Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

Chloe blinks at me, her brows drawing together. “You want me to move in with you?”

I nod my head.

“Okay, haha, very funny.” She takes a hesitant step toward the door like a scared animal.

I tread carefully because I’m afraid to scare her out of the idea. “Listen. Why bother paying for a room at a hotel when I have plenty of space?”

She stares at her sneakers. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s crazy.”

“Of course it is. But since when do you shy away from crazy?”

“Since I ended up breaking into someone’s house and faking an entire life to a long list of kind people who don’t deserve to be lied to.”

Whatever small ground I had to stand on is slipping out from underneath me. “Well, seeing as I have sixteen bedrooms here, it’s not a huge deal if you take up one of them. It’s free room and board.”

She rolls her eyes. “Your head just grew a little larger.”

“What do you say? We can be roommates.”

“Roommates?” Her lips purse.

Shit. This is going terrible. Everything I say sounds worse by the second. “The reason I’m offering you a place to stay is because you shouldn’t be living out of a hotel for the rest of the summer. Think about it. You could stay here, right next to your dad, which could lead to more encounters. And you did offer to help me with my car remodel...and that requires 24/7 on-call service.”

God, that sounded about as desperate as I feel.

“24/7, huh?” She smirks.

“Out of everything I said, you pick that?”

She laughs up to the ceiling. “This is the weirdest summer of my life. And you call me crazy! You’re asking me to move in with you and I barely know you.”

I frown. “You know me.”

“Not enough to move in with you. That’s not normal.”

“Since when do you follow the status quo?”

“Well…when you put it that way.” She snorts.

Damn. After our weekend, I definitely can’t let her leave. The thought of being on my own here again is…stifling.

“Is that a yes?” My voice sounds pathetic to my own ears, but I don’t care.

“No.”

My heart sinks. The thought of Chloe leaving me to my silent, empty mansion fills me with dread. I hate the idea more than I should, but I can’t help it. Being alone is like drowning in the middle of the ocean. No one can find me, let alone save me from myself.

She rocks back on her sneakers. “But…”

I cover my smile with my hand. “Yes?”

“Maybe I’ll agree if you tell me the real reason you want me to move in with you.”

I weigh the cost of telling her the truth. Not the flowery words I shared prior, but the real deal.