Page 12 of Beautiful Monster

Finally, his poker face melts into a smile. "That a girl."

Squaring my shoulders, I pull my lip from between my teeth and keep my eyes on his face, which is desperately hard when the sweat beads on his shoulders. I'm suddenly so desperate to touch it. To rub my body against it. To absorb every drop.

"Twelve, final offer," he says, and I nearly gasp. Instead, I lock a deep breath in my chest and take a drink of my soda. It's ice cold, which helps with the fire that seems to be seeping from my pores at this moment.

Finally, I reach out a hand. "Deal."

Slowly, he sets down his drink, every one of his movements so deliberate and driving me wild. He reaches forward and grasps my hand in his, squeezing just right.

"Deal."

As I walk back to my house, my thoughts are so clouded I can't react properly. Twelve. Thousand. Dollars. The keys to Alexander Caldwell's pool house. A real mural.

Fucking pinch me.

When I reach the back porch, I notice my mother in the kitchen. As I walk inside, I smell the alcohol on her breath. It's not even ten in the morning. Cadence is sitting at the table, leaning over a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," I say with a smile before my mother aims her angry eyes on me.

"Where were you?"

"I had to take something to Alexander's house."

Mom turns her face and stares at my sister with her mouth hanging open. "What is she talking about?"

Cadence shrugs.

"He bought my painting," I mumble, trying to escape the kitchen before it gets too tense.

A loud laugh echoes through the kitchen. “Gosh, I wonder why he would do that?” My mother is vicious with her words.

For some reason, I’m in the mood to fight. I want to defend him and prove to them that Alexander isn’t who they think he is—even if I have no proof or idea. So, I open my big fat mouth. "He's hiring me to paint a mural in his pool house."

Silence fills the room.

Cadence’s eyebrows lift with excitement and she speaks with the cup up to her lips. "Seriously?"

I nod proudly.

“You know what he’s doing, don’t you?” My mom’s voice cuts through the room. “Men like him love young girls like you.”

"He hired me to paint a mural in his pool house because he liked my painting, not because he’s trying to sleep with me. I'll have keys, and he's paying me."

"How much?" my mother asks, and I cringe. I shouldn’t have said that. She won't touch my money. Not a fucking dime.

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Maybe a couple hundred."

"Cadence, you should go with her. Spend some time over there with him. I swear if you're lying, Sunny…"

"I'm not lying." My voice is cold and angry.

Cadence won't look at me. “Yeah, sure. Someone has to keep an eye on Sunny.”

My sister…the ultimate peacekeeper. This isn’t about protecting me. She’s taking my mom’s side to protect both of us…when just once I wish she would protect me.

If anything, she’s jealous. Jealous that I can hold a conversation with a man that doesn’t end in sex, and I want to tell her that, but I’m not cruel. Not to her.

Before anyone can say another word, I rush out of the kitchen and up to my room. As soon as I get that mural done, I'm out of this house. Forever.