request for attention, but then I stopped. She wanted the common treatment after all. Being disregarded and forgotten was part and parcel of that.

  I held up one finger to tell her to wait as I texted Bekah back. I have someone important I need to introduce you to.

  I glanced up after I sent the text. Bekah would shit bricks to know that I had Soleil Peyton in my apartment.

  That wouldn’t be Black Beauty, would it?

  “Ty, can—”

  I chuckled as I held up my finger to silence Soleil again. I might’ve been pushing it far beyond polite into downright obnoxious, but it was the fastest lesson she’d learn about the realities of being poor and unimportant. You been spying on me again, Beks? Why don’t you admit you want me?

  Puh-lease! Don’t flatter yourself. I just happened to glance out the peephole when I heard some noise in the hallway.

  “We’ve got a lunch date for tomorrow.” I lifted my gaze to acknowledge Soleil. “You can meet the real owner of my lovely art.”

  “I’m not sure . . . I want to keep as low a profile as possible.”

  “Don’t worry, Bekah will keep it on the down low. Besides you’re going to need to go shopping or go back to wherever you’re staying before long, you don’t have any clothes.”

  She glanced down at her body before running her hand over her dress. “Oh. Yeah. I didn’t think about that. Shopping and lunch it is.”

  I headed into my room and grabbed a T-shirt. “This should be okay for tonight.”

  When I handed it to her, she seemed a little distracted. Her lips curled down.

  “If you’re having second thoughts, I can take you back to the club.”

  Her gaze snapped to mine. “No. No, it’s all good.” She took the T-shirt from me.

  “Shower is through there,” I pointed to the door inside my bedroom. “There’s another entry on this side here.”

  “Thank you.”

  I smirked at her as she said the words. “My bed is through there; I’ll take the couch.”

  She turned toward my unmade bed. The sheets were clean but so threadbare there was hardly any point to them. My blanket was thin and probably should’ve been replaced long ago.

  Her nose scrunched as she assessed my bed. No doubt she was used to sheets with a such-and-such thread count made out of cotton imported from some far-off country. Or maybe satin sheets were more her thing. My mind offered up an image of her lithe body wrapped in red satin sheets to accompany the thought, and I had to disguise my lust-filled groan as a yawn.

  I forced the image from my head. It wouldn’t do to have those sorts of thoughts about the girl sleeping in my bed for two weeks, especially not when I was already risking life and limb having her in my apartment. If she were found at my side, it would likely be assumed I’d kidnapped her. It would only take one look at her life, and then one look at mine to come to that conclusion. No one in their right mind would believe she chose to live with me for two weeks.

  “Did you need anything else?” I asked.

  She glanced between the T-shirt in her hand and my bed. “Um, maybe a towel?”

  “Oh, of course. I’ll show you where they are.” I led her to the small set of drawers in one corner of my room. “Towels and sheets are all in this bottom drawer. Just be careful because it gets stuck sometimes and it only comes out about halfway because the room is too small for the bed and these drawers.”

  I tossed her a towel. Once more, her gaze seemed to pass over it with a judgement that made me clench my fists. The set of her lips, in a lopsided frown, confirmed to me that she wasn’t happy with the situation.

  If that was the way she felt, she could go fuck herself.

  “If there’s nothing else?”

  She held the towel up between us. “You don’t have anything thicker?”

  “Sorry, that’s what you get when you buy ten dollar towels.”

  “Why didn’t you buy something nicer?”

  I chuckled at the absurdity of her asinine statement. “Wait until I’ve shown you what real life is like, sweetheart, then we’ll see if you still wanna ask that. I’ll see you in the morning.” With a sigh, I handed her a second towel. “That will have to do. Unless you want the full spa treatment?”

  She glared at me for a moment before turning on her heel and sauntering into the bathroom.

  Heading back out to the living room, I figured I needed to make myself as comfortable as I could. I threw a sheet over the couch, thankful that it was summer and I didn’t need a thicker blanket. I only had the one after all, and it was on my bed.

  The bathroom door opened again, and she came out with the bar of soap in one hand and the all-in-one shampoo and conditioner in her other. One of the towels was wrapped around her waist, but it was so small that one side split open to reveal her creamy skin. “Is this all you have?”

  I sighed. “Yes. That’s all I have. I was unaware the Queen of the United States was coming to visit. That’s all I’ve got until I go shopping.”

