Chapter Five – Kayla
My first day is boring, but I don’t tell that to Jeremy when I stroll into our apartment later that night. He’s on me like flies on a pig in the hottest month of the year the moment I walk through that door, asking me, “How did it go? What’d the house look like?”
Never mind the fact that I had to walk miles on the street just to get to and from the dang bus stop.
My head is pounding. I ate a small granola bar for lunch, but that’s it.
I need to eat something a little more substantial, give my body some energy to burn so I don’t pass out on my hike tomorrow morning.
“I need to eat something,” I say, trying to get around my brother.
There isn’t much space to get around him, though, and he stops me by grabbing my elbow. “No, you’re going to tell me how it was, first, and then you can eat.”
As if on cue, my stomach rumbles. I’m starving. All I can think about is food. You’d think, after so many years of this, I’d be used to the hunger cues and all that, but I’m not. Sometimes it hurts so badly I want to double over and pass out.
But my brother’s grip is firm and I can’t pull myself free, so the only thing I can do is whisper, “Okay.”
Jeremy pulls me to the two stools on the half-table we have opposite the kitchen, just inside the apartment. He sits me down in one and then takes the other. With how intensely he stares at me, I know he’s expecting a play by play of the entire day.
Except my day was boring. I spent it getting Bradford coffee and then, at the end of the day, typing up a long email to his father about what he got done that day.
And, surprise surprise, Bradford didn’t get anything done, but I didn’t want to say that outright in an email, so I had to pull some things out of thin air.
Yeah. I’m not good at bullshitting, go figure. I don’t have the kind of experience necessary to be good at something like that. Now, my brother? He’d do great, but he’s not the one with the job.
So I give him a quick rundown of what I did that day, and then I do my best to lie.
I tell him Bradford kept me so busy organizing and fetching him food and drink from the kitchen that I didn’t really have time to investigate the rest of his house and see if there’s anything I might be able to take so my brother can sell and make some extra cash.
“That fucking sucks,” Jeremy says with a heavy sigh. “But maybe things will cool down after a bit.”
“Maybe,” I say, trying to be the peacekeeper between my brother and his temper, like I always am.
“He wasn’t too thrilled with me being there.
He kept saying how insulting it was that his father chose me—a small beta—to be his babysitter.
” Still, as I think back to Bradford and the way he said all of this, I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to it.
The way he spoke about his father made it sound like Bentley Sr. is a terrible human being. I don’t think anyone with that kind of money and power could possibly be what you’d consider a good person, so it doesn’t shock me.
I don’t think there are a lot of good people left out there, in a general sense.
“Hmm.” My brother narrows his gaze at me. “Anything else happen?”
I shrug. “He’s got a new groundskeeper, too. That’s pretty much it. Pretty uneventful, for the first day.” Honestly, there were moments in that house I thought I wouldn’t make it through out of sheer boredom, but I’m here.
I’m here and I’m starving.
One hour and two three-day-old pizza slices later, I’m in the shower rinsing off the day’s sweat and grim.
My stomach is uncomfortably full now—it’s what happens when you’re starving for so long and then you finally eat; it’s like your body doesn’t quite know what to do with the sudden onslaught of food in its system.
It’s a good thing Jeremy didn’t ask too many questions about my new boss, or the groundskeeper.
If he would’ve asked about the former, I don’t know what I would’ve said.
And when it comes to the latter… well, he’s a good-looking guy.
Damn fine for a beta. The last thing I want to do is to give my brother any suspicions.
Don’t want him thinking I might start to grow feelings. Having feelings for anyone would only cause Jeremy to get possessive and angry with me, and those are things I’d rather avoid.
I know things might get harder from here. Day one was just a test, really. I think I passed it, but you never know when things might take a turn for the worst.
The next morning I eat a small granola bar before leaving for my bus stop. I hope it’ll be enough to stave off the hunger that’ll gnaw at me while I’m walking to Bradford’s house. If only there was a bus stop closer—but no rich person would live that close to a damn bus stop.
Jeremy is still sleeping by the time I slip out of the apartment. I keep to myself during the walk to the bus stop, and I keep my head down when I’m riding in the back of the bus by myself. It’s only day two, but this morning feels different.
Heavier, for some reason. Maybe because I know what to expect in that house now.
The bus ride feels longer, even though it’s not. So does the walk from the bus stop to Bradford’s house. That granola bar I ate for breakfast? Doesn’t help get me through the long hike. I have to sit on the curb for a few minutes after two miles and work on catching my breath.
And then, what would you know? The same truck pulls up to me, just like yesterday—only now I know who’s behind the wheel and that we’re going to the same place.
Hayden rolls down his window and asks, “Want a ride?” He left before I did yesterday, so he didn’t see me huffing and puffing on my way back. Probably a good thing. He’d only have offered me another ride.
