"So?" he said again.
My gaze drifted to the bucket of rags. "Did you wipe up the water, too?"
"Well, I wasn't gonna let it just sit there."
For a long awful moment, I surveyed the scene in front of me – the hoses, the rags, and the guy who'd been using them.Just how long had all of this taken?
Minutes?
Or hours?
Either way, I felt like some sort of slacker. "You should've had me help you. I mean, I was right here."
At this, he stopped working and gave me a hard look. "Yeah. And you weren't supposed to be."
As if I needed the reminder."Well maybe I didn't know that."
"Sure you did."
"Not for certain," I said. "The lastIknew, my cousin lived here. And I was supposed to meet him."
"Uh-huh."
Obviously, Brody still didn't believe me. But I continued anyway. "So like I already explained, it's not like I was squatting or anything."
With a sarcastic smile, he said, "Sure, I believe you."
"Yeah, well you should," I told him. "So who owns the house now?"
"Me. Like I said."
"You personally?"
In a tight voice, he replied, "As opposed to what?"
"Well…" I said, thinking out loud. "If the house is going to be featured on the show, I'm thinking thatmaybethe network owns it. Or your tool company. Or an investor."
"Yeah," he said. "And the investor's me."
I bit my lip. Thiswasn'twhat I wanted to hear. "Youpersonally?"
"What, you wanna see the deed?"
It was the same thing he'd offered the other night. I didn't need the deed. What I needed was the truth. "I just want to know."
He crossed his arms, making his biceps bulge like they always did. "Why?"
"Well…" Again, I hesitated. "Maybe I'm wondering if I'll have the chance to buy it. You know, when it's done."
"Forget it," he laughed.
But I wasn't laughing. "Why?"
"Because you can't afford it."
My cheeks warmed at the bluntness of his statement, even more so because it was true. "Well, maybe I can't afford itnow," I admitted. "But after the bonus—"
"It'll still be out of your range."
