California Nights (Rich Boys of California Duet 1)

Besides, I really really wanted to know what had freaked her out so bad.

“Now you going to tell me what happened.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

Frannie

I stared at the gorgeous guy standing in front of me. He’d come to my aid already tonight twice. Maybe he was expecting something in return.

Like sex.

The crazy thing was… if I hadn’t been sure I would embarrass myself, I would have seriously considered it.

As it was I still owed him an explanation.

And a cup of coffee. Or a beer. Too bad I didn’t have any.

“Do you want to come up for a minute?”

His eyes lit up and I knew I’d been right. For whatever reason, this Adonis wanted to hook up with me. But it wasn’t going to happen.

Not like this.

Not as payment.

For some reason I didn’t have a second thought about asking him upstairs though. I felt safe as kittens with him. He’d been polite all evening. More than polite.

He was a regular knight in shining armor.

It’s too bad I wasn’t a princess.

Or an easy tavern wench.

Okay, so maybe I’d read my share of bodice rippers. I was partial to Vikings. And Pirates.

He nodded and I bent down to rummage in my bag for my keys. When I finally found them, I realized he was laughing at me.

“Why do you carry around all that stuff?”

I flushed.

“Oh, force of habit. I didn’t like to go home much when I was a kid so I got used to bringing my stuff with me.”

I almost kicked myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I sounded like a freak. Or a runaway.

Not like what I was at all.

A spoiled rich girl whose Mommy and Daddy didn’t love her.

Nobody on Earth would feel sorry for me if they knew the truth.

I lived in a big house, with servants. I had everything a little girl could want and more. Horseback riding lessons. Ballet. Tutors for every subject.

And yet I dreaded going home every day after school. To the big empty house where nobody laughed. Nobody even talked.

It felt like a tomb.

Instead, I’d spent every weekend at my best friend Nevada’s apartment on the Westland estate. I’d basically lived there from the age of eight to eighteen. Nev and her mom didn’t have much back then, but they had each other. Their little apartment was always filled with laughter and books and music and cheesy old movies.

I loved it there.

I felt loved there.

It was pretty much the only time I’d ever felt that other than when my Gram was looking after me. And she’d been in a home since I was in seventh grade.

So, not a lot.

Either way, this insanely good-looking guy did not need to hear it. But when I stole a glance over my shoulder at him, he looked thoughtful. Not bored.

Not judgmental.

Also, he was staring at my legs.

He caught me looking and smiled as if staring at my legs was perfectly natural. In one night I’d now been ogled by two men. After twenty-two years on Earth, with not a single solitary glance.

What the heck was going on?

The most interesting thing was that I didn’t seem to mind Jace looking. The creepy crawly feeling I’d had with Professor Candel was nowhere to be found.

Jace’s eyes on me created another feeling altogether as I climbed the stairs.

A warm feeling. Very, very warm. Right between my thighs.

“This is me.”

I unlocked the door, wondering for the hundredth time what had gotten into me. Professor Candel. Riding a motorcycle. The car. Jace.

Rescuing me.

Twice in one night.

He followed me inside, saying nothing as I switched the lights on and opened the windows, turning on my precious fan. No AC, so that fan was basically my baby. Especially now that it was the start of summer.

“You want something to drink? I’m going to get a glass of water.”

“Okay.”

I waited for him to elaborate. He stared at me, his face expressionless. The man was stoic with a capital ’S.’

“Water.”

I shook my head in amusement. Jace was a man of few words, to say the least. Of course, if I looked like him, I probably wouldn’t say much either.

I wouldn’t have to.

I pulled out the water filter and sighed. It was empty. Of course.

I refilled it and carried it over to the coffee table with two cups.

“It will just take a minute. My roommate never refills it.”

I sat down. He looked at me, then sat down on the couch next to me. Not too close. But not too far either.

We both stared at the water filter as it slowly dripped. Or I did. Jace was staring at me.

“So… uh… that was my last paper. I’m done.”

“With school?”

“Yeah, until grad school. If I go. I’m in a program next year that pays you to teach English abroad. And then maybe I’ll go back for my masters.”

He raised his eyebrows at me.