“Yes, I live with my parents and brother, Duke.”
“Why don’t you live on campus?”
Her smile drops. “My father won’t let me. He said it wouldn’t be safe. He’s a bit paranoid and thinks everyone is after him for his money.”
Won’t let her? The woman is twenty-one, not seventeen. Unless she lied about her age.
“How old are you?” I ask, suddenly nervous.
She laughs. “I told you. I’m twenty-one. And I know what I’m saying about my father sounds ridiculous, but once you meet him, you’ll understand. He likes to be in control, and we all just go along to appease him.”
Yeah, I’d like to meet this guy and see what the hell is going on. “But he was all right with you staying with me for a week?”
Her cheeks flush, and she doesn’t respond right away.
“Delaney?”
She sighs. “He was out of town, so he didn’t know I wasn’t home. My brother covered for me.”
I groan as I sit back in the seat. She’s twenty-one but needs to lie to her dad to stay out. I’m not sure what to make of that.
We turn down a long driveway, and there is a gate. She enters a code, and the doors open. Nothing could have prepared me for her home. It’s the biggest mansion I’ve ever seen in person. I close my mouth and try not to look shocked as she pulls up near the front and parks.
“Here we are.”
I get out as she pops the trunk. She grabs my bag, but I take it from her.
“Come inside.”
The inside is just as magnificent as the outside. There is a large chandelier and a staircase that comes down on both the right and left sides of the entryway. It looks like something out of a movie.
Delaney smiles and nods toward the back of the house. “The pool house is that way.”
I follow her down the hall, noticing the walls are covered with art but no photos. We pass the dining room and go into the kitchen, exiting out the back door.
Just as I wasn’t prepared for the front of the house, I’m not prepared for the back. The pool is large and something I’d expect to see at a hotel. But the pool house? It’s bigger than the house I grew up in.
She guides me inside and down a hall to a bedroom. “There is only one bedroom out here, so you’ll have privacy.”
I drop my bag on the floor. “Uh, where will you be?”
She bites her lip. Then points to the main house. “I’ll be in there upstairs.” Her lips curve up. “Until I sneak out each night.”
Getting caught in the pool house by a controlling dad is not sounding so good right now. “Is your dad okay with me staying here? I could stay at a motel.”
She shrugs. “He doesn’t know yet. And since he isn’t home, we have some time.” Her fingers move over my chest, then she begins to unbutton my shirt.
“Delaney!” a man yells through an intercom on the wall, causing me to jump back.
Delaney closes her eyes. “He’s home. This will have to wait. But come on, I want you to meet him.”
“How did he know you were out here?” I ask.
“He didn’t. I’m sure he selected all rooms.”
She grabs my hand and leads me back to the main house. All rooms? I stare at the large mansion in front of me, wondering how many that might be.
We walk back through the kitchen and dining room to the foyer. At the bottom of the stairs stands a man who appears to be in his forties, tall, and now staring at me like he wants me dead.
