Page 38 of Slumming It
Jerk.This washisfault, and besides, it was buzzing inmyhands, not his. Why should he care?
Still, I fumbled through the settings and changed them so the silent mode didn't even vibrate. As I did, I couldn’t resist saying, "Well, she wouldn't be texting me at all if you'd only given me a little time."
His gaze remained on the road. "To do what?"
"To explain to my sister – you know that you were the guy I mentioned yesterday."
Now, hedidlook at me. "What exactly did you tell her?"
"Nothing," I said. "That's the point."
"You saidsomething."
"Well, yeah…I just mentioned that there was a guy I was going to be spending some time with, but I didn't tell her who because I hadn't yet read the agreement."
With a smirk, he returned his gaze to the road. "Youstillhaven't read it."
I didn't appreciate the smirk or his condescending tone. But mostly, I didn't appreciate that he was right.
In the small hotel bathroom, I'd leafed through the agreement and skimmed the parts that had seemed the most relevant, but it's not like I'd read the whole thing word-for-word. "Yeah, because it was like a hundred pages long."
"You mean twenty."
"Twenty or a hundred," I said. "I still didn't have enough time."
"According to who?"
As if he didn't know."You."
Sounding way too smug, he asked, "Did I give you a time limit?"
I hesitated.Damn it."No. But in the room, you were acting all impatient."
"Then it's your mistake, not mine."
"Yeah, well…" I tried to sound confident. "I doubt that agreement would hold up in any court."
"Is that so?" He gave me a long sideways glance. "And your lawyer is who?"
I didn'thavea lawyer. That was the whole point. The best lawyer in town was Nikki's mom, and even if Icouldafford her – which I couldn’t – I would rather crawl over broken glass than give Nikki's family a single dime from my own pocket.
When I replied with only a shrug, Reese Murdock said, "I figured as much."
"You figured what?"
"You're full of it."
He was right. Even if that agreement had more holes than the bullet-ridden stop sign near the end of County Line Road, did it really matter? A guy like Reese Murdock could bury me in legal fees before I lodged a single complaint.
And besides, I wasn't complaining, not legally, anyway.
The reality was, the extra hundred – the thing he'd called a per diem – was a real life-saver, given my current finances. And, as far as me camping out in the neighboring hotel room, it actually worked in my favor.
Not only was the hotel twenty minutes closer to my waitressing gig, staying on-site would make it easier for me to help out at the hotel with no travel needed.
Plus, it's not like I had my own place anymore. And neither did Vivian.
Speaking of Vivian, I still owed her a reply. I looked back to Reese Murdock and asked, "How much can I tell my sister? I mean, she obviously realizesnowthat the guy is you. But what else can I say?"
