Page 93 of Dance with Me
She sighed and rested her chin on her fist. “I need to work so I can find a place to live beforeThe Dance Offstarts filming.”
His scowl deepened. “You can live here.”
“You know I can’t.” She sipped from her own cup.
He came up behind her. “What are you doing?”
“Looking at apartments.” She scrolled through more listings she couldn’t afford the security deposit on.
He made a frustrated sound in his throat. “Let me ask you something.”
“Shoot.” She clicked on a studio apartment that claimed to be near Santa Monica.
“If Gina’s such a good friend, why did she leave you in the lurch? With your rent, I mean.”
“Oh, she tried to pay through the end of the lease. I told her not to.”
His cup clicked on its saucer. “Well, that wasn’t too smart.”
She turned and shot him a glare. “Excuse me?”
“It wasn’t. How were you planning to cover the entire rent on your own?”
“I had money when she left, and an acting gig lined up for the beginning of the summer.”
He leaned his elbows on the counter next to her, getting in her space. “So, where did all the money go?”
She cringed away from him. “I was trying to be a responsible adult and fix my credit, so I paid all my credit cards down at the end of the season and closed them.”
“Youclosedthem?” He looked incredulous. “Why?”
“So I wouldn’t be tempted and end up back in debt.”
He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what she was saying. “Tasha, I know how much money you make. How were you in debt?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” She turned back to the computer, but his questions, and the prospect of not being able to afford any of the apartments she was looking at, made her stomach burn. “I like to go shopping. That’s what credit cards are for, right? Buy now, pay it off later. So, I paid them all off. But I wasn’t expecting my car to die. Or Gina to move. The acting job covered the car, but it cleaned me out. That’s why I ended up taking all these extra jobs—for the rent. I just never thought I’d have to move out, too.”
He exhaled slowly, then dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m trying not to be pushy, but I strongly suggest we have a conversation about building good credit and savings. I have a good financial adviser who can help. I know it sounds like a lot at first, but if I could learn it, so can you. Is that agreeable?”
Swallowing hard, Natasha kept her gaze on the screen and struggled to regulate her breathing. Thinking about managing money made her hyperventilate, which was why she didn’t think about it much. “Why are you so fixated on this?”
“Because I’m worried about you.”
At those words, she turned to look at him. He didn’t seem angry or judgmental. Just concerned.
“If you don’t address it, you’re going to end up back in the same situation again the next time something unexpected happens. And your solution to work so hard you run yourself into the ground isn’t a healthy one. Please, Tasha. I care about you. Let me help.”
His plea touched her heart, but didn’t dispel the fear. She shook her head. “I can’t afford to speak to your adviser.”
“Let me worry about that. I pay him so much, he’ll talk to anyone I ask him to. Will you do it? Just start with a conversation. That’s all. He’s good at answering questions.”
When was the last time someone had cared about her this much? Enough to not just help her do something, but to make sure she had the skills to do it again on her own?
She opened a new browser tab and checked her dismal bank account balance. Maybe he was right. “That still doesn’t solve the immediate problem.”
“Look, I know it’s easy to focus on the immediate when you’re in survival mode, but I want to help you manage your money for the long term. Don’t worry about an apartment for right now. No one knows you’re here, and I’m not going to kick you out.”
She counted on her fingers. “Kevin and Lori know. Nik knows. Gina and my mom know. Hell,yourmom probably knows. I’m sure your brother told her.”
