Page 33 of The Bronze Garza
“Lysandra!” And, because she’s a cool mom, she flips me the bird as she disappears out of the room.
Seconds later, as I’m lifting a spoonful of soup to my mouth, her head pops around the doorframe, her brown eyes narrowed as she says, “And don’t think I don’t know you’ve been faking.”
Busted. “Am not!”
“Con artist,” she fires back before disappearing again, and I can’t help grinning.
I love my mom.
Chapter Nine
“I’m a ray of sunshine.”
Lyra
“How much did you offer himto agree to this?” I ask Dad. “What with him being on vacation and all.”
Standing on the steps outside our house, we watch the matte-black jeep speed up our long driveway.
“Your safety doesn’t come with a budget, Lyly.” He slips his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “He has repeatedly proven himself to be worth every dime. When you want things done right, you hire the best.”
I munch on a baby carrot and resist an eye roll. “You havewaytoo much faith in this man.”
When the jeep halts to a stop in front of our house, it’s not Torin Garza who jumps out, but Reuben.
He jogs up and sticks his hand out to Dad. “Henderson.”
Dad shakes it, but with a frown. “Hey, Reuben. Where is Torin?”
“He got stuck in an unplanned meeting about...” He trails off and flicks his gaze to me then back to him. “That other thing.”
What other thing?
“Ah, all right.”
As Reuben loads my bags into the jeep, Dad pulls me into an air-flow-restricting hug. “I’ll call you as soon as I land. But if you need anything and can’t get through to me, just ask Torin. He’ll take care of it and I’ll sort it after.”
“Or,” I drawl, “I could just use my Amex.”
He sighs. “Well, sure, but just don’t go out on your own to do so, okay?”
Laughing, I gently extricate myself from his too-tight hug, murmuring under my breath, “And they thinkI’mthe one who’s paranoid.”
With a light chuckle, he brushes my hair back from my face. “Sue me.”
“Sweetie, the car is on the way!” Eloise yells from the house.
“Okay, I have to go finish getting ready,” Dad says, stepping back. “Love you, Lyly.”
“Love you, too, Daddy.”
I skip down the steps with my baggy of baby carrots and climb into the jeep.
Reuben watches me with a small smile as I buckle my seatbelt. He has a buzz-cut now compared to the wavy brown hair he’d had that sold him well as a British William. With this serious buzz-cut, he doesn’t even look like a Reuben. He looks like a badassBen.
“What?” I ask him.
“I dunno. You look...good.” With a shrug, he drops the handbrake and circles around to the driveway. “Really good.”
