“Yeah, I know, but acquiring more knowledge is never a bad thing.”
“True.” Elsie absently twisted the ring on her index finger. I’d noticed it was something she did when she was nervous or in thought. Considering the offer I was about to make her, it was nice to know that I’d learned at least a few real things about her.
“So, you think you can help me find a place?” she asked. “I know safety comes at a premium, and I’m willing to pay it.”
“You might not have to.” What the fuck are you doing? “I think I know of the perfect place for you. There isn’t a safer neighborhood in the city, and you’re in luck because it’s empty at the moment, so you could move in whenever you wanted to. It’s got two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and the property it’s on has a ton of amenities. There’s a pool, a hot tub, a wet bar, a gym, and even a wine cellar, though you’d have to make nice with the owner to get access to that.”
She sat up straighter, eyes widening. “It sounds like it would cost a fortune, but I’m definitely interested. When can we go have a look at it?”
“Right now if you want to. It also doesn’t cost nearly as much as you’re probably imagining it would.”
“We could really go today?” Skepticism crept into her voice. “What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch. Let’s get some food. Then I’ll take you.” I grinned at her, but my mind was exploding with questions I couldn’t answer.
What I had just done was completely and utterly insane, and I had no idea why I’d done it. There was just something about this girl that fucking got to me.
The way she’d said the most important thing was for her to be safe, combined with her speech last night about just wanting to help people, had flipped some kind of primitive switch deep inside me. It brought out a part of me that wanted to keep her safe, to help the person who was dedicating her life to helping others. I’d also remembered what she’d said about that cottage the other day at the open house, and it just so happened that I knew of an even better cottage that was available.
It was crazy and completely unlike me, but what was done was done.
“You’ll take me?” she asked. “Like, you want me to go there with you in your car?”
“Sure. Why not? It would be stupid to take two cars when we could both fit into one. If we’re supposed to consider the environment before printing an email, I’m pretty sure we have to do the same thing before driving.”
“I don’t really know you.” Another ring twist as her teeth sank into her lips. “But you want me to drive with you and to go to a house with you alone? One that I don’t know the address of?”
It took me a second to realize what she was saying, and my jaw practically hit the table when I did. “Trust me. I have way more to lose than you think I do if I tried anything with you.” Like my mom cutting off my balls with a blunt butter knife, for one. “But if it makes you feel better, I’ll give you the address and you can text it to whoever you want.”
Her eyes darted between mine, but then she sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go.”
Elsie didn’t look entirely convinced that it was a good idea, but at least she’d agreed. God, what was she going to do when she figured out that there was a catch to this place, and more specifically, was she going to run for the hills when she realized what it was?
Chapter 13
Elsie
The community Taydom drove me to after lunch was like something out of a novel. There was a heavy iron gate that guarded the entrance with some kind of intricate-looking crest on it. A security hut sat next to the gate in front of the thirty-foot-high walls that seemed to go on for miles on both sides of it.
Walls covered in ivy made the neighborhood look like some kind of country estate, and that alone immediately made me fall a little bit in love with it. I tried to imagine pulling up to this gate every day, knowing it was welcoming me home, and almost moaned out loud.
Taydom glanced at me as he pulled to a stop in front of it, a smug smile spreading on his lips. “Like what you see so far?”
“I love it.”
I didn’t see him press a button, nor did I see a guard, but the gate started sliding open without anyone questioning us. I arched an eyebrow at him, suddenly not so impressed by the amazing security.
“Does it open for anyone who parks here?”
“No.” He scoffed. “Getting access to this community requires just about everything short of a blood sample.”
“Then why did it open for you?”
“Magic.” He smirked and wiggled his fingers for effect before wrapping them around his steering wheel again and gunning it through the gate.
Behind the walls, the neighborhood was just as beautiful as it had appeared to me from the outside. The street we drove down was lined with trees that provided a dense canopy overhead. Kids cycled without a care in the world and waved at Taydom as we passed.
“Do you know them?”
“Nah.” He flicked his indicator on. “But people are friendly here.”
Houses started appearing once we were farther into the community, and they were exactly what I would have imagined manor houses to look like. There were no walls or fences, only impressive buildings with perfectly manicured lawns and hedges separating one property from the next.
“Is this an older community?”
He nodded. “It was one of the first upmarket neighborhoods that was developed as a gated community from the get-go. Most people who buy here stay in here until they’re carried out feet first.”
“And you said it wasn’t expensive.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. “This is beautiful, and it’s everything anyone could want safety-wise, but there’s no way I can afford it.”
“Trust me. You can.” He kept talking up the neighborhood as we passed through it. “As I’m not sure you noticed, we’re almost adjacent to Bishop’s Hollow. You mentioned the career opportunities there were good, so I figured you’d want to stay close by, even if the Hollow itself wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah, I’d love to.” I liked hearing him talk like this.
At first, I’d been a little freaked out about the prospect of driving with him alone and going to a house where no one knew I would be going, but the truth was that I felt safe with him.
My concern hadn’t really had anything to do with Taydom as an individual anyway. I’d never gotten a threatening or creepy vibe from him, but in general, I was wary of strangers. It might’ve sounded like more of a kid problem, but Mom had drilled it so deep into me how to take care of myself that I remained on high alert.
Now that she was no longer around and I was alone in the world, except for Beth, it seemed even more important that I didn’t make any decisions that could put me in danger. Mom would never forgive me if I did.
Maybe I was a bit of a scaredy cat, but I had no one else to look out for me. I had to look out for myself, and even though Taydom was apparently rich and famous in these parts, I didn’t know him.
Listening to him speak now, I realized it was silly of me to have been worried at all. It had been a knee-jerk reaction and not one he’d deserved. He was super professional and pointed out key points of the area to me until we reached what appeared to be the back of the community.