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Caleb glanced up at her. “Mateo. He needs me to stay longer. They won’t be coming home as early as planned.”
She blinked several times. “Is everything okay?”
It didn’t help his situation to hear her show concern for a family she barely knew. What was it about this girl that had him questioning everything he stood for?
“I don’t know,” he stammered, still distracted by her. “He just said that something unfortunate had come up and he had to deal with it. They’ll be back in a week, maybe two.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
Her eyes darted up to meet his, but she didn’t speak right away. Her expression was impossible to decipher at this point. Then she tore her eyes from him and set them on the guitar. Her fingers trailed along the smooth lacquer while her soft voice could barely be heard. “Would you want me to stay?”
Caleb couldn’t have possibly heard her right. Why would she even ask that? What was he supposed to say to something so forward? Already he could feel his body reacting to her words. His throat closed up, and his muscles tensed. If he was honest with her right out of the gate, he would tell her that yes, of course he wanted her to stay. While he had grown to despise all the people coming and going from his house at the moment, he was still a Keagan—and a twin. As such, he craved knowing he wasn’t alone.
The lump grew bigger in his throat with each tick of the clock on the wall. If he told her what his brain told him to say—which was that what he thought ultimately didn’t matter—then he’d be lying to her and himself.
If there was one thing Caleb hated more than anything else, it was a liar. And he refused to become one of them.
His voice was hoarse, and his lungs burned as he whispered, “Yes.”
A smile tugged at her lips. She looked relieved while at the same content with his answer. Caleb exhaled and turned back to his magazine. She moved forward in her seat. “Good,” she said softly. “Because I still want that favor.”
Oh. Right. The favor. He flipped through the pages again but stopped when she spoke.
“You can stop pretending to be interested in that magazine. I haven’t seen you read a single thing since you picked it up.”
He snorted, eyeing her as he slowly closed the oversized pamphlet. “What if I just like looking at the pictures?”
She tilted her head the way she did when she was either trying to figure him out or tease him. This time, it was the latter. Her eyes sparkled, and her grin set his insides on fire. “Oh, you’re too intelligent to gain any enjoyment from mere pictures.”
The heat in his stomach expanded to his chest. “And what do you think I use to find enjoyment?”
Emily shrugged. “I think you appreciate a good conversation. You have an appreciation for exquisite culinary experiences.” Her eyes narrowed. “Back to that good conversation bit—you have a flair for words that I haven’t seen in… well, let’s just say a long time.”
“And what does any of that have to do with the favor you want to ask me?” It was getting hard hearing her dissect him like that, and he needed to not feel quite so vulnerable around her.
“Oh.” Emily stood and moved across the room to sit beside him. “I wanted to know if you’d be willing to help me with the lyrics to my song. That stanza that you gave me… it was perfect. And I don’t want you to think that you’re working for free. I’d pay you?—”
“You don’t have to pay me.” He said it without thinking, but he found it was one hundred percent true. “It’s like you said. I like playing with words. I’m assuming you feel the same way with your music.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I do.” They sat there for a moment in silence before she spoke up again. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get compensated for your work. If you’re writing the lyrics to a song that I perform, you should get something for it.”
He laughed, but then he realized she was being serious. “You perform music? Where? At like karaoke places?”
Emily’s eyes widened. It was short-lived, but he could have sworn she looked worried—no, she looked terrified. Just as quickly as her expression had appeared, it disappeared. She let out a strained laugh as well. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not going to make you pay me for it. Just give me credit or something. That’s a thing, right?”
She nodded solemnly. “Sure.”
“Then that’s enough. I don’t need anything else.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” Caleb said with a nod.
“What if you change your mind?”
