“OH MY GOD. THIS IS amazing.” Eden’s eyes went wide as she turned in a circle in the courtyard.
“Charlie called it her garden oasis, and she and Huck were very happy here.” Harriet sounded wistful about missing her one-time tenant. Her normally steel-gray hair was teal, pink, and purple, like that mermaid look girls who came into Voodoo rocked. It wasn’t exactly what you expected on a woman heading toward seventy. But then again, Harriet was one of a kind.
“Huck?” Eden asked.
“Charlie’s dog. He’s a big bastard. You’ll have to meet him one of these days,” Harriet explained. “Well, I guess you’ll do, girl. If you have any questions, just let me know. I’m downstairs most of the time, and I’ll leave a note on the back door if I leave the country unexpectedly.”
She leaned in closer and added in a whisper, “Sometimes I have to dodge the Feds. They’re always watching.”
Eden’s face paled, and Harriet laughed. “Just kidding. Mostly. You can slide the rent under the door whenever you feel like it. I’m not too fussy on what day you get it to me.”
“Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.” Eden’s voice was quiet, but Harriet waved off the thanks.
“Ha. You need to thank this guy here. Probably owe him a few sexual favors too.”
She sent me a wicked grin, and I choked out a cough when the sheet-white color of Eden’s face was replaced with burning red. This was Harriet being true-to-filterless form.
“I don’t just open up this place for everyone,” she said, “especially on short notice. I’ve been having the cleaning girl keep it up just in case Charlie needed to run away from Simon for a night. But that hasn’t happened, so someone might as well enjoy it.”
“Well, thank you all the same.”
“No problem, dear. Now, I’m off to the opera tonight. I’ll be going home with a certain gentleman who knows his way around the clitoris, so don’t wait up.” Harriet turned away and readjusted the champagne bottle cradled in her arm before disappearing inside.
Eden looked at me, her face even redder than before. “Well . . . she’s a character.”
“That’s one way to describe it.” I shook my head to get rid of the mental picture of Harriet getting down with some old dude. “You need anything else before I take off? I gotta get back to work.”
“No.” She looked up at me with something in her eyes I hadn’t ever seen before. “But I really appreciate this. So much. I don’t know how I can ever really thank you. First the hotel, and then this. Most people wouldn’t put themselves out for someone they don’t know.”
It wasn’t just gratitude staring back at me, it was . . . awe. Almost . . . hero worship.
But I wasn’t a fucking hero even on my best day, and having her look at me like that made me realize all the things I wasn’t and never would be.
My reply came out gruffer than I intended. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t owe me shit. Just stay out of trouble.”
A little of the awe fell away, and I had to tell myself I didn’t care, even as disappointment slid into its place.
“I’m sorry to cause so much trouble.” Eden wrapped her arms around herself in what I was coming to realize was one of her protective gestures. “I’ll be fine. Thank you again.”
A mask of absolutely fucking nothing slipped over her features. The words sounded final, like I wouldn’t be seeing her again, and it would probably be a hell of a lot better if I didn’t.
But if that were the case, why did it feel like a rock had been dropped in my gut?
Street after street, I kicked myself for not handling every encounter I had with Eden better. She threw me completely off-balance and made me want to be more than what I’d become—which didn’t make any fucking sense because I didn’t even know her.
But you want to know her.
That voice spoke the truth, even if I didn’t want to admit it.
She was keeping secrets, and if she were anyone else, I wouldn’t care. Wouldn’t bother to dig. But for some reason, I wanted to know what was hiding behind those layers of innocence that kept drawing me in.
And it pissed me off. Because this wasn’t me. Besides, how could I demand answers from her when there was no way in hell I’d be sharing the shit from my past with anyone? Outside of Delilah, I’d kept it locked down for years and wouldn’t be changing that anytime soon.
I was a block from Canal when my cell rang, ripping me out of my impending trip down memory lane. Leon’s name popped up on the screen.
“What’s going on, man?”
“Damn, Bish. Were you trying to cost me my job? What the hell?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your girl that threw the card down for that room I kept for you? Her card got flagged for fraud and she skipped out without paying for the extra night she stayed that wasn’t comped. Just straight-up fucking bailed, according to my manager. Didn’t even check out.”
“What the fuck? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“I’ll make sure you get paid. I’ll cover it if I have to, and I’m sure as hell going to find out what happened.” The anger burning through me came out in my voice.
“You can pay me back since it’s coming out of my paycheck. My manager was talking about turning it over to the police, and I told him it was my mistake. I’m lucky he didn’t fucking fire me.”
“Man, I’m sorry I brought that shit to your door. I’ll make it right. I’ll get you the cash, and your next sitting is on me.”
“You don’t have to do that. Just promise me you’ll teach that bitch a lesson.” Leon’s voice dropped low. “Let me know if you want me to handle it.”
A shaft of protectiveness shot through me regardless of how fucking pissed I was at what Eden had done—and not bothered to mention.
“Not a fucking chance will you ever lay a hand on her. You’ll get your money, and if you want the sitting, it’s yours for the inconvenience. Leave her out of it.”
“All right, all right. Sorry, Bish. Didn’t know it was like that. Figured you’d be done with the bitch by now. By the way, Kitty was pissed that you tossed her ass out. Ain’t gonna get another shot at that.”
“I’ll talk to you later, man.” I didn’t bother to wait for his reply before I hung up.
I couldn’t give a fuck less about Kitty right now. I wanted to turn around and go back to Eden’s new place and shake the truth out of her. Shit wasn’t adding up. Was that innocence she wore like her pink fucking sweaters just a front? Was she running some kind of con?
I hadn’t been played in years, and I couldn’t believe some naive girl had done it.
Why would she bail on the hotel bill but shell out money for rent? None of it added up, but you’d better believe I was going to get to the truth somehow.
I checked the time. If I didn’t have an appointment in ten minutes, I’d be back beating down her door for some answers.
She couldn’t be that good of an actress. I could smell a con a mile away, thanks to my younger years, and Eden didn’t give off a hint of that vibe.
I turned it over and over in my mind all the way back to the shop, and through my whole appointment. Fuck it . . . I’d be going back tonight.