132

132
CAMILLE
I stared at Drew’s house and wondered what the hell I was doing. Staying with him was a bad idea at best. When I knew that my house was unliveable, I should have called Clarke or Tyson. They would have been able
to offer me a place to stay.
There was the money in my savings account as well. It wasn’t enough to buy a new house—especially since I wanted a bigger house with a baby on the way—but it was enough money to put me up in a hotel for a few weeks.
Of course, if I stayed in a hotel for several weeks, I would run through my money quickly. I had to replace everything in my life. There were insurance claims to make, which would pay for most of what I had to replace, but it still wouldn’t be enough. That and I didn’t know when the money from the claims would be deposited into my account.
Clarke and Tyson would be more than willing to give me a pay advance or a loan to start my life over again. But asking them for that would feel like admitting defeat. After everything that I’d done to become successful without help from anyone else, asking them for something would be a massive hit to my pride.
Accepting help from Drew was easier. He wouldn’t make it easy for me. There would be arguing and fighting. It would push me that much harder to get my life back on track before the baby arrived.
I sighed and took the only bag of clothes I had left—the one that had been with me when I went to search the old trailer park for my mother—and walked to the front door. The door swung open before I had the chance to knock to reveal Drew with a smirk on his face.
“You look haggard,” he said, his tone teasing as he opened the door a little wider and let me in. “How are you doing?”
“Do you really care?” I asked, eyeing him and hating the way my heart started to flutter. “Be honest, Drew, do you really give a shit?”
“It’s a lot more complicated than that,” he said, his smile falling. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room so you can get some rest.”
I followed him through the house, eyeing the artwork on the walls. It was all black and white abstract pieces but there were splashes of color here and there. As I stared at one of the larger pieces, I wondered if he had picked out the pieces for himself or if an interior designer had done it.
His home was all cold tones and exposed metals. It was far more industrial than my place. It was exactly the kind of place that I’d imagine a bachelor would live in if I had to picture it.
Drew led me down a long hall to a bedroom in the back of the house. There was a large bed centered on one wall and a television hung on the wall opposite the bed. I stared at the plush white sheets, wondering how many other women had been in that bed.
Don’t think about that, Camille. You’re just going to piss yourself off.
“Thank you for this,” I said as I dropped my bag onto the short dresser. “I really do appreciate it. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to save up
a down payment, but I doubt it will be that long.”
“Take as long as you need, Camille. Like I said, there’s more than enough room in this house to go around. You don’t need to worry about hurrying out of here until you’re ready.”
“I know,” I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his kindness. This was new territory for both of us. We knew how to argue, and we knew how to fuck, but we didn’t know how to do much else.
“I’m serious,” Drew said, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Stay as long as you want, Camille.”
“I’m not going to be here long. I have a life that I have to get back to. I worked hard for what I have, or had, and I’m not going to sit around and take advantage of you.”
“Damn it, Camille. Do you have to be so proud all the time? I told you that I want to help you. Let me help you.”
“I don’t know why you would want to.” I studied him for a moment, wondering what had prompted the personality change. The last time I had seen him, he had been walking out of my house after being told that he was going to be a father.
“Because that’s what people do for each other.” “Not in the world I come from,” I said softly.
Life in the trailer park had been rough. I would never sugarcoat that. You were on your own from the time you were old enough to pick pockets. There was nobody watching out for you, and you learned pretty quickly how to take care of yourself.
“Not in the world I come from either,” he said, looking down at me. His frown deepened. “At least I’m trying though.”
He spun on his heel and walked out. The door shut with a soft click behind
him. The vise that felt like it had been wrapped around my chest eased a little.
For the first time since the plane had landed early this morning, I was finally alone. I didn’t have to keep pretending that I was alright and going through the motions of being a functional adult.
I sighed and slumped down against the door, sliding my way down until I was on the floor and hugging my knees. As I took deep breaths, I tried to figure out where I was going to go from here.