  She huffed, and I wanted to offer to take her back to Skyland and her apparent prison again if that’s what she wanted. Before I could though, she turned and stalked into the bathroom again. I strained my neck to watch her go. She might’ve been an off-limits billionaire, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get a few glances in when she wasn’t looking.

  Minutes later, the shower started. My mind filled with unhelpful imag
es of her naked under the water. I grew hard but closed my eyes and tried to push the thoughts aside.

  The last thing I wanted was to let her creep into my mind and take control of my dick.

  Chapter 5

  WHEN I WOKE the next morning, I climbed from the couch and regretted it instantly. My back ached, and my neck seemed to be twisted into an odd angle and set that way permanently. Even my morning wood didn’t want to come out to play. With caution, I stretched out one side of my neck and then the other before moving onto my back. I wasn’t sure how long I could take sleeping on the too short couch. There was no way I could ask Soleil to share my bed though. She was a guest after all—she was even paying her way.

  Once I’d stretched my aching body as best as I could, I headed to the bathroom with plans of a hot shower to soothe the rest of the ache. I pushed open the door and was greeted by a scream.

  My gaze was instantly drawn to Soleil’s wet, naked body before I smashed my hand over my eyes. In the quick glimpse I’d had, I noticed a small tattoo low on her left hip, just a little higher than the small patch of hair between her legs, but couldn’t see what it was because it was too small.

  “What are you doing?” Soleil’s tone was sharp.

  “What are you doing?” I replied, uncovering my eyes just in time to see her wrap the tiny towel around herself.

  “I just finished in the shower.”

  “Didn’t you shower last night?”

  She tilted her head in confusion. “So?”

  “Didn’t you shower for almost half an hour last night?”

  “Yeah. And?”

  “And water costs money. Hot water costs even more.”

  She wrapped another towel around her long hair. “The last few minutes were cold anyway. Both times. No matter what I did, the heat wouldn’t come back. That can’t be normal.”

  “Great.” I clenched my teeth. “That means there won’t be any hot water for me.”

  “What do you mean there won’t be any hot water?”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. How the hell was I supposed to get through two weeks of this? “This place is old and only has a little hot water system. There isn’t enough water for more than one shower at a time. Maybe two—if they’re short.” I gave her a pointed glare.

  “How was I supposed to know about the terrible water supply?”

  Although she had something of a point, I wasn’t ready to concede it. “You could’ve asked.”

  “What about the toilet? What do I need to do with that? There are two buttons, and it barely flushes.”

  I twisted to the toilet and pointed to each of the buttons. “Full flush. Half flush. There’s a brick in the tank to save some water. Just don’t use too much TP or it’ll get clogged.”

  “Speaking of TP, you don’t have anything that’s a better quality, do you?” Her nose curled up as she retreated.

  “Do I look like I have anything better quality?” I flourished my hands in the direction of my bedroom. “This is the ‘normal’ life you wanted to experience oh so badly. If you wanted to experience the middle class, you should’ve picked another sucker.”

  She glanced between me and the toilet a few times. “It’s okay. I can do this. I can manage that. If you promise me one thing.”

  “What’s that?” Wasn’t I giving up enough—promising enough—by having her in my home?

  “Can you put the seat back down after you’ve finished?”

  I chuckled at the somewhat minor request. “Yeah, I think I can manage that. Now, can I use my bathroom to get ready? We have lunch plans remember, and we’ll need to get to the shops before then unless you wanna wear one of my outfits all day.”

  “I don’t have anything to wear right now.”

  Taking a breath to stop myself from saying that I’d told her so, I said, “Wear your dress from last night until we can get to the shops.”

  She scowled. “But it’s dirty.”

  “Well, you should’ve washed it last night.”

  “Right. There isn’t anyone here that takes care of that.”

  “Nope. And don’t go looking at me. You’ve already taken over my bed”—I stretched my back again as the words reminded me of the ache—“I’m not going to be a personal maid on top of that.”

  “I’ll bear that in mind for the future.” Her voice was more than a little snippy. A sense of satisfaction filled me that I was able to get under her skin the way she seemed to be able to crawl under mine. “What do you have that I can wear?”

  I walked past her to the door into my bedroom. When I turned the knob, it didn’t budge. “Sure, this one you lock.”

  “I didn’t think of the other door. I only locked that one after I walked through it.”

  “I’ve never worried about locking either of the doors because I’m almost always here alone. Or with someone I’m happy to share the bathroom with.” I bounced my brow suggestively.

