Page 2 of The House Guest
I turned to find a gorgeous man in a wool coat staring me up and down.
CHAPTER 2
My heart raced as I put down my brush. “Dorian?”
His brows drew in. “Whoareyou, and what are you doing in my father’s house?”
“You don’t understand. I’m not an intruder.”
“You’renotan intruder, but you’ve taken over this living room with paintings of…” He squinted. “What the hell are these? Monkeys?”
“Yes.” I swallowed. “Twelve monkeys. It’s part of an exhibition I’m doing for school.”
“What the fuck am I even looking at?” He moved in closer to take a look at one of my paintings. “Why is this one wearing a suit?”
I straightened. “That’s the point of the exhibit. It’s called Primates in Power.”
His shoulders shook in laughter.
Placing my hands on my hips, I frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“If I have to explain it to you, I don’t even know what to say.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Christ. Am I dreaming?” He sighed. “How long have you been loitering here?”
“Loitering? I told you. I’m not an intruder. I live here.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It is. I’m Christina’s niece. She’d invited me to stay. I’d been living here for several months before they…” I paused.
“Went into the deepest sleep of their lives?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have said it that way…”
“There’s no clearer way to put it.”
His eyes seared into mine. And suddenly a wave of reality came crashing down on me. This guy had lost everything. While his attitude certainly could’ve been better, he had every reason to question my intentions. He didn’t know me from Adam.
I cleared my throat. “I’m very sorry for your loss. I can only imagine the shock of coming home after everything that happened and finding a stranger here.”
“Don’t forget the monkeys. I don’t know them, either.” His tone softened. “Actually, I…did forget. Benjamin mentioned to me some time ago that Christina’s niece had been living here. I guess I just assumed you were gone by now.” He paused. “I’m sorry for your loss as well.”
“Thank you.”
My moment of relief ended the second he spoke again.
“But it’s probably best if you leave.”
What the hell? Nice to meet you, too.I straightened my shoulders. “That’s fine. But I need a couple of days. Obviously, as you can see, I have a lot of stuff I need to transport. And I’ll have to find another place to stay.”
“I’ll arrange to have movers come to the house tomorrow.”
I wanted to cry. I’d expected to vacate the premises, but notthisfast. He was basically kicking me to the curb. “How…nice of you. But I still need to find somewhere to live.”
“I’ll put you up in a hotel until you can find a permanent place.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as you need.”
