“Thanks,” I squeaked out.
He stared at me for a moment. “I’ll just connect it by the TV.”
I nodded. “Do you want eggs and bacon?”
“What?”
“I’m making eggs. Do you want eggs and bacon?”
He eyed the frying pan in my hand as if I had a bottle of arsenic hidden somewhere to poison him. “I already ate. Besides, you don’t cook real bacon anyway.”
“Real bacon? Of course it’s real bacon. It’s not that turkey shit.”
“No, real bacon is back bacon. Canadian bacon.”
I frowned. “Why would you call it back bacon?”
“Because it comes off the back of the pig, not off the Canadian region,” he drawled, pulling out the TV unit to reach the power outlet.
Wow. This was annoying. I couldn’t argue with his logic.
“Fair enough.” Accepting he wasn’t interested in my food, I turned to retrieve the ingredients from the fridge so I could make my breakfast.
I’d slept in until twenty minutes ago. I’d mildly panicked before I realized I couldn’t shower or I’d run the risk of having to answer the door in my towel, so I’d given up, let myself wake up slowly, and come down here just minutes before Theo burst into the house.
I supposed him walking in on me in shortie pajamas, sporting rat’s nest hair, and a metal pot on my foot was marginally better than him seeing my in a towel.
Especially since he really seemed to dislike me.
I cracked some eggs into a glass jug and grabbed some milk so I could beat them together. A small curse came from Theo’s direction, but I didn’t dare look over at him in case I was stupid enough to look into his eyes.
Lord, I needed a new place to stay before I really started crushing on him.
That was the last thing I needed right now.
Ovaries, take note.
“All done,” he said seconds before I was going to start cooking.
I turned, dropping the lump of butter on the floor off my knife instead of in the pan.
Damn it.
He glanced at the butter but didn’t address it. “It’s all connected and working. This is the code.” He slipped a bit of paper onto the island. “Can you connect it now so I know it works for you, too?”
“Sure.” I put the knife down on the cutting board and retrieved my shitty phone from the other side of the kitchen, then connected it up to the WiFi. It worked instantly, and I showed him the screen so he could see for himself. “All done.”
Theo nodded.
“So. What do I owe you?”
“It depends how long you’re planning on staying.”
I bit into my lower lip, dragging it between my teeth. “I know I said two or three days, but, I’d like a week to get myself sorted out and find a longer-term place to stay. If that’s okay.”
He shrugged noncommittally. “It’s not like I have anyone else renting it right now. A week works, I suppose.”
“So… Money?”
He blew out a long breath and reached up, running his fingers through his hair. “Four hundred? That’s a little over the usual nightly rate for this place, but I can’t charge you that, because it’s a mess.”
“I don’t mind paying you more.”
“No. Four hundred is fine, but just for one week.” He met my eyes with a look that said not to push it. “I can give you my bank details later and you can transfer it over.”
“Thank you. That’s really kind.”
He grunted, pushing away from the island. “Like I said, it’s not like I was renting this place anyway.”
I swallowed when he turned and headed for the front door. A few feet away from it, he stopped, pausing for a moment.
He spun back to look at me. “Arielle loves you, by the way. It’s an obsession I don’t understand, but if I hear one more thing about how great you apparently are, I’m going to stick two forks in my ears and gauge out my brain.”
I had no idea what to say to that.
“She’s also nine. She’s young, she’s impressionable, and I’m not sure her living next to her idol is a good thing.”
That I understood.
“You want me to stay away from your daughter,” I said quietly. “I understand. It’s not like you don’t know why I’m here, right?”
He stared at me for a moment. “How do you know I know?”
Looking down, I fiddled with the bit of paper holding the WiFi code. “You seem like the kind of dad who knows everything about his young daughter’s online activity. That’s a good thing, by the way, not a criticism.” I peered back up, looking at him through eyelashes that still had hints of yesterday’s mascara.
“Thank you.” Theo turned to the door once more and opened it.
“I didn’t know, you know,” I said, turning my attention to the large doors that overlooked the beach. “About the tape. I had no idea it existed until the world found out. But don’t worry. I’ll only be here a week, less if I can help it, and I’ll do everything I can to avoid your daughter.”
I had no idea if he looked back at me, but the longest moment passed until the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the empty house.
He knew.
Which meant so many other people in this town probably knew, too.
There was no escaping the hell my ex was putting me through, no matter how hard I tried or how far I ran.
Maybe a remote Amazonian tribe was willing to take me in. I probably wouldn’t last long in the jungle, but at least they could eat me when I died.
I sighed, looked at the eggs in the jug, and headed to take a shower.
I wasn’t so hungry anymore.
***
By the time I was done with my shower, my need for food eclipsed my desire to cook. I abandoned my egg mix down the sink, put the bacon back in the fridge, and pulled my wet hair into a braid that hung over one shoulder before I grabbed all my things and headed for my car.
Even though going out was the last thing I really wanted to do right now, I got into my car and used a passing space in the dirt road outside the beach house to turn around. The diner was only mere minutes from here, and I felt like a familiar face was what I needed right now.
I drove past Theo’s house and turned onto the road that was even worse than the one I’d just been on. If I made it out of Creek Keys without getting new tires on my car, it would be a damn miracle.
Finally, after far too long, I made it off the rocky, stony road and onto the regular road that would lead me straight to the diner.
Thank God.
I was ten seconds away from a puncture.
Minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot outside the diner and parked up. It was busier than yesterday, but not overtly so. I guess I was too early for the lunch rush and too late for the breakfast one.
Charity beamed the second she saw me. “Well, look who it is! Back for more food?”
My stomach rumbled, answering for me. I guess I was hungry after all. “Sounds like it.” I laughed quietly. “I just needed to get out of the house and didn’t know where else to go.”
Her mouth formed a little ‘oh’ of understanding. “Come take a seat up at the bar. Most of these people are just here havin’ themselves a coffee before they go to the beach, so don’t you worry.”