Was he serious? One look at me, and his WASP parents would freak. Men like Cole did not date Reginas. They dated women like Lucy Litt, and had pretty blond babies who went to Sunday School.
Who was I kidding? Cole and I weren’t dating. This was a blackmail situation, even if it did involve sex. He wouldn’t be taking me home to his parents.
I sighed. “Never mind. So you’ll handle the bills. I’ll stay at your house and cook and clean. Play house like your little wifey.” I glanced over to see if he liked the sound of that.
“Good,” he said neutrally as we pulled back into his driveway. “It’ll keep you out of trouble.”
* * *
At the house,Cole made me sit down and tell him all my bills. There was a lot more red than black on some of them.
I tallied what I owed Mr. Roberts on a separate sheet.
Cole looked it over while I tried to hide my tears.
He noticed them anyway. “You didn’t want to steal from him.”
“I had to. They were going to take mom out of the program, if I didn’t pay the minimum deductible.”
“It never occurred to you to ask for help?”
“There was no one to ask.”
“Mr. Roberts?”
“He’d already given me enough.”
“Someone in the community, then?”
“I hadn’t been to church in a long while. I wasn’t really welcome there.”
“There had to be someone.”
“No.” I stared at my lap. Did I really need to explain that my family wasn’t like his? We didn’t have money or connections or invites to the annual Policeman’s Ball, a small but powerful gathering of the Who’s Who of Licking Hole.
Cole pulled out a handkerchief (of course, he had a handkerchief) and wiped my eyes. I felt truly broken.
“Someday,” he murmured, “you’re going to realize you’re worth helping.”
“Cole…what am I going to do?”
“I’m going to help you. But you’re going to do everything—and I mean everything—I say.”
He took a few calls and came back to me wringing my hands.
“This isn’t going to work. You, me—I don’t even know what you want from me.”
“Shhh, baby. One thing at a time.” His hand on the back of my neck quieted me. It made me feel submissive and safe at the same time. “Just relax and do as I say. Don’t think. Just think about how to please me.”
“Pleasing you?” My breath caught. My real concern about this arrangement was how much I wanted him. He wanted me to cook and clean for him? Fine I’d do it, gladly. Because being around him made my head swim. I wasn’t sure how long I could go before I screamed, “just do me, already.” Or waited until he came home one night and jumped his bones.
Working around him would be impossible. There weren’t enough changes of underwear in the world.
“I don’t know what to think about all this.”
“Then don’t think. Just be.” He massaged my neck. “Thinking is what got you in this mess. You think too much. Not that you shouldn’t think…I love how intelligent you are. But your mind is going in circles and needs a break.” His hand rubbed circles over my back. “Now calm down. I have to go to the station for a while. Are you going to sit tight and be good for me?”
I nodded.
