Flynn gives me a smile. “Well, at least let me give you and Capone a ride.”
I shoot him back an equally nice smile so he doesn’t sense my lies. “Oh, no need. I’ll just call one of them to pick me up.”
Reaching into his pocket, Flynn pulls out his cell phone and hands it to me. “Here... give them a call and I’ll wait with you.”
When you’ve lived on your own the way I have, and when you’ve had to scrape, scrabble, and lie just to survive, I never even hesitate in carrying out my duplicity. Taking the phone, I punch in a fake number and hold it to my ear. I wait a sufficient time for my “friend” to answer and then I carry on a conversation purely for Flynn’s benefit.
“Hey Lori! What’s up, girl?”
I wait a few moments, pretending to listen to my “friend”. I even glance at Flynn and motion with my free hand that she’s a chatterbox.
“So listen... I need a place to crash for a few nights. Can you take Capone and me in?” Glancing down at Capone, I give his belly a pat. “That’s great. I knew I could count on you. I’m at Juice’s house. Okay... see you in about twenty minutes.”
I pretend to listen to my “friend” chatter for a few more minutes, rolling my eyes at Flynn. Then I give a fake goodbye and hang up.
Handing the phone back to Flynn, I say, “All taken care of. Lori will come get me. You can go ahead and head home now. No sense in waiting.”
Flynn just holds the phone in his hand and watches me for a moment. His perusal makes me a little nervous but then he stands from the ground. “You’re sure you don’t want me to wait with you?”
Shaking my head and giving him a reassuring smile, I tell him, “No. Honestly, we’re good. Capone and I will just hang here and wait for Lauren.”
Something flickers in Flynn’s hazel eyes and he says, “I thought you said her name was Lori.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I don’t miss a beat. “It is... Lauren’s her full name. I call her Lori sometimes though.”
Flynn shoots me a grin that pulls his dimple out in full force. He punches something on his phone and then holds it out to me. I can see from the face of the phone that he’s redialed the number I called and then pushed the speakerphone button so I could hear.
The recording comes through loud and clear. “We’re sorry but you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please hang up and try your call again.”
Fuck. Busted.
But I don’t even have the grace to be embarrassed. I shrug my shoulders and smirk at him. “So what? You caught me in a lie. Not the first I’ve told.”
He doesn’t even bother to chastise me. “So where will you stay tonight?”
“I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
Flynn stares down at me, his eyes flicking from me to Capone. When they land back on me, he says, “Come on. You can stay at my apartment tonight and we’ll figure out something to do.”
“No. No way. I appreciate it but not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t like owing people and I don’t go home with strange men.”
“I’m not a strange man. I just saved your life this morning.”
Shrugging my shoulders to tell him I don’t care, I say, “I don’t need any help.”
Flynn gives me a wry laugh. “First, you do need help, and second, you won’t owe me a thing. Just consider this something I want to do out of the goodness of my heart.”
Anger surges through me for a split second, and my voice is cold. “I’m not a f**king charity case.”
I expect Flynn to back away from my wrath, because I can be a mean bitch when I want to, but he just offers me another smirk. “I don’t consider you a charity case. I have no doubt you can take care of yourself. But think about this... Capone is probably exhausted and he could use a good meal. If you won’t accept my help for you, how about accept it for him?”
I stare at him hard for just a moment, casually noting how the late afternoon sun makes his eyes glow. My resolve is weakening, only because I’m tired, hungry, and I’m finding my own pride may have some limits. Then my eyes go down to Capone. He’s sound asleep on his back, my fingers grazing the hair on his belly. I can’t help the dopey smile that comes to my face just by looking at the bag of fur lying there, and I’m sure my expression tells Flynn that I’ve just capitulated.
4
Rowan Page is one tough nut. If it were just her, sitting in front of her psycho ex-boyfriend’s house, wearing nothing but paper-thin scrubs and faced with spending the night in the streets, she would have never accepted my help. But it was a slam-dunk move for me to bring her dog into play. She cares more about that beast than she does about herself and I have no shame in using that against her.
“Well, let’s get going. I’m going to need to stop at a store to get some dog food.”
I hold my hand out to her to help her from the ground. She ignores it and springs up from the grass on her own. We walk silently to the car and Capone follows. Even as tired as I know she must be—even as beat-down as she must be feeling—I’m amazed that she walks with her shoulders straight and her head held high.
Rowan opens the back door and motions for Capone to jump in. He does and lies down across the seat, apparently exhausted from his all-day adventure outside. I’m going to be cleaning out dog hair for months, I can tell.