Chapter 10

The incessant meowing that greeted me the second I opened the door to the camper made me feel even worse. "I'm sorry, pretty girl." I leaned down to pick up Oreo and scratched her under the chin as I carried her over to her food dishes. Leaving her alone all night wasn't something I did often, and she made me feel guilty about it every time.

My head still throbbed as I set her down on the floor and opened the cupboard to pull out a can of wet cat food. She purred and rubbed up against my legs, letting out little mews as I dumped the contents of the can into her dish and set it next to her. You'd think she hadn't eaten in ages with the way she attacked the bowl. My princess deserved a little extra spoiling today.

When Art and Daniel had pulled me aside for shots, I shouldn't have indulged, but I'd been feeling extra vulnerable after being outside with Nathan. It didn't help that he sat there and watched us get stupid. Daniel wasn't a bad guy; he got dragged down with Art, just like I did a lot of the time. If there was anyone I'd like to see get out of here, it was him.

With Oreo taken care of, I tore off my t-shirt from the night before, wincing at the smell that came from it. It would probably be a good idea to take a shower, even if I was going to get sweaty and dirty at work. At least it was only one property today. I opened the sliding door to my bathroom and frowned. I missed having an actual bathroom, not this tiny closet in the camper. Sometimes I used the showers by the beach when I was feeling a little more claustrophobic, but I didn't have the time to make it down there today.

The other downside to the space being so small was that I didn't get to take long showers. My water heater was tiny, and I had a max of five to ten minutes to get and get clean before it ran out. I took the fastest shower I could before climbing out and wrapping myself in a towel. The throb in my head had lessened by then, thanks to the meds Nathan had given me, the greasy breakfast, and the caffeine from the coffee.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and plugged it into the charger, then groaned when it lit up with messages as soon as it powered on. I had a feeling that my so-called friends would want to know about the guy I dragged along with me last night, but I wasn't ready to tell them who Nathan was. What do you call someone you only hook up with during the summer? Fuck buddies?

Once upon a time, I thought we were so much more, and that small glimmer of hope kept trying to re-spark that we could get back there, but I needed to keep squashing it. I couldn't let him hurt me like that again.

Ignoring the messages would have been easy, but instead, I went with the simplest response. I pulled up the group chat with Art, Daniel, and Tilly, who hadn't made it to the party last night.

Me: Drew hired him to help me for the summer. Thought it would make the workload easier.

Art: He said load…

Tilly: Grow up, Art.

Art: I am grown up.

I blew out a breath as my phone kept pinging with messages. When they got like that, it was best to ignore them. I threw the device on my mattress to let it charge some more while I pulled out some clothes to wear for the day.

The stupid thing was that I found myself caring what Nathan thought about how I looked. By the time I pulled out the sixth t-shirt and decided that it was too old and ratty, I knew I had a problem. I was going to work, not out to make this guy want me. And if last night was anything to go by, I already knew he still wanted me.

Oreo stared at me, curled up on my bed next to my phone, silently judging me for the way I was acting. It was ridiculous to be this twisted up over Nathan after being back in his presence for one day. I shoved my legs into a pair of black boxer briefs and then some jeans before grabbing one of the discarded shirts and tossing it on. There was no point in overthinking it.

"I know, girl." I plopped on the bed next to her. She let out a soft meow as I scratched the top of her head. "I'm not going to make that mistake. You're going to hold me accountable, right?" Oreo blinked at me and then went about bathing herself, completely ignoring me. My phone was still going off, so I muted the group chat for now. I shouldn't have caved to their questions. There was just enough time to take a half-hour nap before I needed to head over to today's property. Hopefully, my headache would be gone by the time I woke up.

I fell asleep wrapped around my cat, setting an alarm on my phone so that I didn't oversleep.

Nathan was waiting next to his car when I pulled up to the property on my bike, the bucket of cleaning supplies dangling from my handlebars. His head tilted to the side curiously when I didn't acknowledge him. I knocked the kickstand down with my foot and grabbed the bucket, heading straight for the front door. Nathan joined me, swinging the keys and unlocking it to let me in.

"Are you feeling any better?"

I grunted a response as I surveyed the room. Drew was right that this would be an easy cleanup today. No matter how gentle the renters were, we still had to vacuum, clean, and scrub the entire place. I set my bucket down and went straight for the closet to pull out the vacuum. Nathan stood at the entryway, watching my every move.

"You can start in any room you like, but keep in mind that you have to do everything. The bedding has to be washed in the bedrooms, and then you have to wipe down all the surfaces..."

"Chase..."

"I like to knock out the vacuuming first since it goes the fastest. Then I'll normally do the bathroom last."

"Chase."

"What?" I spun on him.

Nathan was halfway to me, an arm stretched out like he was getting ready to grab for me. "So, are we back to all business, then? What happened after last night after we…" His arm dropped before he hugged himself. He looked so unsure as he waited for my answer.

Was I being an ass? Maybe. But I needed to keep my walls up. I'd already let them slip a little too much. They'd have to come down a bit if I wanted to get some more action out of our deal, however. The look on his face was going to break me, and I instantly deflated. "I'm sorry. I'm just normally focused when I show up to work."

He nodded, seeming to accept my answer. "Okay, but can we talk for a second?"

My heart pounded at his simple request. The last thing I wanted was to talk to him. What I wanted was to get this job done and fuck around. That was it. It didn't stop me from hesitantly nodding my head.

A slow smile spread across his face as he sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him. Shit, we were already slacking on the job. Like a puppet on a string, he pulled me to him, and I gave in to the urge to be close. I sat next to him, staying far enough away it wouldn't come across that I wanted to touch him, but it wasn't far enough. Whatever body wash or deodorant he used was strong, but smelled amazing on him. The smell of spice and cinnamon permeated the air around him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sweat gathered on my back as I waited for him to speak.

Nathan cleared his throat, scooting a little closer. I had to fight the urge to move away. "How come you're being so cagey? I get that you were pissed at me when I first got here, but then last night happened... and you close off when I ask you anything personal."

Eesh, we were going with the hard-hitting questions right out of the gate. My eyes darted around the room as I thought of a response, or possibly looking for an escape route. Was he leaning closer?

"Not being cagey. I just don't want to talk about some things."

He was leaning in closer, and his scent grew stronger. I wanted to close my eyes and lean into him, too, but I used all my will to hold still.

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, Nathan stood abruptly and headed toward the back of the house. Ill take the bedrooms, then.

Well, fuck me. Was this how this summer was going to go?