“Oh.” Before she wondered how much money Peter earned, she sent the text to the owners. Within seconds, she had their reply. “They’ll be back in fifteen minutes. They said the coffeepot’s hot if we’d like to make ourselves a drink while we’re waiting.” Katie looked around the kitchen. Not only was the coffeepot hot, but the Princeton’s had left four mugs and a plate of cookies sitting beside it. “Do you think they knew you’d want to live here?”
“Most people would want to live here. I owe your friend of a friend a big thank you.”
“Shona will be happy knowing it’s being rented by someone who appreciates the house.”
“If the owners like me.”
Katie poured two cups of coffee. “They’ll like you. You ooze confidence and don’t wear ripped jeans.”
Peter looked at his trousers. “You don’t like ripped jeans?”
“I don’t mind what people wear, but Mr. and Mrs. Princeton are in their eighties. They’d wonder if you can afford the rent if you wore scruffy clothes.”
Peter frowned and let her words settle in the silent room. “If I wasn’t a chief executive, would it matter to you?”
Katie bit her bottom lip. “No. Did you think it would?”
After he poured a cup of coffee for each of them, he leaned against the counter. “People treat me differently when they know what I do and how much I earn. A few women I’ve dated expect a certain type of lifestyle when they’re around me.”
“Well, I’m not one of those people. I like to pay my own way wherever I go.”
Peter stared at her for so long that she wondered what he was thinking. So, instead of dwelling on his job, she changed the subject. “Charlie went ice skating this morning.”
That made Peter’s eyebrows rise. “Are you talking about Diana’s dog or someone else?”
“Diana’s dog. For most of the year, he loves jumping into the lake, but he usually stays away from the ice in the winter. But, for some reason, he decided to run onto the frozen lake this morning. He must have seen a rabbit or something. Diana thought he’d fall through the ice, but he came back.”
“That must have given her a fright?”
“It did. She bought him a different harness so he doesn’t run off like that again. Do you want to look in the garage while we’re here?”
Peter sent her an amused smile. “I don’t need to see it.”
“Oh. What about the laundry and mudroom? They’re important, especially in the winter.”
“If they’re anything like the rest of the house, they’ll be more than okay. Just so you know, I earn more than six hundred thousand dollars a year. I reinvest most of that money into my company.”
Katie choked on her drink.
Peter grabbed a paper towel off the counter and handed it to her. “Are you okay?”
“Not really.” She gasped as her lungs started to breathe air instead of drowning in coffee. “That’s a lot more than I earn waitressing.”
Peter frowned. “With everything that’s happening in the world, I feel like apologizing for earning that much money.”
She blew her nose and hoped she hadn’t made a complete fool of herself. “You work hard, just like everyone else. Besides, BioTech sponsors a lot of community programs.”
“You know about them?”
For a moment, Katie wondered what she’d said wrong. Peter looked so shocked that she regretted saying anything. “It’s on your company’s website. You gave away millions of dollars last year.”
Peter sighed. “We did.”
“You don’t like talking about that, either?”
“It’s not that. I’d asked Pastor—”
“Hello. We’re home.”
