Page 5 of Carnal Desire

“You’re moving in with me,” I repeated, liking the idea even more the second time I said it.

I couldn’t believe the woman I loved was sleeping in a damned bunk bed worried about someone stealing her shit and eating random meals from God knows where. No wonder she looked so tired and thin.

I texted Theo asking him to get me a research report on the Chicago Women’s Shelter. Even if Sadie wasn’t going back there, I wanted to help the people who’d given my girl a place to stay when she was desperate.

“I, uh, I… I can’t move in with you.”

“You can and you will,” I said firmly.

Sadie looked shocked, and she probably should be. I mean, who in my position would invite someone she barely knew to stay with her? Somewhere in Evanston a vein was throbbing in my attorney’s head, although he had no idea why. Yet.

“I’m your cleaning lady,” Sadie reminded me.

My eyes dropped down to the cleaning company’s logo over the front of her tee shirt, then I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra, so I popped my eyes right back up to her face. It was a little too early to go down that road.

“You’re a hardworking person who’s temporarily down on her luck and needs a place to stay. As you know, I have plenty of space.”

I resisted adding,in my bed, right next to me.

I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that the woman I’d been secretly in love with for a while was in trouble, and that activated all of my protective instincts. Besides, she wassingle now and I’d not gotten where I had in life by letting opportunities pass me by. Sadie would stay with me and once I made her fall in love with me, I’d be able to keep her forever.

Not that I was going to lead with that.

“That’s really so nice of you Ms. Fernandez --.”

“Ariel.”

“Ariel,” she repeated softly.

I loved the sound of my name on her lips.

“But I’m a total stranger. Honestly, the shelter is fine. It’s just someplace to stay while I save up enough for an apartment. They have nice people running it and if I can get there in time to get a bed, it’s all good.”

She didn’t look much more convinced about that than I was. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable but there was no way I was letting her go back there. No way.

“You’re not a total stranger. I’ve already done a background check on you and you’ve worked for me for at least two years,” I reminded her. “If you were going to kill me or rob me, I should think you would have done it already.”

“But my boss…”

“Doesn’t need to know about this,” I replied quickly. “If she finds out, I’ll deal with it. If I have to, I’ll just buy the company.”

Her mouth dropped open again. She was so adorable.

“You can’t do that,” she protested.

“Sure I can,” I countered. “I have more money than I know what to do with and if I can’t spend it on people I care about, what’s the use of having it?”

I paused as I realized that I’d possibly revealed too much. For all she knew, I was just one of her cleaning clients. She had no idea that I’d fallen in love with her the minute I saw her. Time to downshift.

Reaching forward, I took her hand in mine. It was small and work roughened, highlighting one of the many differences between us. I worked hard but I’d never done any hard work in my life, not like this woman. If I had my way, she’d never scrub another toilet as long as she lived. I’d have to figure out what she really wanted to do with her life. While there was nothing wrong with cleaning houses, I was quite sure this wasn’t her dream job.

As our skin touched, Sadie inhaled sharply, staring at our hands in confusion as if she could feel the same little electrical pulse running between our hands. Good. I was glad I wasn’t totally alone in this attraction. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was surprised she couldn’t hear it.

“Look Sadie, you’ve obviously had a run of bad luck. Let me help you. Please.”

I saw the internal struggle behind her eyes before she finally acquiesced. “Okay Miss F--, uh Ariel, thank you. I just need a few days to figure something else out.”

I had the feeling she was just appeasing me, but I’d take it. For now.

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