Coldhearted Boss(48)

“Do you like them?” I ask as I turn in a circle in the center of the room, trying to catch sight of myself in the bathroom mirror. “I can’t tell. Are they too short?”

He’s on his bunk, shirtless, reading. One arm is folded behind his head, the other holding the paperback up on his hard stomach.

“That depends. Who’re you trying to attract?”

His lazy words drip with disinterest and seem to hint that the “who” in that question definitely won’t be him.

I roll my eyes and head for the door, needing air. I seem to be starved for it lately.

Just before I step out onto the porch, Ethan’s voice cuts through the air.

“Don’t wear those shorts around the camp,” he says sharply, like the authoritative tyrant he is.

I’m just going for a short walk nearby, but he doesn’t need to know that.

I smile as the door claps closed behind me.





The following evening, I ask politely to borrow Ethan’s phone. I haven’t reached McKenna or my mom since the last time he let me borrow it and I’d like to make sure my mom got the check I mailed home. Again, Ethan says I can use it, but I only have as long as it takes him to shower. Truly, he wouldn’t know chivalry if it bit him in the ass.

“Fine, but make sure to wash every nook and cranny,” I say sweetly.

He grumbles something I can’t hear and then shuts the door. Thank God. If he started doing what I do, leaving that door cracked even an inch…well, a girl only has so much willpower.

I don’t dillydally once he’s in the bathroom. I sit down at the desk and call my mom, knees bouncing while it rings. She answers and I nearly explode with longing to be there with her.

“Mom, it’s me, Taylor,” I say, unsure if she saved Ethan’s number to her phone the last time I called.

“Taylor!” She leans away and shouts, “McKenna! Taylor’s on the phone!” Then she’s talking to me again. “How are you? I tried calling you all day yesterday but it never went through. I hate that I can hardly get in touch with you while you’re out there. It makes me worry.”

“Did you tell her we got the check?” McKenna asks in the background.

Relief floods through me. “So you got it then?”

“Put it in the bank on Monday. Couldn’t have come at a better time. I wasn’t sure how we were going to buy groceries this week.”

Guilt cuts like a knife. Here, in the mess hall, I have more food than I know what to do with most of the time. I feel bad that I can’t send some back to them.

“Good. So you bought some groceries and stuff? Was there much left over? Any for the car?”

“Well, there would have been had there not been a stack of overdue bills. I figured I better pay the electric and water company before they shut off service. Then there was health insurance, and McKenna’s doctor has her on a new prescription—”

“I told you I didn’t need it! My old inhaler worked fine,” McKenna protests, never one to be a burden.

“No, Mom, that’s fine. Really.” I don’t let on how disappointed I am that we’re no closer to getting the car out of the shop. “Her medicine is more important. I’ll get another paycheck in two weeks and another after that.”

“Are you liking it out there? Listen, I know it’s good money, but I don’t want you doing anything that makes you unhappy. From what Jeremy was telling us, it sounds like they’ve got you stuck out in the middle of nowhere. No hot water even!?”

I laugh. “Mom, it’s really not bad, I swear.”

She doesn’t reply.

“I mean it!” I insist. “It’s actually kind of nice.”

Still no answer. I pull the phone away from my face and realize with a roll of my eyes that the call dropped.

Of course. Even with his signal booster, Ethan’s phone isn’t completely immune to the crappy cell reception out here.

Suddenly the phone rings in my hand and I answer it immediately, bringing it to my ear.

“Mom, sorry. The call dropped.”

“Oh, hi!”

The voice that replies is much softer and more youthful than my mother’s.

My eyes widen as I look down at the phone and realize I accidentally answered a call from Isla. ISLA.

Oh god. My finger hovers over the red END button but she speaks up again, nearly shouting.

“Please don’t hang up on me! Hello?!”

I pause, completely paralyzed with indecision. I feel bad. I don’t want to hang up on her, so I quickly explain, “Hi, sorry. This isn’t Ethan, obviously. I’m just using his phone for a second.”

She laughs and it’s playful, not enraged. Odd considering if a strange woman answered my boyfriend’s phone, my first reaction would not be light giggles.

“I know you’re not Ethan. It might come as a surprise, but you sound nothing like him. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you.” I nearly smile as she continues. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with him all week. God, he’s bad at answering his phone lately. Anyway, who are you?”

“Ethan’s assistant.”

“Of course! The pretty one!”

I frown, confused.

She hurries to continue, “Ethan hasn’t told me what you look like or anything. Don’t freak out. I just assumed you were pretty because of your voice. Are you? Pretty?”