His voice lowers and he adds, “You know Natalie would kill me if anything happened between us…”
Goldie nods. “Yeah, she hated the way girls threw themselves at you, especially when they were nice to her to get to you.”
Does the light in her eyes dim? Damnit, Nathan. I shoot him a glare, which he ignores.
She looks at me, a hint of something mischievous in her eyes, and my smile flickers back to life. My mind’s a hotbed for wild thoughts.
Nathan rambles on…a definite sign he’s uncomfortable. He needs a sense of control. “We’renotlooking for a relationship, and we’re not going to be good company, but would you be willing to be a live-in housekeeper? Cook, clean, and run errands. We’ll pay of course.”
So clear. So disappointing. So exactly what it will take to keep him from shutting the whole thing down.
Confusion crosses her expression. “Live here?”
“We’d give you the spare bedroom upstairs, between ours,” I add. Not the way I’d like her to be between us, but it’s a start. Nathan’s optional in that scenario of course.
Four
Nathan
Knowingthere’sonlythetiniest scrap of fabric keeping Natalie from being exposed, I barely keep my eyes off her bare legs. It shouldn’t matter that she’s wearing Carson’s shirt. It doesn’t mean anything. Nothing. And I am fully capable of not thinking of her sexually.
Or so I wish. I force my brain back to the details of our proposition. I mean job offer. Fuck me.
“It’s a work arrangement. There’s plenty for you to do. Let me make that perfectly clear. You’re Natalie’s best friend and I don’t want to cause any trouble. You can hang out and sunbathe. Aren’t you in college? Are you free for a longer commitment?”
I’m not sure when I started pacing. Is my sweating obvious? I wipe a hand across my brow and force myself to shut up.
I don’t know if it’s the idea that Carson might pursue her that has me flustered, or if it’s how badly I want her but don’t want to cross a weird line. There’s no way this is a good idea. Surely Zoe sees that. She was always a smart kid.
She giggles. That sound could undo me.
“I dropped out of college. Need to sort a few things out.”
“What were you studying?” Carson asks as if having a conversation with someone as gorgeous and not dressed enough as her could be normal.
She waves the comment off. “What my parents told me to. Anyway, I just got back into town. Everything I have fits in my car. A friend is letting me crash at her place, so honestly, living here for a couple of weeks would be great. I can save up money for my own place and give my friend a break.”
“What?” I choke on what appears to be her agreeing to stay here. We need rules. First, she has to wear pants. Mine. No, not mine. Hers. Shit.
“Is it okay if I keep the other cleaning jobs Skylar gave me? Nothing too time-consuming. I can still do everything you need.”
Disaster loading…
Carson manages to answer. “I don’t see why not.”
Zoe balls her fists and taps them together in front of her chest. The gesture accidentally pulls the shirt up. The extra inch of thigh accelerates my heart. What am I, a fucking Victorian? Excited by ankles. This is definitely not her ankle.
“Great. I’m scheduled to do a few of the houses in Eggplant Canyon so I won’t have to go far.”
Why is that comforting? I need her far away or I’ll break into a full sweat.
“And I always wondered what it would be like to live on the jizz.”
Carson and I simultaneously lose our composure. Our coughing and choking sounds cause Zoe to reconsider her statement.
Her hands fly to her mouth. “Oh my gosh. I assumed you knew that…in high school, everyone called the little Eggplant Canyon lake the jizz?”
Neither of us speaks.