He was too nice. I didn’t trust him. No one is nice without expecting something in return these days.
“I can make it from here,” I say as I get up, and of course, when I stand, I wobble a bit… which he instantly sees, because he’s staring straight at me.
File that one under oopsies.
“Just get in. You’re gonna pass out.” When I don’t make a move to get inside his truck, Hayden sends an easy smile my way. “Look, I’m not going to take no for an answer. Please get in. Let me drive you. We’re literally going to the same place, so it’s not a big deal.”
Against my better judgment, I get in.
He reaches for a bag near my feet, pulling it up and setting it on the center console between us. I realize before he opens it it’s his lunch bag. He unzips it and pulls out a banana. “Here. Eat something. You are scarily thin, Kayla. It can’t be good for you.” He offers me that elongated banana.
“No,” I say. “I’m okay. Thanks, though.”
“Are you sure?” I can’t tell if it’s genuine concern on his face or not. A part of me wants to believe he actually does care, but the logical part of me reminds me that we don’t know each other, so why the heck would he care? “I don’t mind.”
I shake my head no.
“Okay, well, if you change your mind, I leave my bag in the truck. This thing keeps stuff pretty cool, so if you need something during the day, just come out and grab something, okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern.” I’m trying to be polite here, but it’s hard for me. I don’t trust that he’s doing all of this out of the kindness of his heart. Does that make me cold? Does it make me a bitch? I don’t know.
Hayden drives us to Bradford’s house. This time he parks his truck off to the side of the giant driveway. His skin is a bit red from yesterday, like he got a bit too much sun, something I think is weird, now that I’m noticing it.
If he was a groundskeeper before for someone else, wouldn’t he be used to being outside in the sun all day? I highly doubt an inexperienced groundskeeper would be hired for a place like this.
Then again, look at me. I can’t talk.
“Thank you for the ride,” I say as I get out of the truck.
“No problem. Seriously, it’s not a problem, Kayla.”
I’m halfway to the door when he says my name, and hearing him say it makes me stop in my tracks. For some reason, it sounds different when he says it, and I can’t explain why. I… I want to hear him say it again.
Weird.
I don’t look back at him, nor do I say anything else. I simply finish walking to the house and slip inside, not trusting myself to linger out there. For some reason, that beta makes me feel strange. Like my inner omega wants something from him, but I don’t know what.
I know, I know. It’s silly. He’s a beta. My inner omega, as weak as she is, shouldn’t want anything from him. I need to be very careful when I’m around him. At this rate, who knows what I’d feel in a week.
I’m a little more comfortable now as I wander the house in search of Bradford. What I don’t expect is to find him staring out of the window in one of the front sitting rooms. He wears a dark blue suit, fitted to his muscular frame, and his hands are shoved in his pockets.
“Morning,” I say as I enter the sitting room.
Bradford does not take his gaze away from the window. “You and the groundskeeper came together?” he asks, his voice low. From where he stands, he must be able to see where Hayden parked his truck… and where I got out of it.
Crap.
When I don’t say anything, he finally turns away from the window and brings those black eyes to me.
That stare of his is strangely both intense and emotionless, and it makes me feel a certain type of way.
Fifteen feet between us, and suddenly it feels like he’s right there, in front of me, towering over me with his tall, wide frame.
Only he’s not, and that feeling is all in my head.
“Cat have your tongue?” Bradford asks as he slowly tilts his head, almost like he’s mocking me. Or waiting to catch me up.
Crap. I have to give him an explanation, otherwise he might get the wrong idea.
And what is the wrong idea? That Hayden and I know each other. That we’re together, even. That somehow we got these jobs together. All of which are far from the actual truth—but again, it’s not like I can tell him the truth, so I have to resort to the same lie I told Hayden yesterday morning.
“He saw me walking, and he offered to give me a ride the rest of the way.” That much is true, at least. The way I say it, on the other hand, makes it sound like a total lie. If only I was better at lying.
He pulls himself away from the window, approaching me step by step, stopping when he stands less than six feet in front of me. “And why on earth would you be walking?” His icy tone informs me that he is on edge, on guard, and I best be believable in what I tell him next.
Now time for the same lie I told Hayden.
“My car broke down. It wouldn’t start yesterday morning.” As if I need to explain it more, I add, “It’s getting fixed.”
The way those black eyes study me, as if he’s waiting to trip me up, make me want to shrink back into myself and disappear off the face of this earth. His face is a mask; he’s totally unreadable. Guessing his mood right now would be suicide.
In the end, all he says is, “Hmm. Interesting.” And then he walks away from me after making a demand of coffee.
Right. Guess that’s the start of my second day here.