"Money. How else would I buy it?"
"And how much money do you have?"
Her cheeks, already flushed, grew a shade redder. "Well…none right now. But there's the bonus."
"Which I already told you, won't be enough."
"It might be for a down payment."
"You can say that all you want," I said. "It doesn't make it true."
Her mouth tightened. "Well, maybe I'm not the type to give up so easily. Did you ever think of that?"
I recalled how she'd been in high school. "Hell, I don'tthinkit. Iknowit."
She smiled. "See?"
I didn’t smile back. "That wasn't a compliment."
Her smile faded, which made me feel like a total dick. The truth was, I admired the way she went after the things she wanted – but not when the thing she wanted belonged to me.
She turned and looked toward the house –andthen toward Roy, who was still filming us from afar. In a quieter voice, she said, "I think we've gone far enough."
Something in her tone suggested that she wasn't talking about distance. And hey, I wasn't about to argue.She was right.When it came to anything with me and Arden, less was always better.
But first I had to set her straight. "Listen, there's something I want you to know."
"What?"
"When I bought that house, I didn't know you had your eye on it."
She gave me a dubious look, but said nothing.
I held her gaze. "Believe me. Or don't. I just figured you'd want to know." And with that, I turned and began walking toward the house, trying like hell to ignore Roy and his camera, along with the sight of Arden, trudging along beside me like I'd just popped her favorite balloon.
As far as the camera, I felt its presence more than I should've. From the look on Arden's face, she felt it, too.
As we moved ever closer to the house, there was a part of me – thedumb-asspart of me – that wanted to shield her from the intrusion. But Arden wasn't mine to protect. And even if she were, she needed to realize –and fast– exactly what she'd signed on for.
And if shedidn'trealize it?
Hey, it wasn'tmyproblem, and I'd be smart to keep it that way.
Chapter 30
Arden
On the phone, Cami asked, "So, do you believe him?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But he didn't sound like he was lying."
It was nearly seven o'clock at night, and I was hunkered down in my bedroom, where I'd have no chance of being overheard.
The house was empty except for myself, but I was all too aware that either of my roommates could return at any moment.
I'd just finished a full day under the nonstop glare of Roy's video camera, and I was in no mood to be scrutinized by anyone. Even though my day hadn't been difficult by any stretch, all of those hours in the spotlight had left me feeling unsettled and stupidly exhausted.
Looking back, was it any wonder?
