Chapter Three

T allulah skidded to a stop in front of the building and her jaw unhinged, drooping to the vicinity of her ankles. This was the place Burgess expected her to rent a room? Did he somehow misinterpret her budget to be seven thousand a month, instead of seven hundred?

Modern lines, gray stone exterior, mums peeking out of window flower boxes, gas lanterns hanging on either side of the glass door. The place was a Boston postcard.

“The apartment is probably a front for a commune of clowns,” she muttered, walking inside and searching the vertical row of buzzers for 3F. “Or Chloe is the code name for a ring of rich financiers who need a place to convene for nightly pagan rituals. I’m obviously tonight’s sacrifice.” She stabbed the buzzer. “Weird that I still want to rent the room?”

“Nope. It’s a great room!” enthused a voice on the other end. “I’m Chloe. Come on up!”

Tallulah winced. “On my way!”

Chloe was obviously bait.

How many people had been lured to their deaths here by the promise of an affordable cost of living? At such a cheap rent, how had this place not already been rented?

Not for the first time that morning, she wondered if she’d made a huge mistake turning down the free room offered by Burgess .

Burgess.

Was she continuing to think about him out of guilt? Because she felt bad for breaking their deal? Or was it the fact that his thoughtful composure just... appealed to her? Tallulah was really good at making small talk. When one worked in research labs in Antarctica and elsewhere with a bunch of introverted biologists, one learned to fill the silence. And her gift of the gab had been honed on many a night out during undergrad.

Yesterday with Burgess, she’d skipped the small talk.

They’d bypassed it completely—and nothing about it felt too soon. Or uncomfortable.

There was no explanation, except that something about his intentional gaze made Tallulah feel like they were past pleasantries. Sure, they’d met once, months ago, but that shouldn’t have been enough to compel her to open up so quickly.

What was it about him?

Shaking off her useless musings, Tallulah walked up the stairs, slowly, on the balls of her feet, finger on the trigger of the pepper spray she’d uncapped in her pocket. Overhead, she heard the gentle creak of a door swinging open. So far, she didn’t hear any chanting, but the evil oligarch financiers might just be at work. Someone had to pay the rent on this place. Obviously, it wouldn’t be Tallulah—she would be dead. Sacrificed to the god of prosperity or something.

She rounded the railing at the top of the final staircase—

And found an ethereal blonde staring back at her from an open doorway at the opposite end of the hall, gel patches shaped like half-moons stuck beneath her eyes. “Are you Chloe?”

“Yes,” whispered the blonde. “Hurry, before the landlord sees me. He knocked on my door for the rent earlier—and I have it. Most of it. Sig gave me a check for September and I deposited it, like I was supposed to. But I might have withdrawn a little chunk for essentials.”

Tallulah moved down the hallway. “Such as?”

“Oh, this and that.” Chloe stepped aside to allow Tallulah into the apartment, her bright smile dissolving into dread. “One of the building amenities is Wi-Fi. Do you think the landlord can see what I’m buying online?”

“I don’t know,” Tallulah said honestly.

“I bet he can. Oh boy.” Chloe ripped off the gel patches from beneath her eyes, tapping and pressing the dewy, uncovered skin, as if to see if the patches had made a difference. “Let me show you the room.”

For the first time, Tallulah turned to look at the apartment—and only grew more suspicious. It was a palace of high ceilings, awash in sunshine. An incredibly spacious open floor plan with a chef’s kitchen on one side, a sunken living room on the other. Greenery galore. Tastefully decorated down to the woven basket full of throw blankets. Well, apart from the framed Gauthier jersey and Boston Bearcats pennants over the couch, anyway.

Chloe bounced ahead of her to the far end of the apartment where a short hallway was located. She toed open a door and executed a sweeping bow. “Thy chambers, milady.”

“How many oligarchs are hiding in there?”

Chloe gasped. “What’s that?”

“Never mind.” Tallulah didn’t even have to cross the threshold to know the room was a dream come true, probably even had an ensuite bathroom. “Chloe, there is no way you’re renting out a room in this apartment for only seven hundred dollars a month.”

Her smile never wavered. “Yes, that’s what Sig told me to do.” She flinched, slapping a hand over her mouth. “I mean... yup! That’s the price.”

Suspicion prodded Tallulah. “Are you sure? Sight unseen, I’m thinking you could get quadruple.” She sensed that Chloe was trying to do mental math and perhaps not having the easiest time. “That’s closer to twenty-eight hundred, babe.”

“Right.” Chloe nodded like they were both in on a big secret. “I don’t know. I just live here and hope it all works out.”

Okay. No.

Someone could easily take advantage of this girl—and it wasn’t going to be her. “Chloe, I think you should rent the room for a better price, okay? I can’t imagine what the cost of this apartment must be on a monthly basis, but you could one hundred percent find someone willing to pay more. Wouldn’t that make things easier for you?”

