Page 15 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

“I know of him,” Alec said, nodding. “Solid reputation. He’s a business associate of my soon-to-be business partner.”

“Soon-to-be?”

A proud grin lit up his face. “Yeah. Goodwin Property Group. One of the biggest commercial property developers in the country. They own multiple developments and shopping complexes, including this one. They approached us last month and expressed an interest to acquire almost half of my company.”

“Impressive.” I popped my eyes open and gave him a mock innocent look. “Did you have to pay someone to make that happen?”

“Funny, very funny. Anyway, it’s been real, but I must run. Congratulations, good luck with everything, et cetera. I’ll be in touch.”

“I think ‘congratulations’ isn’t the right word.” I marched toward the door and opened it for him. The sooner he left the place, the better. “Thanks for stopping by.”

But instead of walking out like he was supposed to, he didn’t move, his eyes narrowing at the sight of my sleeping bag. “You’re not really going to camp here, are you?”

I wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. “Really? You’re still hung up on that?”

“Yep. Because it’s a certified health hazard.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “What if I don’t have a choice? I’ll need a lot of money to fix up this place, so I can’t afford to rent a flat, or a hotel room, or an Airbnb. What am I supposed to do, Alec?”

He grew quiet, the silence stretching long and painful between us. “I’ll probably regret this tomorrow,” he mumbled to himself, and took a deep breath, as if mentally preparing for his next sentence. “My place is only ten minutes away, and you can have the spare room until you get back on your feet. I’m rarely home, so you won’t see much of me around.”

My stomach turned. Staying in the same house with my sworn enemy? That held as much appeal as crawling back home to my family. “No thanks. I’ll be fine.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it. You don’t have to pay rent. If the situation was reversed, Eric would’ve done the same thing for my sisters in a heartbeat.” He looked pained, as if saying the words was making him die a slow and agonizing death. “We’re adults, and I know you don’t like me, but I’m sure we can be civil for a short time.”

“Wedon’t like each other,” I pointed out.

“Same difference.”

The offer was very tempting, because it might be a while before I could afford my own place, and I wasn’t going to risk breaking the law and getting fined for sleeping in the store. And really, if I wanted to be honest, the prospect of setting up camp in a place with no toilet, no shower, with squirrels and maybe even rats to keep me company, wasn’t at all appealing. He might be amuchslightly better alternative than the rodents, but sharing the same house with him might spark the next Civil War.

Time for another quick list:

Pro:

Con:

1. A proper bed to sleep in, and a decent toilet and shower (100 points).

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