I wonder if I can call Taylor and beg for him to put Sam up in a hotel and put it in terms of courting Sam. Almost as if he could hear me thinking about him, my phone starts ringing and it’s Taylor.
“Zoe, you better give me good news.”
“Yes, he’s coming back with me. He’s getting packed right now.”
“Finally, great, you really had me worried. Don’t forget to stop for gas before you get back on the road and call me when you get home to let me know you made it back safely.”
Sam’s eye brows went up when he heard Taylor’s orders. He’d climbed in while Taylor had said finally and he’d smiled to hear it. Ignoring him, as much as I can, which isn’t much, I agree.
“I was thinking of going to the parking garage and getting my car and leaving your truck. Is that okay?”
“No, it will be getting late and you’ll have spent most of the day on the road. Just go home and rest and bring it in tomorrow. Christine will drive me into work tomorrow and she’ll pick me up today.”
“Okay, what ever you say.” Disconnecting the call, I plug my phone into the charger and fasten my seatbelt.
“How long have you known Taylor and worked for him? When did you find out he got you to work for him because he thought he was in love with you and wanted to keep you close?”
Not liking how demanding he sounded I consider ignoring him and the questions he shot at me but it was going to be a long drive if I did. I want to ask him for my panties back but I don’t dare. Deciding answering his questions is safer territory than anything else we’d talked about so far I shrug. “I met him a little over two years ago. I was trying to sell my paintings on South Congress, another painter and I had gone in on a space and Taylor stopped to take a look. He had just moved out of his condo into a house and needed stuff to fill his walls. That day he bought two paintings and we chatted. I thought he was just curious about my painting, he was with a woman and I didn’t think he was chatting me up with her there. It wasn’t until later I found out it was his sister and that was her last week in Austin, she was moving with her husband to Houston. I admitted that I hated my job and was hoping to do painting full time.
Right then he told me he was losing his assistant and needed a new one, and he was. His sister had been his assistant but he’d already found her replacement. That person ended up going to work out at the training site instead. He asked me if I would be interested, but he made it seem like there were others in competition for the position and he wasn’t just handing it to me. Taylor has a way about him and he seemed so nice and genuine, talking about his company and it sounded more interesting than my call center job.
It never crossed my mind for a second he was interested in me, he was too slick. I was clueless until he and Christine came back from their honeymoon and she told me. What was really funny was Christine has been my best friend for years, I got them together. They dated for almost a year and she was still too scared to tell me until after they were married, in case I decided I liked him after all. That was crazy to me. I’d worked with Taylor for a year, and knew they would be a good match, how could she think I would do that to her?”
“It happens all the time, for a lot of people, they don’t realize what they have until it’s gone.”
“I guess that can be true for many but that isn’t me and I would have thought after so long Christine would have known that.”
“How long have you guys been friends?”
“Since I first moved to Austin, eleven years now, we were both new to Austin and only eighteen. I was meeting with an apartment locater but he was running late and he had double booked us together since he was so busy and we were looking in the same area and price range. We clicked from the beginning and by the end of the day realized it was cheaper and easier to have a roommate. That day we rented an apartment together.”
“Been together ever since?”
“No, we lasted a good four years though. Then Christine met a guy and moved out. We lost touch for a while, then almost two years later she called me out of the blue. From there we reconnected and have been close ever since.”
“So it doesn’t bother her that you stayed on with Taylor, working for him and living in a home he owns?”
He looks angry and I’m not sure why. “No, I told her she had nothing to worry about. Like I said, I never saw Taylor that way and now he doesn’t see me that way either. He admitted he more or less gave up in the few months before I introduced him to Christine. Why is it a big deal that I live in the house he owns? The company owns it. He bought it to house his new recruits and people in from out of town on interviews. It was costing a fortune in hotel bills. I take care of the house and I pay him rent, I’m not there for free. Although I didn’t know he liked me like that I’m not stupid enough to think free comes without strings.
When I had to move because my rent was going up and it was north and the office is so far south Taylor offered it up because it was empty at the time. At first, it was just supposed to be until I found something else but Austin has blown u
p so much that the rents on even studios are crazy high. While Taylor pays well, I wanted more room and to save money for paint and canvases. Without thinking, I complained to Taylor and he offered for me to make it permanent. It’s a lovely, roomy, house and there’s even a small room in the back a guy had built and used for wood working that I converted to studio space. We negotiated for me to pay what I was paying at my last place, and that covers bills. In the end we both come out ahead. It can be annoying when the guys who come to stay think I’m their maid or something but pretty quickly they get over it.” I don’t even hesitate to not share the deal I had made with Taylor.
“So, I’m going to be staying with you?”
The question is low and throaty and my damn nipples tighten in reaction. “If you don’t want to stay in a hotel on your own dime, then yes, you can stay at the house, for now. Once you settle into Austin and the job you’ll find your own place.”
“Hmm, is there some sort of time limit?”
I consider lying but knew he’d ask Taylor, “No.”
“Good to know. You mentioned you moved to Austin from somewhere, where are you from?”
His question throws me and I try not to stiffen but I know I do. “Chicago, Taylor mentioned you just came from Chicago. What were you doing there and why did you leave?”
He’s quiet for a long time but I don’t dare look at him. Looking down I notice my grip is so tight on the steering wheel my knuckles have gone white and I flex them. “An Army buddy of mine had a shop there fixing up vintage and classic cars. He offered me a job and Florida was getting boring. I thought why not. I went up in the summer but only one winter and I knew it was a nice city but not for me. I lived in Boston for four years and I swear I don’t think it ever got as cold there as it did that winter in Chicago. How did you ever make it through them?”
“You learn to dress in layers. That’s why I came to Austin as soon as I hit eighteen. I’m still finding it a little hard to believe that you graduated from Harvard and wound up in the Army. How did that happen?” I have no desire to talk about Chicago, I try my best to steer the conversation back to him. Also I can admit I really do want to know more about him. Why the hell had he done something so reckless when he could have had such a different life?