“He likes you,” she told him.
“Last night he bit me.”
“You scared him. He wouldn’t fall asleep on you if he didn’t like you.”
“When does he do anything but sleep?” Spike asked incredulously.
She didn’t reply, just jangled her keys. He snatched them from her and then handed back the dog. Who nestled in against her breasts with a happy sigh.
He was not jealous of a damn puppy.
He. Was. Not.
She slid the puppy into her handbag. “I don’t want the manager seeing him. I didn’t exactly ask permission. Mind you, I don’t suppose he’s awake at this time of night. I’m sure watching porn all day tires him out.”
Spike stared down at her. Was she joking or . . . fuck it. Likely not.
Christ.
“Room?” he barked, making her jump slightly but he was too irritated to care. What the hell was she thinking staying here? This wasn’t the sort of place someone like Millie should be. It was a wonder she’d lasted four nights.
“Five.” She pointed to a room. “It’s on the ground floor, which is lucky, right? No having to traipse up and down stairs.
Lucky? Right. Lucky for any criminals that she’d made it so much easier for them to get into her room by taking a ground floor.
Someone hated him, they really did.
This was his punishment for all the bad shit he’d done in his life.
11
Spike was muttering something quietly as they walked toward the motel room she’d rented. She couldn’t make out anything he was saying, but she was pretty certain it wasn’t flattering.
He kept close to her and his scent kept teasing her. Rich leather and tart cherries. It was a weird mix. But damn intriguing.
When he started to unlock the door, she stiffened. Shoot! She couldn’t let him into her room.
Reaching out, she grabbed his hand. He snatched his own hand back and the keys clanged to the ground. She tried not to be hurt that he obviously didn’t want her to touch him.
“Shoot. Sorry.” She bent down at the same time as he did, their heads clanging together.
Ow. Ouch. Owie.
Rising up, she held her hand to her throbbing head and tried to convince the tears she felt welling to disappear.
This day sucked.
Everything was a mess. It wasn’t going the way she thought she would. She was tired. Her insides felt empty. She just wanted to have a hot shower, get into her onesie and watch cartoons on TV until she fell asleep.
Instead, she now had some gangster out for her blood. She had to go stay with a stranger, a stranger who didn’t even like her, who seemed more than a little bit irritated by everything she said and did, where she’d have to hide everything about herself.
And now her head hurt.
“Millie? You okay?”
Nope. She wasn’t okay at all.
“Look at me.”