I supposed that made sense. It would be bad to run into a strange man in the dark. Sometimes, it was hard to do that in the day too. The lights had been on in my trailer.
“Thanks for doing this. I really don’t want to put you out.”
“Maci…” He said my name on a sigh. “You’re not a burden. You’re this really interesting person that has completely stolen our attention and made us all suddenly want to hold you. I can’t explain it, and I find I’m good with the uncertainty of it. Come on.”
He put his arm around me again, and we walked the hallways of his huge, cold house in silence. It wasn’t that the temperature was chilly. No, it was the atmosphere. There was nothing that spoke of anyone actually living in the ginormous space. No paintings. Nothing. Even my trailer had some posters on the wall my mother liked and a picture of the two of us with lollipops when I was eight years old.
There was nothing here but dark, outdated furniture with torn cushions lining the hallways and the sounds of our footsteps as we crossed the hallways. Eventually, we found our way to his room. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find my way there again if I had to without help.
Caesar’s room couldn’t have been more different than the rest of the mansion. It was bright, well lit. The bed was made, his blue comforter and white pillows neatly presented like he’d taken time to make the bed. On the walls, he’d taped up pencil sketches of all kinds of things. I lost my interest in anything else and walked over to examine them.
People who could draw amazed me. I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body. Horses. Landscapes. The ocean. People. Most of the faces he’d drawn I recognized from the hallways at school, but some were strangers.
“Maci…” His voice trailed off. “I…”
He didn’t finish because I came to the one that stopped me short. It was me. I looked to the side in the depiction, toward something away from view.
“That’s me.” I turned to look at him. “You did this recently?”
“Yesterday.” He walked to me. “I hope that’s not weird. I…I didn’t think you’d ever see it, and I didn’t remember until just now that it was here.”
I grinned at him. How was I to explain…? I’d never thought myself important enough to ever be captured in a drawing like that. “It’s beautiful. Much prettier than me. But thank you. I…I’m touched you took the time.”
He took it off the wall and stared at it for a second. “I actually don’t think I did you justice.” Caesar crossed to the desk in the corner of the room and opened a drawer. “I keep the ones I do of my friends in here. You’ll be in there too, but I may try again, to get you right.”
“I can’t draw. Not at all. Thank you.”
Caesar waved his hand. “Don’t think of it again. I…I mean, that should have been more embarrassing than it was. I actually liked you looking at what I drew.”
“Do you want to be an artist? I think you’re really talented.” I stepped toward him. “I think…I think people would like to see what you do.”
His smile fell. “It doesn’t really matter what I want, actually. There is a future lined up for me that I’m not getting away from. I suspect I won’t have time for drawing. Anyway, thank you. I really like that you feel that way.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. It sounded like he shared a future with Tanner, who couldn’t be a rock star. I didn’t have much, but at least my dreams were my own and not taken from me by an outlined future. Or maybe they were? Poverty had the tendency to keep people right where they were born in life.
“Is there some place I could shower?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Yes, of course. There. Yes, go rinse away the day. Good idea. Um, so I made an air mattress on the floor.”
I looked down. Yes, that would do nicely. Better than anything else I could have hoped for. In truth, it was the size of my regular bed.
“Great. Thank you.” I turned and headed toward the bathroom. I had to find my equilibrium and get the feel of that man’s hands off my body. Was it possible to have someone’s grip implanted on you cellularly, so that you never stopped feeling it? I shuddered and pushed the thought out of my mind. This has just been a long day. Rowan is right—someday, it will just be a memory. All things eventually became memories, if we were lucky enough to live through them.
I was getting way too philosophical. The shower was huge, with three showerheads, and it took me a good minute to figure out how to work it. Considering how old the rest of the house seemed, the shower seemed downright modern. They’d clearly updated the bathrooms at some point.
Quickly, I took off my clothes and stepped under the spray. We hadn’t thought to grab any of my own products, so I hoped Caesar didn’t mind me using his. I wasn’t going to impose on him too much. Tonight was one thing, but I’d have to go back tomorrow. There was only so much time I could spend living in his house with him, considering he really just started talking to me. Whatever this affection thing we had for each other was, it was bound to go away sooner rather than later.
Nice, sweet things had a tendency to die in my presence. I let the hot water push at me until I couldn’t think about anything but the steam and how my body sort of tingled when I touched it with his soap. I took a deep smell of the body wash as I applied it. I’d seen the brand on the shelves—even put it there myself, stocking after hours when no one was there in the store—but never smelled it before. It was a woodsy scent. Perfect for Caesar and probably strange on me, but it would do for the moment.
I couldn’t spend all night in the shower, so I hurried to get through a modified routine and came out, grabbing one of the towels stacked neatly on a shelf. So far, he was neat, like me. Things had a place, and that was where they got put.
Toweling off, I took a look at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess and I didn’t have my brush, which meant it would air dry and curl, and not in a good way. I regularly blew my hair straight. It was all I did, really, since I had no time for makeup. I loved how other women could make their curls behave. Mine seemed to laugh at me when I tried. Tomorrow, I would buy some hair elastics at work and braid it as fast as I could.
The thought reminded me that I had to set my alarm and figure out how I was getting to work, since I’d left my car at home. Ace said he’d bring me. I grabbed my phone and sent him a text.
Are you sure it’s not a problem to bring me to work tomorrow? I have to be there at eleven.
A text came back fast. None. I’ll be at C’s by 10.
Ace was sweet. Thank you. I owe you all major favors.
No, you don’t, Maci. See you then.
I looked at a clock. It was almost one in the morning. Where had all the time gone? Had I really been home so long? I shook my head. Tonight was weird, and that was saying a lot. With that as my last obsession, I hoped, I pulled my night clothes out of my backpack. Griffin had picked out royal blue boxer shorts and a white tank top. I smiled. I actually didn’t wear these two items together.
Usually, if I wore the shorts, it was with a really big flannel shirt over them. Or the tank top with a big pair of men’s pajama pants. He sort of mixed and matched, considering they had been folded together. It was such a guy thing to do—to make my pjs more visually appealing.