Page 171 of Holiday Hire

She shakes her head. "I'm going to go now." She opens the kitchen door.

"Wait," I call out.

She stops, then slowly turns. I can see the hope on her face, and it's the moment I should seize to make everything better.

But instead, I say, "What did you tell my sisters about us?"

28

Phoebe

Disgust fills me. He threw insult after insult at me, and now he's back to worrying that others know about us.

I'm his secret. His mistress living in his house.

He says it's about the kids, but it's not. He wouldn't care if his siblings knew about us if it were only about protecting the boys.

"Phoebe, what did you tell my sisters?"

My insides shake harder. "I didn't tell them anything. Willow already knew."

"Don't lie to me. Out of all the people, I would hope you wouldn't lie to me," he accuses.

"I'm not lying! Willow knew."

He grunts. "So she just figured out we were sleeping together?"

I put my hand on my hip. "No, she saw lipstick all over your neck and face the night we were under the stairway. And don't act stupid. She told me you went into the bathroom and came out, and it was gone, so you wiped it away. Plus, my shirt wasn't tucked in. I looked a little disheveled after our tryst in there. Put two and two together, Alexander!" I hurl.

He shakes his head, clenching his jaw.

"You have no right to be mad at me about this. You're as much at fault as I am for Willow knowing."

He mutters, "I don't need my sisters knowing about us."

"Why? Because my time here is almost up?" I cry out.

His eyes narrow. "You know what the deal is, Phoebe."

I laugh. "The deal! I'm so sick of you talking about the deal. I am not a deal, Alexander. I'm not something you can go and negotiate."

"We discussed this. You know how I feel about my boys. I'm not looking to hurt them," he claims.

I sarcastically laugh. A few tears fall, and I swipe at them. I confess, "I'm so tired of hearing that excuse."

"It's not an excuse. I don't have the luxury of being reckless." He clenches his jaw.

I glare at him.

"Don't look at me like that," he orders.

"How am I supposed to look at you? You just stated you don't have the luxury of being reckless. And it really sucks since I'm inlove with you, so thank you for clearing up what you think I am to you!"

His eyes widen.

Oh shit! What did I say?

I turn and stare out the window, grabbing the door to steady myself.

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