Page 22 of Evidence of Secrets

“Ummm. No?”

He cocked his head. “This isn’t my first rodeo, sweetheart. Clothes in the closet, bag with beauty products, sleeping bag. Are you sleeping here?”

Laura looked at her trembling hands. She couldn’t imagine anything more embarrassing, but she wasn’t going to lie.

“I had a little setback.” Laura rubbed the back of her neck, felt her face flush. “My apartment building has termites and is being tented.”

Crap. The next part was going to be embarrassing. “I—” She stumbled over her words. “I’m staying here until it’s fixed.”

Silence.

The silence was uncomfortable. “I didn’t want to bother my friends, and I don’t have the money to spend on a hotel room.” She shrugged. “I thought this was a good compromise.”

Hank said nothing.

“The good news is… I’m close to work.” Laura gave him a small smile.

Silence.

Finally, he huffed. “I know it’s your life, but this is unacceptable. And I’m sure uncomfortable. There’s an empty apartment in my building you could stay in.”

“Nooo.” She shook her head. “I don’t have money to pay anyone.”

“I believe it’s taken care of.”

“Absolutely not. I pay my own way.”

Hank’s nostrils flared. “I need to make a call. I’ll be right back.”

Oh, God. Hank was furious. However, if he thought she would take charity, shame on him. That wasn’t what her mother taught her. It wasn’t how she lived her life. She gave. She didn’t take.

Hank was gone for a few minutes. When he came back, he kneeled in front of her. “I just spoke to the management at my building. The apartment is furnished, and the rent’s been paid for the next three months. You could move right in and not worry about anything.”

He let that settle in. Laura scraped her hand through her hair. It sounded too good to be true. The one thing she learned about Hank was that he was a straight shooter, didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep, and didn’t lie. The apartment would be much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor.

“Please.” His brows furrowed, and ocean-blue eyes pleaded with her. “It’s a nice building, and you’d be safe.”

What should she do? Laura felt light-headed and her hands were trembling. Oh God, this was mortifying but it wasn’t any more embarrassing than sleeping in her office. Besides she wasn’t that comfortable staying in her office. Too many strange, different noises kept her awake.

“Yes. I’ll take it.”

“Whoa. For a minute, I thought you would be stubborn and insist on sleeping on the floor. Thank you.”

“Is your building far?”

“No, it’s close to here.” Hank stood and reached for her hand. “Come on. I’ll help you load your car, and you can follow me there.”

Laura took his hand. They packed up her things and put them in her car. She’d follow Hank to the apartment building.

She was relieved and apprehensive. Relieved that she didn’t have to sleep in her office; it was a little scary at night. Apprehensive because no one had worried about her in a long time. Although she and Hank weren’t a couple, she could see herself with him. But that was beside the point. It was nice of him to find out about the apartment. Would a casual friend do that? Maybe she was thinking more into this than was necessary.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Laura followed Hank for about fifteen minutes to the apartment. He didn’t live that far from her, and it was close to her bistro. Her hands were sweating on the steering wheel. What had she gotten herself into?

Sure, she and Hank dated and she liked what she knew about him, but they weren’t a couple. However, she trusted her best friend, Sam, to hire only the best. Not having money to pay for the apartment embarrassed Laura, yet she was relieved that it was already paid. Who did that? Someone with money to waste. Gah. None of her business.

Laura got a glimpse of the building from the road. It was in a nice neighborhood, certainly nicer than hers, looking well-kept, and balconies were facing the riverfront. Balconies! She never had a balcony or even a window that faced water in her life. The parking lot was underneath the building. Hank parked next to Laura and helped her out of the car.

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