“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Do you have a better one?” Flick demanded. “Look, Gina, you asked for my help and this is me helping. Take it or leave it.”
She was done arguing, her aunt either had to piss or get off the pot. And inelegant but effective description, courtesy of her brother Jack. But one she wouldn't share with her too-proper aunt.
Their gazes locked and Flick felt the urge to look away, knowing that if she did, she’d lose everything she’d gained in the past hour. She needed to win this battle.
Gina eventually sighed and broke their stand-off. She waved a hand. “Do what you have to do.”
“I will.”
“Do not sell Hugo.”
“Who the hell is Hugo?” Pippa demanded from the doorway.
She wasn’t going to answer that. Gina could lie to her daughter if that was what she wanted but Flick wouldn’t. “Ask your mother.”
Pippa stepped into the room, her face pinched with anger. “I’m askingyou. Or is this just something else you can’t tell me?”
“Talk to your mom, Pips,” Flick replied, infinitely weary. She picked up her bag and brushed past her cousin.
“Mom? What’s going on?” Flick heard Pippa’s questions and waited, praying, for her answer.
“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” Gina answered and Flick silently cursed.Gina, Gina, Gina.
One step forward, six back.
Flick cursed when she couldn’t find a parking spot in the lot adjacent to Caswallawn’s office and circled the block, finding an empty space down the road. Grabbing a bag of chocolate chip cookies, she allowed Rufus to jump out before slamming her door shut. Rufus sniffed the bag and looked up at her with imploring doggy eyes. She wouldn’t give in, she wouldn’t—
“Chocolate is bad for dogs,” she told him.
Rufus batted his eyelashes and pulled on his “I’m so sweet and innocent” expression. She couldn’t resist so she opened the bag and tried to see if there was a cookie with fewer chocolate chips than the others. There wasn’t, so she pulled one out and snapped it in half, the quarters, before holding it out to her dog who pulled it, rather delicately for a thug and a monster, from her fingers. Flick looked at the pieces of cookie in her hand, shrugged, and popped them into her mouth. Theyweregreat cookies....
And Kai loved them. Her caramel cupcakes and her chocolate chip cookies were one of the great loves of his life. He ordered a dozen every few days and their time in bed was fueled by cookie and milk breaks. Well, in her case, it was a wine break, and she was making a dent in Kai’s collection of Cabernets and Merlots. He didn’t seem to mind. As long as she kept him supplied with sugar and chocolate, and sex, the man was happy.
Happy? Well, happier than he was when he’d first arrived back in Mercy. The distant look was gone from his eyes and while he was never going to be known as Mr. Chatty, he wasn’t as standoffish or as intimidating as before. But, best of all, he didn’t play games and she always knew where she stood with him. He never said anything he didn’t mean or made promises he couldn’t keep. They were having an affair and he never made any references to a future together. He was very different from her previous lovers. He wasn’t demanding, needy or annoying. He didn’t text or IM unless it was very necessary—SOS! I’m out of cookies!Or, another favorite:I need coffee, STAT.—but they’d spent every evening together for the past week. At his house, because she and Pippa were still engaged in their version of the Cold War.
Well, Pippa was—Flick would gladly surrender if her cousin would stop being so damn stubborn.
Flick walked towards Caswallawn, Rufus pulling her arm from her socket in his eagerness to get to Kai. Her dog was as crazy about him as she was. They were both idiots and they were going to get their hearts broken if they didn’t pull themselves together. It was easier said than done. Sure, she loved the sex—shereallyloved the sex—but Kai was a fascinating man; smart, capable, determined. He was a grown-up, not a whiny wimp, and his strength of character was a huge turn-on. Despite what he thought, he would be very easy to love. Not that she was going to allow herself to do that...
Or, more truthfully, she wastryingnot to do that. Loving Kai would lead to a battered and bruised heart. She didn’t want that, so she couldn’t fall in love with him.
Simple to think, difficult to do.
As Flick approached the parking lot to Caswallawn and saw Tally walking toward her from the opposite direction. Rufus lunged forward, placed his paws on Tally’s shoulders, and licked the side of her face. Tally pushed and Flick pulled and Rufus returned to all fours. Tally rubbed her forearm across her cheek and grimaced.
“Sorry,” Flick apologized. “He likes you.”
“It’s okay.” Tally bent down and rubbed Rufus’s ears. Rufus immediately released an emphatic, orgasmic-sounding, groan.
Flick blushed. “Oh, God, he’s so embarrassing.”
Tally’s smile was far too wicked for a teenager. “Is that good for you, boy? Huh? Is it?”
Flick told Rufus to lie down and miraculously he did. The fact that he expected a cookie for listening did not escape her notice.
Tally, dressed in a long black t-shirt and cycling pants, adjusted her gym bag on her shoulder. “I’ve finished cataloging the first bedroom,” she told her.