Chapter 14

The rattling on my door had my heart racing. Drew wouldn't have told Nathan where I lived, would he?

Oreo's head popped up, and she looked at me in irritation, her eyes narrowed, as I rolled out of bed. I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts as I walked to the door and pushed it open. My muscles relaxed when I saw who was standing there.

"You still haven't told him about this, have you?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the door frame, staring down at Drew. "Is there a reason that he needs to know?"

The man rolled his eyes, then went to his truck and opened the door. "I get that you two have history, and if what I saw going down in my backyard the other night is any indication, you can't go hiding things from him and hurting him."

My defenses went up immediately. I stood up straight and hopped out of the camper. My bare feet stung against the gravel I had laid out. "Hurt him? Hide things from him?" A humorless laugh escaped me. "It's no different from what he did to me four years ago."

Drew shook his head, closing the door to his truck and leaning against it. "This isn't the Chase I know."

Drew was right. This wasn't like me at all. I wasn't the vindictive type. Nathan didnt tell me the reason for not returning because I hadn't let him. He could have a really good reason, or perhaps he didnt, but I couldnt take the chance of going through that heartache again.

And how did you go about telling someone that your whole family was dead? The last thing I wanted was him feeling sorry for me. I was content with the way my life was right now. The camper was enough for me and Oreo. I had a good job working for Drew and I had a decent group of friends.

Okay, maybe the friends were questionable.

"I just don't know how to talk to him about any of it."

Drew nodded. "I get it, kid, but the longer you hide this, the worse it's going to be when he finds out. He loved your parents."

My chest ached at the mention of my mom and dad. Not a day went by that I didn't miss them. I also knew that Nathan had grown close to my parents when he was here during those summers. Maybe he asked to give me a ride home not just for my safety, but also possibly to see them.

"I'll... think of something." I combed a hand through my hair, shivering as the cool morning breeze hit my skin.

Drew grunted before handing me a sheet of paper.

"What's this?" I asked, unfolding it to look it over.

"The list of properties I need you two to work on today. There are three in total. I need them done before dinnertime."

I nodded, refolding the sheet and shoving it into my pocket.

Drew climbed into his truck, backed out of my lot, and drove away. I let out a breath before going inside and checking the time. It was eight in the morning. If he wanted these properties done by dinner, I needed to get moving now. As I grabbed a box of cereal and a small jug of milk from the fridge, Oreo purred, circling my ankles. I pulled my phone off the charger and shot a text to Nathan, letting him know that he needed to meet me at the first property in thirty minutes. I left him the address and told him I had all the cleaning supplies. The supplies should stay with him since he had a car, and all I had were the handlebars of my bike.

I ate quickly and got dressed before heading out to my bike. The wind blew my hair in my face and I pulled my baseball cap over my head to keep it out of the way. My mind whirled with ideas on how the hell I was going to tell Nathan about my parents and why I lived in a camper while his uncle kept my parent's home safe for me.

When I pulled up to the house, Nathan was already there and sitting in his car. He climbed out when he saw me, a frown on his face.

"Are you always on your bike?"

I shrugged as I climbed off and kicked out the kickstand. "Basically."

I grabbed my bucket and headed for the front door, Nathan following close behind. Drew must have given him the keys because he pulled them from his pocket and let us in. The first house was a small, two-bedroom bungalow with an open floor plan joining the kitchen and living room. There was also only one bathroom and we could turn over this place in as little as two hours.

Nathan went straight for the bedrooms and the sounds of him pulling the bedding off filtered through the tiny house. We'd established our choice assignments by this point. I grabbed the vacuum from the closet and set the bucket of cleaning supplies on the island separating the kitchen from the living room.

The kitchen was easiest to start with, and I opened the fridge. Most people were great about cleaning stuff out before they left, but not these people. They'd only been renting the house for three days, so why did it look like there was enough food for two weeks? I groaned, slamming the door closed and grabbing the trashcan, dragging it over.

"What's wrong?"

Nathan's voice made me jump. We worked in silence so often that when he spoke or asked questions, it always took me by surprise.

When my heart finally stopped feeling like it was going to burst from my chest, I was able to answer him. "The fridge is disgusting. Who needs that much food?"

He snorted a laugh. "Honestly? I think the house was overcapacity; the bedrooms aren't in much better shape."

Well, shit. That wasn't good news. Drew was strict about how many people could stay in these places. It was why he never rented out my parents' house. He did maintenance on it from time to time, but I wondered why he kept it at all if he didn't use it to bring in any type of profit.

I growled. I'd expected a quick, easy clean and it had turned into a mess.

"Okay, well, let's get moving. We don't have the luxury of taking our time today."

Nathan stared at me and I realized that Drew had left it on me to play supervisor and boss today. I looked up at the ceiling and cursed the man before looking back at Nathan. "We have to clean three properties today before dinner."

His eyes blew wide before he ran back to the bedrooms. I laughed as the sheets landed in the hall before Nathan rushed them back to the laundry room. The washer door slammed as he loaded the machine. He then hurried back into the room with a bottle of disinfectant spray to wipe down the flat surfaces.

I'd never seen him work this quickly before, but unlike him, I didn't feel the same need to rush. I opened the fridge and started tossing things into the trash. The amount of food I was throwing away was borderline criminal. There were people who went hungry and this could be used to feed them. It was a shame the local food bank wouldn't take stuff like this.

Done with the kitchen, I went to the living room. I had just started vacuuming when Nathan came barreling in and huffed when he saw me pushing it around the room.

"Just great, I need that," he huffed, hands on his hips as his eyes trailed over me.

I smirked as I added an extra sway to my hips. We really didn't have time to fuck around today, but I would take any opportunity to mess with him.

"I'll be done in a few minutes," I yelled over the motor, continuing to take my time.

Nathan crossed his arms, and I had a moment of victory at his look of irritation. I was done with the chore, but making him wait was more entertaining. After about five minutes, I finally turned off the machine and handed it off to him. Nathan rolled his eyes and quickly vacuumed the two rooms, faster than I did the one. After emerging, he wound the cord and stored it in the closet, then turned to me for guidance.

"Is there anything else to do?"

I nodded, my face heating a little. There wasn't anything to be embarrassed about, and while I didn't actually need help, I was going to ask him for it, anyway. "We only have the bathroom left."