Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

Chapter One

Leigh

“Where are my shoes?” My mother stumbled around the living room on her tiptoes in a frenzied panic. “Help me look!”

“Mom, you left them in the laundry room.” I pointed in the direction she should aim her next tiptoed bounce.

“Why are they in there?” She was no ballerina, so it was rather comical to watch—but I hid my grin behind my laptop as she got more distressed with every toe-step. “Ugh!”

“You left them in there…” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

I don’t even want to know why your clothes had to go straight in the washer when you got home…

“Okay!” She walked back into the living room with her shoes on her feet where they belonged. “I’m ready.”

“You look great.” I didn’t even give her a glance—it wouldn’t have mattered—she just wanted the compliment.

“Don’t wait up, sweetheart.” She walked over and gave me a peck on the top of my head. “The guy I’m going out with is wealthy.

“I never do…” I gave her a side-eyed glance as she grabbed her purse and hurried towards the door.

Life put a lot of bitter pills in my mother’s hand, but the hardest one to swallow was the realization that she was literally nobody. I swallowed that pill before I graduated from high school, but she still hadn’t managed to do it. She dreamed of Prince Charming on a white horse with money in his pockets and credit cards that didn’t have a limit. Every date she went on was the one—the guy that was going to make her dreams come true and rescue her from the harsh realities of the only life she had ever known. I wasn’t that foolish. There were no fairy tales in Carson Cove—and the only dreams that came true were nightmares.

Maybe she’ll realize that one day…

In the absence of Prince Charming, the only other option I had was to make something of myself. I was trying—in secret. My mother thought high school was a waste of time, and college was a money pit. She encouraged me to find a job as soon as I turned sixteen and get an engagement ring on my left hand before I turned eighteen—she even offered to sign the paperwork if I wanted to get married before I was legally able to do it on my own—provided that the guy I wanted to marry wasn’t poor.

I wasn’t interested in romance, especially marrying someone just because they were rich, but I did get a job as soon as I was old enough to do so. I worked at a few places before I finally found one that I stuck with after I graduated from high school, but it was mostly just a cover for what I was really doing with my time. My main focus was the degree that I was going to get from Carson Cove University. My mother had no idea that I was even a student there, and that was for the best. She might have noticed if I was actually going to campus, but they offered all of the classes I needed to take online, so I was able to keep it a secret. It was easier to keep that a secret from my mother than having her drone on constantly about how much valuable husband-finding time I was wasting.

In two more years, I’ll have a Computer Science degree, a job in the city, and I can leave Carson Cove in the rear-view mirror.

“Mom, it’s time to get up. It’s almost noon…” I walked to her bedroom door and gave it a nudge. “Mom?”

She didn’t even come home last night? Damn…

It was clear that her bed hadn’t been slept in because the outfits she didn’t wear on her date were still strewn across the sheets. It wasn’t the first time she had stayed out all night, but it was unusual for her not to do the walk of shame before noon. I shrugged it off and finished getting ready for work.

My evenings and weekends were normally spent at the front desk of the Carson City Inn, and it was usually pretty dead, so I could get some of my assignments done in the process—the worst thing I had to deal with there was a few crazy unreasonable guests, but they weren’t that bad. Sometimes it was better to be there than at home.

When I was younger, I constantly worried about my mother, especially after I realized what she was doing when she stayed out late, but over the years—I had simply gotten numb to it.

I can’t live her life and mine at the same time…

Post Malone provided the soundtrack for my drive to Carson City Inn. My car was a hand-me-down like most of the other stuff I owned. It was driven off the lot twenty years before I got behind the wheel, and my grandfather put two hundred thousand miles on it before he handed me the keys on my sixteenth birthday. My grandparents always stepped in when my mother couldn’t provide for me. They weren’t wealthy by any means, but they were content with what they had. I always got the impression that they weren’t exactly proud of the daughter they raised—they would never admit it, even if they did try to steer me down a different path. I didn’t need much coaxing. I already had an example of who I never wanted to become sleeping in the bedroom next to me—when she came home.

“Leigh! I need you to clean room 32!” My boss met me at the front door of the lobby and motioned to the cleaning cart. “That one is a priority—then I need you to take care of the rest of them.”

“I thought I was working at the front desk tonight…” I blinked in surprise.

“Rosa called in sick. You’re cleaning rooms.” He pointed at the cart with a little more emphasis.