Controlling the Girl Next Door (The Magic Remote Book 1) by Nadia Nightside Page B

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    C armen wasn't sure what to make of Jared Harrison, even as he led her over to his house.
    It was the first time she even ever really been on his lawn. The Harrisons' house was always a strange one within Meadow Heights. Most of the residences were large estates, with enormous swimming pools and multiple layers of backyard, and a three-floor minimum, like Carmen's house. Her father was an engineer, and made enough to own the house completely, no mortgage at all.
    The Harrisons, though, were teachers, or librarians, something like that. Something low-paying.  Their paltry little two-story, fourteen hundred square foot house reflected that. They had moved in long, long before the property values went up. Carmen thought smugly that, even so, they would still be paying the mortgage on it when she was earning her third graduate degree on her father's dime.
    It was nice to have some privilege, to enjoy a place in the world. Her forays into modeling were just reflections of that part of her personality—it wasn't about being admired, for her. No, it was about showing off.
    Jared Harrison was usually nice enough, she supposed, but it seemed like every time she or her stepmother were outside, he had some reason for being outside as well.
    When Carmen was sunbathing, he had to trim the hedges.
    When Carmen was washing the car, he had to wash his car, too.
    When Monica, Carmen's stepmother, was doing yoga in the gazebo in the backyard, he was watering the backyard lawn.
    These little instances added up. She and her stepmother talked about it quite often. They were close in age—Carmen only eighteen, and Monica twenty-five.
    At first, Carmen had found this proximity in age a little disturbing, and grew distant from her father for a time. But, she found Monica to be a really wonderful person—giving and thoughtful—who was used to all the pressures Carmen had felt at high school as one of the hottest girls around. Monica always had killer advice on what to wear, what to say to guys to turn down dates and let them down easy, and how to know when someone was only talking to her for her looks. Carmen was going to college at the end of the summer, and Monica was full of good thoughts on which classes had the most men in them.
    But, today, Jared didn't seem like he was only talking to her for her looks. Even with Carmen wearing nothing but a teensy string bikini, a tiny near-transparent white wrap around her lovely ass serving as a skirt, and a pair of pink platform sandals—he looked her in the eyes with every word he said.
    Though, Carmen noted with a certain satisfaction, it did seem to be something of a struggle for him.
    “It's just, really important. I think it could be important, you know? Like really important.”
    “You mean it's like, important?” Carmen teased.
    He didn't seem to catch on. “Yeah, exactly! Like, for science!”
    She rolled her eyes as he turned around and stepped inside the house. She followed him in, and immediately crinkled her nose. The smell of cat urine was permeating through everything.
    “Do you have cats, here?”
    “Oh yeah,” he said. “Tom and Jerry.”
    “Jerry was a mouse.”
    “Well,” he shrugged. “Not in this house.”
    “Look,” she said, striking her hands through the air. “No offense, but this place stinks, and I really don't like cats. So, whatever it is you need to show me, let's do it outside.”
    His face changed then, though he still smiled. The smile went from wide, open, and excited, kind of like a boy's smile, to something cold. Something more knowing and mature.
    “Okay, Carmen,” he said. “You're the boss. Wait here, okay? I'll be right back.”
    She did wait, taking a look around. Every floor was covered in gross carpet. There were pictures of people everywhere. Family, she supposed. The walls were covered in bad paint and worse flowery wallpaper. Where was the art? Where were the plants? Who could live like this?
    She heard steps thump down the