Broken Beginnings

Chapter 8

Galen

Holy shit! She said yes. Or, she really said okay – but that was close enough. I thought about my proposition for her to stay here with me all night long. It had taken me a while to come up with the way I wanted to do it – and although the words that had transpired between us just a moment ago had nothing to do with the way I planned on offering her sanctuary – I didn’t care. Because she said yes.

“All right,” I rubbed my hands together, instantly feeling anxious. “Come on then.”

She pursed her lips as she slid down from the passenger seat. It took all I had in me not to reach out and grasp her tiny waist in my hands to help her down, but by the way she looked at me with warning in her eyes the last time I touched her, without warning or permission, I knew it wasn’t smart. I clenched my teeth and watched as her feet hit the gravel. She looked up at me with flushed cheeks and bright brown eyes. In the sun flickering down on her freckled face, her eyes looked almost gold. They were gorgeous. I cleared my throat as she stepped past me.

She looked over her shoulder and her voice was smooth and teasing. “Are you coming? It is your house, you kinda have to show me around.”

“Uh yeah,” I pushed the door of my truck closed before closing the space between us quickly. “You can either have a room in the house upstairs or you can take the suite above the garage.”

Her brows lifted and her eyes flickered to the garage. “Is it fully functioning?”

“Pretty much.” I nodded. “It’s got everything but a kitchen.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Nice.”

“What do you want to see first?” There was a part of me that wanted her to choose a bedroom in the main house, because then she would be closer to me. But I would respect her choice either way. If she wanted the privacy the garage suite offered, then I would give it to her. At least the thing didn’t have a kitchen. She would have to come into the main house for breakfast and all that good stuff.

“Is there a price difference between the two?” She asked diplomatically.

“No,”

“What are you charging?”

I shifted awkwardly, shoving my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans. I hadn’t gotten this far in my plotting yet. I didn’t know what was appropriate, and I didn’t know what she could afford. I’d never rented out a room in my home to anyone. I never had the need or the desire. “I don’t know.”

She frowned. “You don’t know what to charge me?”

“How about three hundred?”

“A month?” She asked, chewing nervously on her lip. I was about to lower the number, but she spoke. “I’ll take it.”

“You haven’t even seen it.”

“Beats sleeping in a car that doesn’t have heat.” She shrugged and I felt my stomach protest against her words as it dropped.

“You were going to sleep in your car?” There was no way I would allow it. I didn’t care that I didn’t really know her, I would tie her up inside, where there was warmth, before I let her sleep in that shit piece of metal she called a car.  

She nodded. “Well, only until I saved enough money to buy a new one.”

I rubbed my forehead before dragging my hand through my hair. Was she fucking insane? Did she not know the dangers a little thing like her could encounter while living in a car? Seriously? I cleared my throat, turning away from her. “Let me show you around.”