“I don’t know,” she responded slowly. “Everything is pretty easy, as it is.”

Tallulah’s lips twitched. “I’m happy for you.” She hesitated, but decided she wouldn’t be able to live with herself without offering some assistance. “Look, I’m going to give you my phone number. When you relist the room, call me if you need help weeding through applicants.”

Chloe’s shoulders slumped. “So you’re not going to take it?”

“No.”

“Oh boy,” the blonde said, pacing into the room, turning gracefully and coming back out. “But I did exactly what Sig told me to do.”

An alarm bell started to tinkle in Tallulah’s head. “Which is...?”

“Charge you seven hundred and he would get the rest of your share from Burgess.” After a prolonged moment of staring at the ceiling, Chloe sighed. “I can’t remember if I was supposed to tell you that. Sig knows not to call me during my nighttime routine. It’s like he wants me to have clogged pores.”

While Tallulah stood in place, reeling from that information bomb, Chloe moped her way into the living room, plopping down on her gray upholstered couch and hugging her knees to her chest. “I know you’re friends with Burgess, but Sig is the best one on the team, even though he’s not the captain. He should be. I don’t care if you tell Burgess I said that.” She winced. “Actually don’t. He’s even scarier than my landlord.”

“Whoa whoa.” Tallulah waved her hands, desperate to regain control of the situation. “Let’s start from the beginning. Burgess was going to pay my rent?”

“Most of it, yes.” Chloe pursed her lips. “Aren’t you supposed to be happy about that?”

“ What? No!”

“Why?” breathed the blonde.

“Because I want to pay my own rent,” Tallulah sputtered. “I don’t want to owe him anything.”

“But you were never supposed to know.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Just pretend you never found out.”

“Chloe.”

“Well.” Her might-have-been roommate was thoughtful for a moment. “Sig said Burgess thought it was his fault that you had nowhere to go. He said footing some of the rent was the least he could do.”

Tallulah’s heart started to rap faster, the moisture fleeing from her mouth. “I... can’t believe he did that.”

“Are you mad about it?”

“I freaking should be!” she managed, forcing herself to take a deep breath.

“Still not clear on why,” Chloe drew out. “It’s like a present. A monthly one. And everyone loves presents.”

Tallulah wasn’t very clear on why she was mad, either. Or if she was mad at all. She kept waiting for the indignation to take hold, but all she felt was kind of... touched. Wasn’t that ridiculous? Yes! It was! But she couldn’t help but remember that yesterday, when she’d explained her reservations to Burgess in the smoothie shop, he’d acknowledged them without making her feel silly or like she was overreacting. He hadn’t tried to badger her into changing her mind. He’d just quietly gone and done something to help without getting any credit.

“I’m mad because he... maneuvered me,” she explained, though her heart wasn’t in it. “I don’t need his help. I could have found a totally suitable place on my own.”

“And yet . . .”

“And yet he wasn’t even going to tell me.”

“Sig must have failed to mention to Burgess that I’m a big mouth.”

“You’re not a big mouth. You’re just... guileless.”

Chloe laid a hand on her chest. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Listen, Chloe. If you do try again to rent the room, call me, so I can help. But I’m not taking advantage of you like this. Or Burgess, for that matter. I can’t.” She crossed the room and put out her hand for a shake, remembering her vow to make bigger efforts to be social. “Matter of fact, call me even if you don’t need help renting the room. We should get a drink, right?”

“Really?” Chloe jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around Tallulah’s neck, knocking her back a step. “Yes! I would love that.”

“Me too.” Amused, Tallulah patted her back. “I’m glad you’re not an oligarch.”

Chloe stepped back, beaming. “I still don’t know what that is.”

“They’re even more overbearing than hockey players.” Tallulah backed toward the door, waving on her way. “But only slightly.”

Tallulah didn’t remember walking down the stairs, she was so deep in thought. This near stranger had attempted to orchestrate her living situation. Had been willing to shell out just under two grand a month on her behalf. Because he felt responsible for her situation?

Unreal.

She was pissed. Or trying to be, anyway. Mainly, however, she was confused.

And also . . . what? Intrigued?

He’d gone out of his way to help her at a cost to himself. After all, if she hadn’t been able to find an affordable room to rent, there was a possibility she would have had no choice but to crawl back to Burgess and take his offer of a locked bedroom door, thus landing him an au pair and freeing him from the tedious job of interviewing new ones.

But could his motive really be her safety? Coupled with his own guilt?

If so, were his actions controlling or... a misguided attempt to be helpful?

Tallulah didn’t know, but she was going to find out.

Meaning, she’d be seeing the Goliath single father again.

And her stomach wasn’t elevating with excitement over that fact.

Definitely not.