Page 16 of Pretend I’m Yours
I wonder how much money this girl has. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a key in the door, and within seconds Hannah was in the room. “Hey, glad you made it! Did you have any trouble finding it?”
I shook my head. “Just gave the driver the address and sat back.”
Hannah looked around the room in surprise. My duffle bag was still on the floor where I’d dropped it, so I quickly picked it up. “Sorry. I’ll take this to my room and get it out of your way.”
“I’m just surprised there aren’t any boxes laying around. I was expecting you to have a lot more. Unless you have it in your room already,” she said as she turned back to me.
I shook my head. “I was in the desert for months at a time. I always thought it was easier just to keep my things to a minimum. Always thought I’d be going home to a different situation, but when I found out that wasn’t going to happen, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Hannah cocked her head lightly to one side. I could see she had question but chose not ask it. “I suppose you wouldn’t expect to be coming back to something like this either.”
“Definitely not,” I said, grateful she hadn’t pressed me for details just then. She smiled and pulled open her purse, taking out her wallet.
“I’m going to give you this. I want you to go out and buy whatever you need to fit in with this,” she motioned to the apartment as she handed me a credit card. “I’ve got to head out again in a second, but I wanted to catch you before you got too busy with your day.”
“I don’t have a lot planned. It’s not going to take me long to get unpacked, that’s for sure,” I said with a shrug. She chuckled and walked over to the fridge, pulling out one of the yogurts before getting on her phone. My eyes wandered up her thin legs to the curve of her ass, but I was quick to avert them when she started to turn around.
The last thing I needed was for her to feel uncomfortable and put an end to this before it even started.
“Do you need me to give you any money right now? Or are you going to be okay with the credit card? I was thinking that I could give you a check at the end, if that’s okay?” Hannah said.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m not going to need much, and if you don’t mind if I use this, that’s great,” I assured her. “I won’t go crazy.”
“Knock yourself out,” she said with a shrug. She headed to the couch and sat down, turning on the tv and putting her feet up on a balance ball I hadn’t noticed before.
Uncertainty swept over me. Should I go over and sit with her? Try to get to know her a little bit? Or, should I head out with this credit card? I was supposed to be coming up with some story of who I was and where I came from, and I already knew the jeans and t-shirts I had in my duffle bag weren’t going to fly in this world.
I’d have to get a few things that were designer, but I didn’t want to go too crazy with the card she gave. I had my own money, a lot of it saved up over the past two years, but if she was going to pay me to help her out, I could save my own stash for a place of my own once this arrangement had run its course. On a sudden impulse, I threw back the rest of the whiskey and put the glass in the sink, then I headed out the door. I left as quietly as I could, still not quite sure how we were going to relate to each other.
Things had been entirely different before. In my last relationship, things were real. We told each other where we were going and what we were doing. We told each other we loved each other. I didn’t love this woman. I thought she was hot as hell and I would love to get her in bed, but I was technically working for her. And we were strangers.
I set off on foot, already forming a plan of the places I’d shop and the things I’d get. I’d never just had a credit card given to me before, and I was eager to see what I could get with it, but I wasn’t the type of guy to take advantage either. I’d get the minimum of what I needed to ‘fit in’ and call it a day.
I took my time in the first store, ignoring the looks of the clerks behind the counter. They clearly didn’t think I ought to be in there, and it was with great satisfaction that I handed them the card. The woman behind the counter printed the receipt and gave me the bags with a curt smile, and I felt on top of the world as I left.
