Page 15 of Wanting Wentworth

Before he can tell me again that he doesn’t trust me to be decent to her, I take the single step off the porch and cross the short patch of gravel between me and my brother’s truck. Reaching for the truck door, I pull it open. When she hears it, she finally turns to look at me, gaze narrowed, the eyes behind them a flashing, vivid blue—the sort of blue that suddenly makes me wish I worked in color—and glittering with unshed tears.

“What do you want?” she hisses at me, her full, bow-shaped mouth quivering with the urge to scream it at me instead.

“I want to apologize,” I tell her while the unfamiliar shame grows teeth and starts chewing its way through my belly. “And to tell you that you were right—I was being an asshole on purpose so you wouldn’t want to study here.”

Gaze still narrowed and glittering like she doesn’t believe me, she shakes her head. “Why?”

Because I’m kinda famous. Because my train wreck ex-girlfriend dragged me into a huge mess that landed me on the news and I’m here to hide out until it’s all over.

“Because I came up here to be alone and having you around will be a distraction I don’t want or need.” It’s as close to the truth as I can get and hearing me say it tightens the hinge on her jaw, the angle of it making it impossible not to imagine the lines and curves of it beneath my pencil. I already know that as soon as Damien takes her away, I’ll draw her face, exactly how it is right now, from memory.

“And you always get what you want?” She says, her narrowed gaze burrowing into mine through the dark lenses that cover it.

“Yes.” I tell her the truth again. “I do.”

Her mouth flattens again. “That must be nice.”

“It doesn’t suck.” I flash her a quick grin and am relieved when its appearance softens the hard line of her mouth. “I really am sorry. You can work here—as often as you need and for as long as you like.” When her mouth moves, I’m suddenly sure she’s going to refuse. Like Damien, she’s rethought her request and has decided she’d rather figure it out on her own than deal with me and my bullshit. Before she can say it out loud, I stop her. “And you don’t have to model for me—not if you don’t want to.”

“I already told you—” She shakes her head, eyes narrowed. “my mother’s not available.”

“I’m sure your mother is a lovely woman, but the only person around here I’m interested in drawing is you, Sunshine.” I tell her the truth again before I step closer to the truck. “But like I said, that’s completely up to you. No strings. No pressure.”

She stares at me for a few moments like she’s trying to decide if I’m being sincere or not. “Take off your sunglasses.

I hesitate but only for a second. I can’t wear the shades 24/7. If she’s going to come up here every day, she’ll see me without them eventually. Reaching up on a sigh, I pull the sunglasses off my face before pulling off the Sox cap for good measure. “I really am sorry,” I tell her quietly, suddenly aware that Damien is practically breathing down my neck. Running my fingers through my hair, I drop my hand on a sigh and wait for her to recognize me.

She doesn’t—or at least if she does, she doesn’t make it obvious. After staring at me for a few seconds, she finally answers me. “Okay.”

“Okay, I’ll come back or okay, I accept your apology, now get the hell away from me, asshole.” I don’t know why it matters. Fifteen minutes ago, I didn’t want her here. Now, I’m practically begging her to invade my space and bug me every day.

“Okay, I’ll come back and I accept your apology—now get away from me, asshole,” she tells me bluntly but there’s the tiniest lift to the corner of her mouth that tells me, while she’s still pissed at me, she doesn’t completely hate my guts. “I don’t really have a choice. I already told you, I have to come back to clean the place for you and deliver your groceries.”

It's on the tip of my tongue to tell her what I told Damien earlier—that I don’t want or need someone cleaning up after me—but I don’t. Something tells me that if I tell her I don’t want housekeeping, I’ll end up offending her again and we’ll be back to square one. “But you’ll study here afterward, right?”

She gives me another long look before she shakes her head. “Why do you care, all of a sudden?”

Good question.

Really good because I don’t have a fucking clue.

“Because Damien cares, and he’s my brother.” Even though I’m pretty sure it’s a lie, I say it anyway.

Another long, appraising look before she finally answers me. “Okay—yes, I’ll stay to study after I clean.”

Feeling exposed all of a sudden, I clear my throat before giving her a quick head bob. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“You’ll see me later on today when I bring your groceries,” she tells me. “I’ll need a list so I can go into town and get what you need.”

I want to tell her we can go together but wandering around a strange town, even one with less than 1,000 people in it, would defeat the purpose of coming up here in the first place. “You don’t need a list—I’m not picky. Just get the basics,” I tell her, backing myself away from the truck door. “I’m not a vegan.”

The corner of her mouth lifts a little higher when I say it. “Thank God,” she tells me. “I’d rather you be an asshole.” She leans over to grab the door handle so she can shut it in my face.

NINE

Kaitlyn

“I’m sorry about that,” Damien says, just as he pulls up in front of the house to drop me off. “If I’d have known he was going to be such a—”

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