I smooth a stray lock of brown hair into my ponytail, feeling very plain next to her. "That's me. You must be Regan Porter."
"You're so cute! Not what I imagined at all." She examines me with an excited look on her face. "But…I hate to ask. You sure you're not pulling my leg about how old you are?"
"I'm twenty-one," I say, pulling out my identification card. It's not a driver's license; that would have involved Father letting me leave the house for longer than an hour at a time. I make a mental note that I need to learn how to drive in this new life.
She takes the card from me and nods. "Sorry. I just had to ask. You have this…I don't know. You look younger than I thought." She squints at me. "Or just sweeter, I guess. Anyhow, how's it going?" Her enthusiasm is back, and she waves a hand at me. "Don't just stand there. Come on in!”
I enter the apartment, clutching my wallet to my chest, and look around. It's a tiny apartment, easily a quarter the size of my father's house. The walls are grimy and there are cracks in the corners, but the back wall has three enormous windows that give a view of the city, and I'm pleased to see that they're wide open. Sunlight pours in, shining on scuffed wooden floors. There are posters of horror movies up on the walls, and a futon for a couch. There's a folding chair off to one side and an ugly coffee table.
I love it.
"I know it's not much to look at, but I'm slowly furnishing by hitting estate sales," Regan says to me with a grin. "It'll get there."
"It's just fine," I say enthusiastically. "I love it."
She laughs. "Well, you're not hard to convince. So Pollyanna of you. I like that. Come on. I'll show you the rest of the place."
The bathroom is little more than a closet with an ancient tub and a toilet. My room isn't much bigger, but there is a bed, an old dresser—courtesy of Regan's last roomie who'd moved out—and a nightstand with a lamp on it. There is also a window. I move to the window and glance out. It faces the street and a building across the way. I don't care what the view is as long as it has one.
"So, what do you think? Like I said, your share of the rent is four hundred, due on the first, and that includes all utilities paid. It's not a great place, but it's pretty central to everything, which is good if you don't have a car. Do you?"
I shake my head. "I don't."
"Like I said in the ad, my boyfriend stays here a lot. If that bothers you, this might not be the apartment for you. My last roomie couldn't handle it, so she left." She shrugs her shoulders, unapologetic. "Just putting that out there up front so there's no misunderstandings."
"I don't mind." I don't care if she has three boyfriends.
"There's a laundry room down in the basement if you want to wash clothes." She eyes me curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, where are your clothes?"
I don't have any bags with me. "I…left them at the farm." I know I must seem weird to her.
"Fresh start, huh?" She pats me on the shoulder and then rubs my arm. "I know how that goes."
I nod, feeling a lump in my throat. Fresh start, indeed.
Other Titles
Other titles by Jessica Clare
The Billionaire Boys Club
Stranded with a Billionaire
Beauty and the Billionaire
The Wrong Billionaire's Bed
Once Upon a Billionaire
The Games Novels
Wicked Games
Playing Games
Ice Games
Bedroom Games
The Bluebonnet Novels
The Girl's Guide to (Man) Hunting
The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male
The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild
The Virgin's Guide to Misbehaving
Other titles by Jen Frederick
Woodlands Series
Undeclared
Undressed in the anthology Snow Kissed
Unspoken
Unraveled
Last Breath
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 Jessica Clare | Jen Frederick
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduce in any fashion without the express, written consent of the copyright holder.
PEAR TREE LLC
Cover Photo © Per David Wagner, WagnerLA
Cover Design by Meljean Brook
ISBN-13: 9780991426720
First Edition: March 2014
www.jillmyles.com | www.jenfrederick.com
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