Chapter 30
CHAPTER
THIRTY
ANNIE
Miles raps his knuckles on the bathroom door. “You almost ready?”
My heartbeat stills for a moment before returning to normal. “Go ahead without me,” I call back. “I have an appointment this morning.”
I study myself in the mirror as I brace my hands on the bathroom counter. My skin is more pale than usual. I splash cold water on my face hoping to bring some life back to my complexion.
The door bursts open and Miles barges in sporting a deep frown. “What kind of appointment?”
“Well, it’s not an appointment exactly.” I’m such a terrible liar.
Miles stalks toward me. I watch him in the mirror until he’s right behind me, then I turn to face him. My back presses up against the vanity, marble digging into me through my pale blue button-down blouse. I tuck my hair behind my ears on both sides.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Sorry,” I squeak out.
“Don’t you realize we’re partners in crime now?” Miles reaches out and pushes a few stray pieces of hair I missed behind my left ear. My breath catches.
“Is that right?”
Miles grabs me by the hips and sets me up on the counter. He braces his hands on either side of me, boxing me in so that there’s no way for me to flee from him. He smiles almost boyishly as I nervously try to avoid making direct eye contact.
“Tell me what you’re doing today, Blue, and don’t even think about trying to lie to me again,” he croons.
Ahhhh…
I think my heart is beating fast enough to start a fire in my chest from the friction.
Our faces are so close. Kissing him would be so easy. All I would need to do is close the distance and…
Miles chuckles. “Focus.”
I blink myself back to life and throw my weight back as I realize I already started to lean in as I considered kissing him. My overreaction causes Miles to laugh again. I’m glad he’s enjoying my discomfort.
“I’m planning on doing something silly,” I admit.
I know I’m out of my mind for this plan. There’s no reason to believe I’ll be welcome. Even in the best of circumstances, most people don’t like surprise visitors showing up on their doorstep.
Miles moves his hands to my thighs, momentarily distracting me with his touch. He grazes his hands along the tops of my thighs down to my knees. “Tell me.”
I have to tell him something .
He’s letting me stay at his apartment and now we’re kind of sleeping together while fake dating. Does that mean the least I owe him is honesty? I feel bad even thinking about bending the truth when he’s been treating me surprisingly well.
I settle on, “I’m going to… go visit my grandparents.”
That sounds innocent enough. The truth just not the whole truth.
His eyes stay narrowed for a long time before he speaks again. “Okay, I’ll take you.”
“What?” I yelp.
“I’ll drive you to see them so you don’t have to take a bus or pay for a ride. I don’t have anything important going on in my classes today and no work-study shift to get to.” When he smiles, I’m not sure if it’s because he’s happy at the idea of tagging along with me for the day or if he realizes he’s backing me into a corner.
I swallow hard. “That’s really not necessary.”
“I know but don’t you think spending some genuine time together—without looking for an audience—might be nice?”
My brain short circuits.
He’s suggesting something that sounds awfully close to real dating. I know we blurred the lines of our agreement by getting physical but he’s proposing a different level of intimacy.
I know things have changed quickly. We went from our initial public date attempt to private meals in his bed. He’s warmed up to me while we’ve been stuck in close proximity. We’re practically living in a Hallmark movie plot at this point.
Having someone along for the ride would be nice. And besides Lainey, Miles has sort of turned into one of my closest friends after knowing each other for weeks.
“Okay,” I cave. “You can come with me to visit my grandparents.”
As mega mansions loom ahead of us, I debate asking Miles to pull over so I can throw up the coffee and donuts he bought for us at a gas station before we started our short drive toward my grandparents’ place.
“These houses are ridiculous,” I murmur under my breath.
Miles manages to turn his responding laugh derisive. “The funny thing is if you visited more often, you would probably start seeing these houses as normal.” He glances over just in time for our eyes to meet. “Not that I think you should feel guilty for not visiting more. Family relationships are complicated.”
He has no idea.
I might have neglected to mention the little detail that my grandparents don’t know I’m coming. And that we have no relationship whatsoever.
I’m honestly impressed that Miles isn’t more confused by me bringing us to an incredibly wealthy neighborhood. After all, he’s seen the cheap motel where my mom and I were living. We’re not living within the means of generational wealth.
The GPS alerts us that our next turn is just ahead past a curve in the road.
My stomach sinks as we round the curve only to find a gated entrance to my grandparents’ community. There’s a guard stand at the gate and I can vaguely make out movement from the inside. We’re never going to make it past the front gate, much less to their front door.
“I just give your name here, right?” Miles’ voice is laced with uncertainty as he slowly inches toward the guard stand.
My mouth is painfully dry. “Uh…”
His uncertainty probably has something to do with my near-hyperventilation breathing.
I should have spent more than a single night debating this plan. Why didn’t I pause to consider there would be security in a neighborhood this wealthy? Being impulsive isn’t in my wheelhouse. This is why I prefer to be a planner. Make lists and schedule things on my calendar. Do things right. No surprises.
