Page 100 of Between the Lines

“Name one.”

“I don’t need to justify it to you. You shouldn’t have gotten me a car.” The creeping panic comes crawling, squeezing tightly around my chest. “This doesn’t have anything to do with… Aiden, it better not.”

“With what?” But I can see in his narrowed eyes that he knows exactly what I mean.

“With us. With the thing that weagreedwould not be emotional and would not interfere with our work.”

“I know what we agreed to. This car doesn’t violate either of those rules.”

I mirror his stance, crossing my arms under my chest. His eyes dip down and linger a second too long. Right. I’m in a bikini, and the triangles of my top leave little to the imagination. Which wasfinebecause I was just tanning in the comfort of his backyard and revising chapters.

“Would you do this for another of your employees?”

He forces his eyes up. “Yes. I care about the people I work closely with and their safety.”

“What car does Elena drive, your PA?”

“A Toyota Prius.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “And Eric?”

“He drives a Honda Civic. A much newer model than yours.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You only know that because both of them regularly come here and park just outside of your front door.”

“So what? I still know it.”

“You’re not giving them new cars, though.”

“No, because they drive safe cars. You don’t.”

I shake my head, remembering too late that I have sunglasses pushed up on my head. I catch them right before they fall. “You’re just assuming. You don’t know. God, Aiden, what am I supposed to do with my car?”

He hesitates for a moment, and in that pause, I know. He wants to sayget rid of it. Is that truly a lease out there? But then he shrugs. “Let me take it in to get it serviced, and then we’ll park it in my garage.”

“My dad serviced it six months ago.”

“Old cars need regular love.”

“Just admit it. You’re doing this because you…” I can’t say the words, and all of a sudden, they feel silly. Words not meant to be spoken out loud, under the blazing sunlight, in the open air.

“Because of what, Charlotte?” He takes a step forward, and then another. “I remember the rules. This car is yours to use while you’re living in LA. It has great AC. It handles the hills here like a champ. Don’t be dumb, and just accept it.”

“I amnotdumb.”

He rolls his eyes. “Of course you’re not. You’re the smartest person I know, sometimes terrifyingly so. But you’re being stubborn about this.”

I push past him and walk on bare feet over the hot stones to the driveaway. The sun is warm on my skin, and I look down to make sure my bikini bottoms are still in place. Ties tied at my sides.

Aiden follows me. “Were you by the pool?”

“Yes.” Anger still pulses inside me. I’m not dumb. I’ve worked very hard not to be, and he doesn’t get to lob that at me just because I don’t roll over and accept it when he makes decisions without my input.

He mentioned the rules. They’re the one thing I’ve been clinging to, even when he calls mesugar. No emotions. No complications.

But here he gets me a car?

The shiny silver Audi Q3 looks enormous next to my old, dull-red Honda. I hate that it looks nice. That I can only imagine how smooth it must be to drive.

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