  She frowned at me. “I’ll be sure to lock both doors in the future. I wouldn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea.”

  “Of course not.” Digging through my drawers, I tried to find the smallest items of clothing I had.

  I laid my hands on a business shirt and a pair of black business pants I’d worn to my high school formal. Both were a little too small for me and so were bunched up at the back of one of my drawers.

  “This is the best I have.” I tossed them both at her. “They don’t fit me anymore so you can do whatever you want with them after you’re done with them today.”

  Even though the set of her lips indicated that she wasn’t happy with the selection, she wrapped her arms around them. “Thank you. Do you have a hairbrush?”

  “Do I look like I own a hairbrush?”

  She rolled her pretty hazel eyes.

  “There’s a comb on the vanity.”

  After giving me a nod, she grabbed the comb from the bathroom. “A mirror?”

  “You know if you’d given more than a moment’s thought about this little playtime of yours, you could’ve had all these things arranged, right?”

  “It’s not that easy. You still think I have the freedom to plan this sort of thing.”

  I grabbed my own change of clothes and a fresh towel. “Be ready to go when I’m finished.”

  “What about breakfast?”

  “What about it?”

  “Well, when are we having it?” She glanced around as if waiting for a chef to materialise out of thin fucking air.

  “Whenever you cook it, sweetheart. There isn’t anyone here who’ll serve it to you on a silver platter.”

  “Are you going to make a snarky remark in response to every question I ask?”

  A wicked smile twisted my lips. “Why don’t you ask some more and see?”

  Before she could respond, I shut the door to the bathroom between us and locked her out.

  DESPITE MY request for her to be ready when I finished my shower, it was almost an hour before Soleil was ready to go. While I was waiting, I called into Skylands to let them know I had a family emergency and couldn’t come in for my shift that night.

  “What the fuck have you been doing?” I asked when she finally emerged from my bedroom. “You don’t even have any make-up with you.”

  When I turned to face her, I saw I was wrong. Her makeup was lighter than what she’d had on the night before, but still there. Her hair was pulled up into a plain ponytail that looked too smooth to be natural. She’d crossed my shirt over her chest and wrapped it around herself to tie it in the back. The pants were too big for her, hanging low on her waist and revealing her midriff. “Emergency case.” She held up what I assumed must have been a small make-up case. “I was getting ready. As you like to point out, constantly, I don’t have anyone else to help me now.”

  “You have people who help you get dressed?”

  She didn’t respond except to roll her eyes again. “May I have a glass of water before we go? I’m a little thirsty.”

  My first instinct w
as to tell her to get it herself, but it was a simple enough request and something I would do for any girl I’d brought home. Plus, it could be a teaching opportunity—teach a man to fish and all that.

  “This is the kitchenette,” I said, guiding her to that area. Along one wall was a small sink, tiny oven, cramped pantry, and three cupboards I’d been expected to use for every piece of cooking wear I might’ve ever needed. In reality, they were almost empty except for two pots and a frying pan. “Cups are up here.”

  I opened the high cupboard to show her the glassware and was struck by embarrassment at what I saw. Only three cups were glass—and they were ones I’d stolen from Dad, who’d saved them from jam and Nutella jars—the rest were cheap plastic cups. None of the glasses matched and every single one had at least one chip out of the rim.

  Without waiting for her to say anything more, I grabbed the least chipped glass. When I turned on the water in the sink, I let it run for a couple of seconds. “The pipes here are a little old, so just run the water for a few seconds before you fill a glass unless you want a mouthful of rust.”

  After filling the glass three-quarters of the way, I handed it to her. She swallowed slowly as she eyed the water. “I think I’m okay after all.”

  She stepped away without taking the water. Instead of tipping it down the sink, I drank it to fill my mouth and stop me saying what I really thought of her spoiled brat reaction. “We’ll have to go shopping after meeting Bekah for lunch now. We’re already running late.”

  “It’s only been an hour. How fast did you think I was going to be able to shop?”

  “You want more than an hour?”

  “Yeah. I can shop for hours and hours.”

  “On Daddy’s dime,” I sneered. “How do you plan on paying for your shopping spree today?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “On my credit card.”

  “Uh huh, and what’s the limit on that card?”

  “What do you mean limit?”

  “The most you can spend at any time.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never really tested it.”

  I found the pants I’d worn the night before tucked into one corner of the living room and removed her earrings. I set them on the dining room table. “So when you bought these, did you use your card?”