Page 138 of Nobody's Girl

Cait was wondering what he was up to. She placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight. “I don’t need your help, thank you very much.”

Moving around her like a cat stalking its prey, he said, “I think you do. I think you need my help very much. You have to admit, it’d help your father out tremendously if I settled your debts. Don’t you want that for him?”

She gulped as Phoenix circled her then stopped in front of her, taking her by the chin, making her look into his eyes. Cait was on the verge of telling him the truth. The only thing keeping her from blurting it all out was the fact that he was hanging on to his secret too.

“My father wouldn’t want me accepting that kind of money from a man.”

“But a husband, he surely would,” Phoenix said then smiled.

“What are you getting at, Phoenix?” she asked him, as she knew he didn’t want to marry her. And she didn’t want to marry him. It was all too soon, and there were lies in their way.

A loud popping sound made them both jump and Phoenix ran outside to see what was making the noise. Cait followed, and the two found one of the tanks had a small lid that was blowing up as each pop sounded. “I need to make a phone call,” Phoenix said. “We should get out of here.”

Hurrying to the truck, Cait climbed in on her own so they could get out of there faster. Phoenix got in the driver’s side and pulled out his phone as he pulled away from the area. “Why do you think it’s doing that, Phoenix?”

“I have no idea.” He gave her a look that told her more than he’d been telling her.

“You’ve never stayed out here, have you?” she asked him with a frown. “You’re trying to make me think this is what you want, but it’s not, is it?”

“Um, uh.” He had no idea what to tell her. He drove away from the smell and the noise that he knew damn good and well he never wanted to live around. And suddenly he felt he had to open up and be honest with the young woman. “Let me make this call to the oil company and then you and I are going to have a long talk.”

Cait nodded and leaned her head against the headrest. It seemed they were finally going to get to the truth. Or so she hoped.

Chapter 32

After a long day of visiting with Ethan’s fake family, although Kel was unaware of that fact, she was tired and ready for bed. Ethan walked her down a long hallway where many pictures lined the walls. “And who’s this?” she asked about a lovely young woman in a black and white photo, framed in gold.

“Um,” he mumbled, as he had no idea who any of the people were in any of the photos. The fact was, he was growing tired of the charade. Kel had been the epitome of class as she handled the shenanigans the acting troupe put her through. “Not sure about that one, love.”

Kel stopped and turned to face him. “How’s that, Ethan? I have to tell you that I feel like something’s not quite right here.”

He gulped and felt a weight on his back the likes of which he’d never known before. Taking her hand, he led her into one of the bedrooms. “I think I can finally be honest with you, Kel, seeing as I have you too far away for you to grow furious enough with me that you’d run out and hide away from me.”

She sat on the bed, watching him as he began to pace with a slightly nervous expression on his handsome face. “Be honest. I never run from honesty, Ethan.”

He laughed with an oddly loud and abrupt sound. “Oh, I think you’ll be pretty mad at me, my love.”

“I’ll hold my temper.” Kel got up and put her arms around him. “You can be honest with me.”

He stroked her soft cheek and looked into her eyes. “I think I can, but I’m still afraid you’ll end this.”

“And why would I end something this nice?” she asked him, then leaned her head to rest on his broad chest. “Just tell me. You really can tell me anything.”

Taking her hands, he held her away from him. “Take a seat.”

She did as he’d said to and sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay, spill it, Ethan.”

“My friends and I overheard you and your sisters talking about something that has us all doing some kind of crazy things to you girls.” He began to pace again, putting his hands behind his back as he weighed what he wanted to say.

Kel held her temper, but the fact was that she was getting irate that this was the thing he wanted to be honest about and not the bet he and his friends had. “You and your friends are doing crazy things to me and my sisters, Ethan. Please go on. And what did you hear us talking about?”

Ethan stopped and leveled his eyes on Kel. She looked so small and innocent as she sat on the bed, waiting for his explanation. “Marriage, Kel. Marriage and how you three plan to get us all to marry you and pay your damn bills.” His face was turning red as he grew angry.

Kel’s face began to turn red too. “Anything else you’d like to be honest about, Ethan?”

“These people aren’t my family. I hired them to play the role. I wanted you to think I came from looneys and stop trying to get me to marry you. I actually come from good stock. No Americans are in the mix at all. And no mental illness, either. I’m not proud of what I did. And I wanted you to know that. I want us to be honest with one another. Would you like to confess now?”