Ruthless

Chapter 18

Jean stared at her phone in awe. "I can't believe it."

"Can't believe that banks have apps or that you have money?"

She playfully hit Colin on the arm even as she leaned in closer to him on his couch. "I knew there were apps for banks," she said. "It was just too depressing to have access to my accounts on my phone before."

"But not anymore."

"Not anymore," she agreed, smiling in awe at the balance in her account now that Nathan's gift had gone through. The "Welcome to the family" gift. The crazy gift that no other family would think about offering. The gift she didn't even ask for. They were just like, "Welcome! Here's more money than you could make in years!" She counted the digits in her balance for the tenth time, still trying to believe this was her real life.

Colin set his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "You said you wanted to do some shopping, right?"

Jean nodded as she relaxed into his arm, setting her phone in her lap. It was so hard to keep her head straight around Colin. She'd asked him pretty plainly, at least in a way she thought was plain, if he wanted something more than...well, more than whatever they were doing.

It had been stupid, and, looking back, she wished like hell she could undo it. At the time, she'd just been so high from the sex and he was so overwhelming that the words had just slipped out.

And as fast as she'd said them, she'd been rebuffed. Of course she had. She'd known Colin wasn't looking for anything more than a good time. But if that were the case, why was he sitting on the couch with her and, for all intents and purposes, cuddling with her? Didn't he know this was something couples did?

"Do you think it's safe to go out?" It had been a day since the fiasco the night before, and according to Smith, the suspicious account hadn't been used to transfer out any other funds. Didn't mean it was safe, but it also didn't make it any easier to stay cooped up in Colin's apartment for days on end. No matter how pleasurable he'd made the experience.

"I think we can be careful enough. No point being cooped up for the weeks we're going to be here. Smith said he's only a day or so away from figuring out who opened up the account, so I don't think we'll be worried for that much longer."

Jean nodded. "That will be a relief." She didn't want to spend one more night than necessary thinking that someone wanted her dead. Wanted her dead enough to pay thirty grand so far. "I just need a few minutes to get ready and then we can head out."

Colin let her go and stood as he started to clear off their Chinese food lunch. "Sounds good. So that means you'll be ready in an hour, right?" he cracked.

She gave him a fake smile. "You're not funny, Carter."

"You know I am." He winked.

She wanted to continue the banter, but he looked so damn cute when he winked that she couldn't think straight. Ugh, she was such a pushover when it came to him. She shook her head at the both of them as she headed to the bathroom and pushed the door shut behind her. She dumped out the makeup bag and set everything in the order of application. A strange habit she'd had since she was a teen.

Maybe now that she had some money, she could get some better stuff than her drugstore brands... She'd always wanted to try one of those foundations that cost more than an entire paycheck. Nah. That would have to be something after she got her really big check.

She reached for the cheap foundation right as her phone buzzed. The one time it had rung since she had gotten here. Though she wasn't really close to anyone at the restaurant and she never even told Danielle and Chrissy she was leaving.