Page 11 of Fall

"Nope. I can buy my own food later," she says as she nervously looks around.

"You can eat with us, the cleaners are paid to do a weekly shop and we never eat it all," I tell her.

"Are you sure?" she asks, and I nod.

"So, coffee?" I ask again.

"No, I’ll just have some juice and toast. I don’t like coffee," she says.

“Who doesn’t like coffee?” I chuckle, making her smile.

“Seriously, I couldn’t live without the stuff,” Luke says, taking the cup from the espresso machine as I glare at him. “Dude, I’m in a rush today.” He shrugs and starts drinking. I hope the coffee burns his mouth, the fucker.

"Help yourself, Tilly." I wave my hand at the kitchen.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go. I've overslept and have an early class," Luke says, grabbing an apple and downing his coffee.

"Bye," I say as I get a bottle of juice from the fridge and hand it to Tilly while she puts her toast in the toaster.

I eat a few grapes and an apple as she eats her toast in silence. An awkward kind of silence, which I don't like. After I make myself a new coffee, I know I need to say something. I don’t want it to be like this between us.

"So . . . today I’ll show you how to work everything. Basically, I just need you to answer the phones and answer any questions people may have," I explain. My other secretary does all the paperwork, so I don’t need her to fill in there.

"All right, I can do that," she replies.

"I have a few meetings today, so I can’t be interrupted unless it's important," I tell her, and she nods.

"So family only?" she asks as she eats her toast. I want to offer her butter, but she doesn't seem to care.

"Yeah, Sebastian, my brother who you haven't met, is my business partner and he will be there today," I say, drinking more of my coffee.

"Izzy told me about him. Elliot's twin, right?"

"Yes." I nod.

"Is he the married one?" she asks as she finishes her food.

"Yeah, Maisy is his wife, and Jake is their son. They have another one on the way who I can’t wait to meet," I respond.

"How far along is she?" she asks, looking at me now as that seems to catch her attention for some reason.

"About four months, I believe," I answer and then drink the rest of my coffee, looking back at Tilly, who is staring out the window in thought. She is so beautiful, and not in a fake way. Unlike most girls I meet, who wear a lot of makeup, dye their hair, and try their hardest to look perfect, Tilly just looks perfect.

"Ready to go?" I ask, clearing my throat.

"Sure." She snaps out of whatever thought she had and smiles at me as she clears her plate and follows me to my car.

"So? Do you drive?" I ask as I wait for her to put her seatbelt on.

"Yes, but my car is with my family in France," she says with a sigh.

Why would she have left so quickly, and without her car? She only had one suitcase when she turned up here, and it's clear she hasn’t planned any of this. Something else is going on.

"You could ask someone in your family to drive it here," I respond, watching her carefully for her reaction. My siren is hiding something, and every lie she tells me is going to help me figure it out. I could ask a friend I know to look her up and I could have every detail of her life sent to me tomorrow, but it feels wrong to do that. I want her to trust me, and it bothers me that I even care this much. She is digging her way into my life without even trying, and I’m just handing her the shovel.

"No, I will just figure it out," she mutters, looking out the window as I drive out of the driveway.

"Well, my old Range Rover is in the garage. It's just a spare so no one will miss it if you want to borrow it," I tell her.

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