The last time that I felt this lost was in high school. Just months before my sixteenth birthday when I didn’t know if I was going to survive to see my eighteenth. That poor little girl back then had been huddled against the door the way I was now. She had made the decision to fight for her life.
It was time to make that decision again.
After allowing myself another thirty seconds to wallow in self-pity, I got up from the floor and opened the bedroom door. Drew was leaning against the wall across the hall, looking down at his phone.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked, pride flooding through me when my voice didn’t break or waver.
“You brought one bag. I know that the rest of your stuff is damaged. Do you want to go shopping?”
“Are you volunteering to spend more time with me?”
“I’m offering to help you move in and get settled. There’s also an empty room that we can convert into a home office for you while you’re here.”
“I don’t need your charity.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “It’s not charity, Camille. I know what your salary is. You’re paying for your own shit. I’ll just drive you around and help you carry the furniture inside.”
I stared at him for a minute, trying to figure out what his angle was. He tucked his phone into his pocket and shrugged.
“If you don’t want the help, I do have work that needs to be done at the office.”
“It’s a Sunday.”
“Yes. But there are accounts that I need to look over and some potential studios we’re looking at buying. I could do with putting in a few hours of work, but I would rather help you, if you want it.”
I noticed the way he avoided using the word need when he talked about helping me. He hadn’t said that I needed his help. In fact, he seemed aware of my independence. He didn’t assume that I needed help from anyone.
I liked it more than I wanted to admit.
“Alright. If you don’t mind helping me. I could use it. I appreciate the offer of an office.”
“You work for my company. I have to make sure that you’re still able to do your job on the days that you don’t come to the office.”
I nodded and went back into the bedroom to grab my wallet. Drew said nothing as he led the way to the garage. It would be a miracle if we could get through the shopping trip without killing each other.
“You know,” I said as we carried the desk into my new home office. “Nobody can know that we’re living together. Not Clarke or Tyson. Not Haley or Leigh. Nobody. This has to stay a secret.”
A dark look crossed Drew’s face as we put the desk down in the office. “Where are you going to tell them that you’re living?”
“I’ll tell them that I’m staying with one of my friends.” “And you really think that they’re going to believe that?”
“They will. Clarke and Tyson won’t be interested in asking any more questions than that.”
Drew exhaled and leaned against the desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Why are you so ashamed to tell people that I’m helping you?”
“I don’t want to tell them that we’re having a baby either,” I said, mentally preparing myself for another fight. “Nobody can know about us, Drew. That was the agreement from the start. Nothing changes.”
“You really want me to keep everything that’s happening a secret?”
“Well, to be quite honest, you walked out and that told me all I need to know about how you feel. You don’t want this child, Drew, so why do you need to tell anyone about it?”
Drew’s face turned bright red as his hands clenched into fists. His glare would be enough to kill a man where he stood, but it wasn’t anything that I hadn’t dealt with from him before.
“You really think that’s why I walked out?”
“Why the hell else would you walk out?” I asked, a headache starting. I didn’t want to do this right now, but it was better that we got everything out in the open.
It would make living together easier if we both knew where we stood. “I was excited, Camille. Excited and terrified.”
“You sure didn’t seem that way.” I shook my head. “You don’t make any sense to me. Who in their right mind would walk out when they hear that
they’re having a baby if they’re excited?”
“Well, I’m sorry that I never live up to your expectations,” Drew said, his tone sharp. “When are you going to stop trying to fit people into the perfect little box that you think is right?”
“I don’t have any expectations when it comes to you,” I said, venom in my voice. “Every single time that I start to expect something, you go ahead and let me down again.”
Drew scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have got to be kidding me. I never pretend to be anything other than what I am.”
“And do you know how hard that makes it to work with you? I have had to fight tooth and nail for my career. I was finally at a good place, and then you come along and I have to dedicate my time to trying to get you to look like someone other people can respect.”
“There it is,” Drew said. “That right there is your problem with me. You don’t respect me.”
“You don’t give me anything to respect!”
Drew brushed by me. “I’ll keep your secret for now, Camille, but this isn’t going to last forever. You can’t hide me forever.”