Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“Well, just look at him.”

“That’s how he fools you,” Penn insisted.

“He’s not the only one,” I muttered.

Penn frowned and then seemed to realize that he wasn’t just in my room, but he was also lying on the bed. We were having a totally normal conversation.

“You’re not going to kick me out for this, are you?” he asked with a sly grin.

I sighed. “I mean…you broke the rules.”

But I couldn’t hold back the smile from my face. He had done everything I’d asked. There had just been this…awareness of him at all times. The knowledge that he was there. So close yet so far away. Half-naked on the beach. Playing with the puppy. Writing, always writing. And it hadn’t been bad per se. In fact, it had been a bit too inviting.

For that alone, I should walk away and never look back.

Because no matter how well behaved he’d been for almost two weeks, I knew who he was, where he had come from, and what he was really like. Even if he didn’t want anything from me, I didn’t trust myself enough around him for us to stay neutral in each other’s territory.

I wasn’t neutral when it came to him.

Not even close.

“Well, you broke the rules, too,” he argued.

I had. I definitely had. Because I couldn’t stop looking at him.

Even now in lounging shorts and a pink T-shirt, he was sexy as sin. Dark hair wild, as if he’d been running his fingers through it all night while writing. Those bright blue eyes that just did me in. He was a work of art. Even when he wasn’t dressed like James Bond, he projected the same aura. The same intense vibe that said he was commanding the situation and dominating every endeavor.

I liked it. I shouldn’t like it.

“I did,” I conceded. “We both did.”

“But…”

“But I think it was okay.”

Lies. It wasn’t okay. It was so, so far from okay.

“Me too,” he said with that smile that said he was imagining all the things he could do to me in this bed. “Trial period over?”

I held up a finger. “We have one more day!”

He laughed and rolled off the bed. “One more day then.”

I didn’t need another day. I was going to let him stay.

And I was going to regret it.

Natalie

12

Part of me really wanted to see Penn mess this up. It would be better for my sanity; that was for sure. But the other part of me, the stupid part of my psyche, said that having him around had been nice. Even as scarce as he had made himself.

Of course, there were always signs of him or short glimpses of him in other rooms. But he was staying in the master suite, which was about as far from my room as a person could get in a house the size of a small planet.

I shook my head in frustration at myself. Penn was doing the right thing here. He hadn’t been a jerk once.

Still, it had been a bit like coming upon a lion in the wild. Seeing it in its natural element was beautiful and also…terrifying. You wanted to run for your life, but you were afraid to move, or the predator would pounce.

I made sure to spend my day away from him, but by evening, I’d given up on work. I barely had any words and knew it wasn’t going to get any better. I stepped into the kitchen and thumbed through the mail. The house barely got anything, except spam. All the bills went to the city to be paid. I usually even forgot to check it. Penn must have gotten this yesterday.

I dumped the first couple of items in the trash and then stopped on a cream matte envelope with my name on it. What the hell? I hadn’t gotten any mail here. I hadn’t even given my parents this address. It made no sense.

With a bite of curiosity, I tore open the envelope and dug out what appeared to be a party invitation. My eyes bulged. Holy shit!

Without a second thought, I burst out of the kitchen and out to the back deck. I wasn’t surprised to find Penn there. I’d heard the door close and Totle’s distinctive jingle while I was working. I found him reclining on a chair with Totle curled up next to him, half under a blanket. He had a glass of bourbon in one hand and a pen in the other. His notebook was open on his lap, but he was staring off toward the ocean.

He glanced toward me as the door slammed behind me, and Totle’s head popped up. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen this?” I asked, thrusting the invitation in his face.

“Uh…” He glanced at it. “Oh, yeah, that’s the gala that Katherine mentioned. I see she sent you an invite.”