“Four days ago. The day I moved in. Why?”
Four days. Damn it. If he’d called ahead, none of this would be happening. If he’d let his family know he was coming home as soon as he’d gotten the invitation from Tyler, this place would’ve been empty and waiting for him. Just him. The sweet brunette and her backpack full of bills would have kept on going instead of moving into his closets and barging into his bathroom. But he hadn’t called. He’d wanted to surprise them, and instead, he was the one surprised, and now he’d be stuck with this woman, because unless things had changed since the last time he talked to Tyler, there was no way in hell his mother would still have that rent money.
“What’s your name again?” He couldn’t remember for the pounding in his skull, and since she was leaning toward this side of hot, thinking of her as The Girl Scout seemed kind of raunchy.
Her hesitation was subtle but her unease was clearly growing. “Elaine Masters. From Miami. So how is it that you own this house but didn’t know your own mother had rented it out?”
“My grandfather died last year and left this place to me, but this is the first chance I’ve had to come home. Work keeps me out of the country most of the time. Last I’d heard, my brother was living here.” He started looking for the bread again, more to give himself something to do. He’d be able to think more clearly if he wasn’t gazing into those baby blues of hers. And right now he needed to think. And pray his mother hadn’t gambled away that money.
“What kind of work?” She stepped forward and opened a cabinet, pointing at the bread.
He took it with a nod of silent thanks as he pulled the loaf from the shelf. “Cinematography.”
She slammed the cabinet door so hard the hinges rattled. “Cinematography? You mean, like, a videographer?”
He hadn’t said arms dealer or evil scientist, but her instant scowl suggested he had. “Yeah, sort of. Ever heard of One Man, One Planet?”
“Yes.” Her answer was clipped, her lips pressed into a tight line after she spoke.
He pointed at his chest with his thumb. “Director of photography and coproducer until a few days ago when I quit.”
It felt good to say that. He’d quit. Not because he was running away from the mess of Blake and Miranda, but because he wanted to move forward toward his own plans.
“Do you spend much time in LA?” She sounded more like she was asking if he’d ever been convicted, or just arrested.
“Not if I can help it. I don’t like Los Angeles.”
“Why?”
He took two slices of bread from the bag and set them on a plate. “It’s soulless. I spent a lot of time there when I was first starting out but the fake got to me pretty quickly. Glad to put that town in my rearview mirror.”
The wind howled outside, a lonely moan that rattled the windows. A draft from under the door wafted across his bare feet, and he tried to recall the last time he’d been cold. Blake didn’t like to shiver on camera, so they tended to shoot where it was warm, and Grant had forgotten what a winter in Bell Harbor was like. Now he was starting to remember why he’d avoided them.
“So now you’re back in Bell Harbor to do what? Stay? Pass through?”
Clearly his motives were suspect to this woman, but why, he could not imagine. He wasn’t the one traveling around with stacks of cash stuffed into a bag.
“I’m here for a while. Like I said, I just quit my job, so things are a little up in the air for me.” He found the peanut butter in another cabinet and went back to the refrigerator for the jelly. Elaine had retreated to the edge of the kitchen, eyeing him with a new wariness. It made him feel as if he was being unreasonable, and wrong somehow. But this situation wasn’t his fault. Then again, it wasn’t hers either. This problem was Donna’s.
“Look,” he said as he spread some jelly on the bread, “I’m a nice guy, and I’m a tired guy. I’m going to eat this sandwich and go to bed. If you want to spend the night here, that’s fine. Or you can go to a hotel. Either way, I’ll try to get your money back tomorrow. OK?”
He hadn’t counted the stacks in that backpack, but there was certainly enough to keep her comfortable someplace besides his house, still he wasn’t some asshole who’d insist she leave tonight, especially in this brutal weather. He glanced up at her and thought he saw her dash away a tear, but she blinked fast and looked out the window as if evaluating her options.