Page 34 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“He might love me, Lottie, but he doesn’t like me a whole lot.”
“That’s not?—”
“Can you help me with my hair?” Kara shrinks about five sizes when she asks. She’s not used to leaning on anyone either.
We’re more alike than she could ever know.
“Yeah.” Blinking away tears, I offer my hand. “Let’s go see what we can do.”
Hand-in-hand, we walk back to my house. Back to Thane, who’s waiting on my porch with his head in his hands, the porch light illuminating his slumped form, and a single tear that’s dripping from his nose.
Somehow, in a matter of days, this little family has infiltrated my heart, and I don’t know how to evict them.
Or if I want to.
CHAPTERNINE
THANE
“It’seleven o’clock on a Sunday night,” Roger says with his annoying habit of pointing out the time.
I pay him enough that it doesn’t matter what time I call him, though admittedly, I had no idea I’ve been pacing my room for as long as I have.
“Pull back on Charlotte Sinclair,” I tell him. “Don’t rescind the offer but stop pushing. Give her space to breathe.”
“That’s a mistake, Thane. Your father is pushing on her even harder now, and so is hers, but they aren’t the only ones. If you bow out now, one of them will win.” I don’t want to know how Roger has that information. I’m sure he operates outside of my black-and-white lines. As long as I don’t know, I can pretend I’m not part of it.
Only now, an uncomfortable log sits heavy in my gut. Is it because of Lottie?
“I pay you to broker deals on my behalf. I’m telling you to stop the hard sell, so do it.”
I hang up before he can respond.
My hands tap on the stupid dog carrier, where Hercules has been asleep for at least an hour. The muted thump, thump, thump of my fingers against the fabric is oddly calming. Here, in the privacy of my bedroom, I allow the motion to soothe me.
Kara thinks I don’t like her.
Lottie’s father is even more of a piece of shit than I suspected, and he didn’t have all that high a bar to begin with.
Am I any better than him?
I drop onto my bed, drag my fingers through my hair, and tug hard while breathing through my nose.
There’s too much noise in my head, too many voices.
I’m rocking in place when there’s a knock at my open door.
I don’t have to lift my head to know it’s Rafe. Not only does he pop up at the worst possible times, but I have to assume that Kara’s hair will take hours to fix.
“Take a deep breath, Thane.”
Him and his fucking breathing.
I do as he asks. Then I do it again. And again.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” My fingers loosen their grip on my hair as though I have no control of myself. My movements are jerky enough to rustle Hercules in her carrier. She grunts her displeasure. Spoiled little ratdog. “I hurt Kara, and now Lottie is hugging her and making it better.”
