Paid To Love

Episode 17

Paid To Love EPISODE 17

Henry's POV

My hands were gripped together at my back while I watched Victoria examine every inch of my house. As much as I loved watching her being in awe of my house, I felt nervous. The initial high of having someone over had worn off and I felt antsy. It'd been a long time since I'd let someone over. Even longer since I had a woman over and she had been here for a while now . I didn't know why I was so nervous. She seemed perfectly at ease. Shouldn't she be the one feeling anxious? Especially after the incident with my cousin's room? I'd left the door unlocked so it was really my fault, but my rash actions didn't seem to have bothered her at all.

She still had her face pressed against the glass wall that overlooked the lake and I wanted to tell her not to smudge it but managed to keep my mouth shut. She moved into the kitchen, trailing a hand across the marble countertops and stopping by the spice rack to inspect the contents. I stayed rooted to the spot, unsure whether to go after her or not.

It kind of annoyed me that I felt uncomfortable in my own house, but I had expected it when I'd decided to let her over. No one had been in here for a long time. I wasn't even sure why I thought I'd let her over. Yes, it was the easiest way to trick my dad into thinking we were serious, but there were other ways too.

"Wow! You have one of those refrigerators that dispense crushed ice!" she commented excitedly.

I quirked an eyebrow. Out of everything in my place, she was most impressed by that? "You don't have one of those?"

She shook her head and moved on, leaving the kitchen area and returning back to the main part of the living room. I stood above her, on the elevated portion.

"I heard you telling your dad that you would cook me dinner?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.

Her sudden stare surprised me a little and I felt my body tense up. "Oh, Do you not want me to?"

"Don't you have cooks for that?"

I frowned. "There are some things I do for myself, you know."

"Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed," she responded. There was a teasing smile on her face, so I knew not to be offended.

"In my free time, I like to cook. I find it relaxing," I told her and I didn't know why I was trying to explain myself.

"You must have a lot of free time. I mean, you've been stealing all my free time this whole week pretty much. Aren't you the CEO of your hotel? Don't you have to work?"

I'd been stealing her free time? What did she mean by that? Wasn't I paying her for this? And that aside, did she dislike spending time with me that badly? "I'm not the CEO yet," I muttered and didn't like how meek my voice sounded.

"You're not? Oh Is your dad the CEO?"

"You're just full of questions today," I said, shoving my hands into my jean pockets.

She shrugged and pushed her long hair behind her ears. I liked the way it framed her face like that. "You said we should be friends, right? So we should start with the basics. Like family."

"What about your family?" I countered.

"Ah..." She trailed off, suddenly looking anywhere but at me. "My family is kind of messed up. I'm not sure you want to hear it."

The corners of my lips twitched. For her to be living alone so young, I figured something was amiss. "Hmm, that's funny, because I was about to say the same thing."

She looked back up and raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? I think my family is way more messed up than yours, lets have a little wager ?"

"Wager?" I repeated, shocked. Did she want to make a game of our horribly complicated lives?

A hand shot to her mouth to cover the laughter that spilled from her lips. "I'm just kidding. The look on your face is priceless."

I cleared my throat, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Of course."

"I do have a kind of personal question. So if I can ask you , you can ask me one," she continued, walking a little closer to me.

My eyes focused on a rip in her jeans just above the knee. Had she bought them like that? Or were they just old? You could see a bit of the skin on her thigh and—

"Um, Henry?"

I shot my gaze back to her face and realized she was only about a foot away now. "Yes," I said automatically.

"Okay. Why don't you let people into your house? What did you mean that it was your only place left? I can tell you're uncomfortable right now. If it makes you that uncomfortable for me to be here, I can leave. I don't want to be interfering," she said and shifted on her feet a little.

I held in a lie that jumped to the tip of my tongue. It was an automatic response— lie and move on. You shouldn't let anyone know too much. They could use it against you. That's how I usually felt. But I didn't want to lie to Victoria. I was wrong when I'd thought she was at ease. She was just better at hiding it than me. "Victoria, I'm really sorry for my earlier actions," I started. "It's not that you're making me uncomfortable. I'm just not used to anyone being here. My home is very personal. That's why I don't let people in here. When you're in a certain position like I am, it's better to keep your life private. If people find out the wrong thing, they can use it against you."

She nodded as I spoke. It felt awkward explaining it to her. It didn’t seem like she would understand my reasons.

I took a slow breath. "And the room you tried to enter is another reason why I don't want anyone over. That's actually my—"

"No! Stop, You don't have to tell me that," she interrupted, holding up her hands. "I mean I am really curious about it, but that's completely your business. We should still have boundaries despite being friends." She turned a little pink and her eyes darted back upstairs.

I had a gross feeling about her thoughts and snapped my fingers to get her attention. "nothing dark and kinky is happening in that room you pervert."

She turned and laughed a little. "Ha ha ha, I wasn't thinking that."

"I am slightly offended you think I would have a room like that."

"You kind of fit the role."

"Are you purposely insulting me?" I accused.

She bit her lip to keep from grinning too widely and I found myself focusing on it much more than I'd like to admit. I hadn't noticed how perfectly her lips suited her face. She was so small and cute.

"If it's either that or you could be a serial killer—"

"Of course not," I snapped, cutting her off. "It was my cousin's room."

She snapped her mouth shut, her eyes widening. "Wait! You have a cousin?."

I pressed my lips together, grimacing inwardly. I didn't want to talk about this. I'd been caught off guard and had let it slip. "I don't like to talk about him," I said tensely.

"We don't have to talk about him, I feel that same way about my brother," she replied easily.

I stayed silent because no one ever let the subject of my cousin go without me snapping. However, a few moments of silence passed and Victoria stayed quiet. Then something clicked. "You have a brother?"

"Is that the one personal question you want to ask me?"

I hesitated and then nodded. I was a bit curious about her family life and the conversation about my cousin was getting weird so i had to bring up something else without prying too deeply.

"Yes, I do, i mean i did. He was older than me but i was always the big sister to him. And he acted really dumb all the time even though i know he was actually really smart," she said, with her voice starting to break a bit, scrunching up her forehead.

"Wait, he past away? I’m so sorry?"

I said regretting the fact that i asked, even though i really wanted to know.

"Are you ok?"

“Yeah” She said with a deep breath. Almost getting herself back in order.

"What happened to him?" I asked immediately regretting.

"If I tell you, don't give me any pitying looks and or any words of sympathy," she warned me, giving me what appeared to be the stink eye, but just kind of looked like something was wrong in her eye and she was trying to get it out. I kept that comment to myself.

"I won't," I promised her because I knew that feeling all too well myself.

"He was shot," she said in a tone of voice someone might comment about the weather in.

I stared at her, wondering if I'd misheard her. What? Was he involved in anything criminal? Wasn't that a little too intense to say so casually? Why didn't she seem more upset? "Don't tell me your brother was a gangster—"

"No!" she cried.

"So is that why you've been living alone because your brother's dead? I mean don’t you have other family?" I asked, jokes aside.

She shakes her head indicating a no.

"How did he get shot?"

"He wasn’t a criminal !!" she informed me. "He was just ill fated"

She didn't want to tell me what really happened to him? I was intrigued, but I knew not to push. "Can I ask about your parents?"

"Eh, you might as well know what you're getting into if we're going to be friends," she sighed. "Long story short, my mother died of an illness a couple of years ago, and my father died mysteriously a couple years after."