“Okay then. I’ll wire your wage to your account. Bye, Candy.”
A deep sigh rattled out of me. I’d sat through an entire dinner, all the way through dessert, but the dude had the gall to haggle. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have the money to pay me. I was incredibly tempted to tell Liam to turn around so I could give Aidan a piece of my mind
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Doing what?”
Liam’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Dating for money.”
“Just this once,” I lied.
“Do you have debts?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“How much do you owe?”
I plopped my elbow down on the armrest and cradled my head. “A lot.”
“A lot is not a number. Fifty grand? A hundred?”
I blinked at him in horror. “No!” If I owed a hundred grand, I would…I would… God, I didn’t even know what I would do. “Six grand.”
“For college?”
“No.”
“Credit card bills?”
I huffed. “Past rents. Mom’s funeral. Not everyone has an unlimited supply of money like you.”
He braked so suddenly my seatbelt dug into my chest. “Ness, can you give me a break? I just lost my father too, all right? I’ve got my own shit to deal with. But I don’t go around being nasty to everyone and debasing myself for a couple of bucks.”
Shame surged through me.
He put his hazard lights on and heaved a ragged breath. He clenched his fingers around the steering wheel. “I’m sorry. That came out harsher than intended.”
He touched my leather sleeve, and I shifted my arm away.
“Don’t touch me.” I stared at the crimson flashes punctuating the darkness. “Can you please drive me home?”
“Do you want me to loan you the money?”
I whipped my head around. “And be in yourdebt? No thank you.”
“You’d rather keep doing…?” He gestured to the back of his car, but I knew he meant being an escort.
“No. I’m going to look for a real job.”
“Don’t you already have one?”
I frowned.
“You’re working at the inn, aren’t you?”
“They’re not paying me.”
“Why not?”
“Because. I’m not doing it for me.”
“Who are you doing it for?”
“For someone else.”
He wet his bottom lip that was thinner than his upper one, and it glinted in the darkness. “Do your aunt and uncle know about your debts?”
“They’re aware of some of them.”
“And they won’t help?”
“I would never accept their help.” Jeb offered to loan me the money for the rental payments, but I’d refused. I’d let him foot the bill for the window he’d broken, though. “By the way, they don’t know about what I did tonight, so don’t you dare tell them.”
“I won’t say anything about your date.” He spoke the word as though it tasted bad. After a long moment, he asked, “Would you have slept with him if he’d paid you extra?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I would never sleep with someone for money.”
Even though I could barely make out his face in the dim light of his dashboard, I could tell he was weighing my words.
“Why?” I asked. “Would you?”
“Sleep with someone for their money?” He let out a soft snort. “Thankfully, I don’t need to resort to that.”
“I meant, have you ever paid for sex?”
“No.”
“Your dad-”
“I know what my dad did. But just because hedid it doesn’t mean I do it.” He made a sound halfway between a growl and a sigh. “I’m nothinglike him.”
“That’s what everyone says. That you’re not like him.”
“But you don’t believe it?”
“I like to make up my own mind.”
He finally angled the car back on the road. “Seems like you already did.”