Page 154 of Flipping His Script
I was no mind-reader. But over the past couple of weeks, Anna had been asking some probing questions about why I'd hired her in the first place.
I'd been reluctant to answer because the truth was, I'd come to realize that my answers – if I ever game them – would suck balls.
Sure enough, she said, "Just tell me, why would you need a fake girlfriend in the first place?"
"I already told you, to keep people off my back."
"But who?" she persisted.
"No one you need to worry about." I gave her a hard look. "And maybe I've got questions, too."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
My jaw clenched. "Like, what the hell were you thinking?"
She blinked. "What?"
I hadn't meant to say it.
But now that it was out there, I saw no reason to pull it back. I made a point to look around. "You're staying at a house with a guy you hardly know."
She frowned in obvious confusion. "You mean you?"
"No." I hesitated. "I mean, yeah. Me, but a few months ago."
On the surface, this made no sense. But I'd spent far too many hikes wondering what would've happened to Anna if she'd taken this deal with someone else, someone a lot worse than me.
We were living out in the middle of nowhere for Christ's sake.
When her only reply was a confused stare, I said, "Don’t you think that's dangerous?"
She looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Are you forgetting? This wasyouridea."
"Yeah, but you didn't have to take me up on it."
She gave a hard scoff. "Well, that's rich."
"Meaning?"
"I mean, that's easy foryouto say."
I crossed my arms. "Is it?"
"Definitely," she said. "And besides, it's not like you were a total stranger."
I tensed.Anna staying with a stranger?I didn't like the sounds of that at all. But it wasn't the thing setting my teeth on edge now. I muttered, "No shit."
At the beginning of our arrangement, I'd been worse than a stranger.I'd fucking hated her.
If I didn't have my own ideas about what was right and wrong, I could've done a lot worse than hassle her. Even that thing in the back seat – as bad as it was, it could've been worse
She was still staring. "Just what are you getting at, anyway?"
"I'm just saying, we weren't exactly friends."
She looked at me for another long moment before saying in a voice that was eerily quiet. "I know."
It wasn't the reaction I wanted. Hell, I didn't even know the reaction I wanted. I just knew that I didn't want Anna making that mistake again.
At the mere thought of it, the muscles of my neck felt too hard and too tight. "I'm just saying, you should've stayed away."
She stiffened. "Are you done?"
"No."
"Too bad," she said. "Because I am." And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving me staring after her.
Fuck.