“Are you okay, Blue?” Miles reaches over and clasps my hand securely in his.
His touch helps steady me and bring my rational brain back to the forefront. We’re next to the guard station now. There’s a scanner for people who have a gate pass. As the guard realizes we’re sitting instead of scanning in, he ambles his way out of the stand toward Miles’ SUV.
“I’ve never met my grandparents and I’m not going to be on any access list or anything,” I blurt out in one big gust of air.
Miles squeezes my hand so tightly that I wince. “Blue, what the fuck?”
The guard has reached us. He taps on the window, leaning in to look at us with one eyebrow quirked up questioningly. Miles drops his head back against the headrest and mumbles a whole string of curses.
“Just tell him we got lost and need to turn around.” This whole idea is so stupid. The Kirkpatricks have nothing to offer me.
Miles shakes his head at me. “How are you the same woman that writes twenty pages of cited notes to write a three-page essay?”
I cross my arms defensively over my chest.
Miles finally rolls his window down to face the guard. I watch a muscle in his cheek twitch as he prepares to clean up the mess I made for us.
Before Miles gets a word out, the guard greets us with a cheerful, “Hello!” He squints past Miles toward me and his smile widens. “Annie, right?”
My mouth falls open in surprise.
“I know I’ve only been here a few weeks but I made sure to study the guest binder religiously.” The guard points his thumb toward the stand. “Your photo must be a few years old but there’s no mistaking those Kirkpatrick eyes!”
Miles glances over at me with a confused look.
I shrug. I have no idea what the guy is talking about either.
“You’re allowed to bring in a guest, of course.” The guard glances at Miles again. “I just need a name to put on the guest log.”
“Miles Morino.”
The guard taps the side of the SUV. “Great, I’ll mark you down. As soon as the gate opens, head on through.”
Miles nods curtly.
As the guard heads back to his stand, we sit in silence while Miles presses the button to roll his window up. He looks over at me again as soon as the window shuts fully.
“You said you weren’t going to be on any lists. That sounds like your grandparents added you to a pretty official binder if the guards are expected to memorize the faces of regular guests.” He looks suspicious and I admittedly understand why.
I hold my hands up helplessly. “I honestly have no idea why they would add me to their approved guests. I don’t even know where they would have gotten a picture of me. Maybe I have a secret cousin that looks just like me?”
“He said your name, Annie.”
“Oh, right.” Duh.
The gate ahead of us pulls open and we fall back into silence as Miles pulls forward.
My entire system is flooded with nervous energy. My head is pounding as I cycle through my unlimited number of fears about how poorly showing up on this doorstep could go. My chest aches as I imagine what my mom will think when she finds out I did this. I can’t get a deep enough breath of air as Miles follows the GPS to the last house on the left on the center road through the swanky neighborhood.
“What have I done?” I breathe out.
Miles shakes his head with a humorless laugh. “Nothing yet. I hope your grandparents like surprises.”
Speaking of surprises…
I’m struck by the realization that Miles didn’t react at all to the guard mentioning that I have the Kirkpatrick eyes. “Why aren’t you surprised that my grandparents are this wealthy?”
“I don’t care who your grandparents are.” Miles keeps his eyes on the front windshield as he turns down the driveway toward the house. There’s another gate separating us from our destination but this one opens automatically as the SUV draws close.
“That’s great but aren’t you at least a little surprised to know that I’m one of those Kirkpatricks?” I stubbornly can’t let this go. At least I have something to focus on besides our impending arrival at the Kirkpatrick estate.
Miles groans. “Look, I already knew.”
“You did?” I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “Did you like have me investigated or something?” That feels like the kind of thing a rich jerk of a college student would do after offering to fake date someone like me.
“What?” Miles snorts out a laugh. “Of course not. I overheard you talking to Cameron in the library yesterday afternoon. Lainey and I both did.”
That would explain the random message from her last night asking if everything was okay. She’s a good friend for not calling me out about keeping my family background a bit of a secret from her.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.” No one was.
“I know.” Miles reaches over to take my hand in his. “I don’t care, Blue. Being a Kirkpatrick doesn’t change anything about who you are. These are just some people you happen to be related to… and have never met.”
He chuckles uncomfortably as the SUV grinds to a stop around the curve of a huge, stone circular driveway. There are no other cars in the driveway. I’m sure they’re parked away in the huge garage peeking out from the side of the looming house.
“Here we are,” Miles announces unnecessarily. “Now what?”
If I’m supposed to be in control here, we’re both in trouble. I have no idea why I decided to come here after a sleepless night tossing and turning while wondering what kind of people my grandparents must be. And I honestly don’t know what I want to happen next.
Before I can try to decide, the ornate front door opens and a woman in an off-white pantsuit appears in the doorway. The woman has deep red hair in a coiffed style and a full face of perfectly applied makeup. She isn’t familiar to me and yet I feel a sense of recognition anyway.
I’m about to meet my grandmother.