“So what are you going to give me?”
He gives me a look that says I’ve lost my mind. “Eight grand not enough?”
“But I’m going to owe you one!” Shaking his head, he starts to walk away, and I trot after him. “Hey, why don’t you help me with car shopping?”
“Because I have better things to do.”
“If you’re with me, no sleazy salesman’s going to try to rip me off. Please? What if they try to sell me a lemon?”
He comes to an abrupt stop. I almost bump into him, but catch myself in time. He turns and levels his gaze on me. “Call my assistant.”
“Thanks, Dane. You’re the best.”
“Not bad for a reptile, I know.”
I choke, unable to decide if he’s joking from his absolutely flat, emotionless delivery. I swear I’ve never called him that when he could hear. Before I can recover, he climbs into his Lamborghini and leaves.
I take a steadying breath and smile. I’ll call Dane a “friendlier than expected reptile” from now on.
Chapter Eight
Elizabeth
Two days pass before Dominic calls. I’m only in town because I delayed my trip…on the off chance that he’d call.
“Forty-eight hours,” I say, half teasing, half serious.
“I know,” he says with a soft sigh. “I would’ve called yesterday, but my sister caught me and insisted I had to wait three days.”
“Three?”
“One apparently makes you desperate. Four makes you uncaring.”
“Do people still believe that sort of thing?” Three would have meant I was on a plane to Tuscany.
“I guess. She told me while rolling her eyes in that superior ‘I know stuff, and you don’t’ way.”
“What did she think about you calling me after only two days?”
He makes his voice higher. “‘Nobody calls after two.’”
I laugh.
“I would’ve called anyway, but she hid my phone.”
“Your sister’s a riot.” The timing’s worked out pretty well, too. Dane’s assistant sent over a used green Civic. She said it’s a popular car among college kids who want good gas mileage and reliability.
“Still, it’s a good thing you decided to call. I wouldn’t have been in town if you’d called tomorrow.” I wouldn’t push back my departure date again for nothing. “I don’t think we had a typical beginning, and whatever ‘relationship rules’ girly rags advocate don’t apply to us… Don’t you think?”
“Yup.”
Then Dominic asks me out, wanting to know where I live so he can pick me up.
Oh.
That complicates things. I can’t exactly ask him to come get me from Uncle Salazar’s mansion after buying a Civic.
At some point, I’ll have to tell him. But not right now. I enjoy being with him simply as a regular girl he met during his shift. Too many guys I meet catalogue who I’m connected to, what kind of pull I have with wealthy families, and what I can do for them if they play me right. When I drink, they don’t keep an eye on me to make sure I’m all right. They do it to see when I’ll get intoxicated enough to agree to anything they suggest.