Page 82 of Hiss and Make Up
She walked back toward Marc, wiping at her eyes, but stopped and laughed when she saw his rental car. “This is where you parked?” She shook her head. “You really are bad at this.”
He was glad his ineptitude was distracting her from leaving the dog behind. Even if only for a moment.
“Yeah, well, where did you park?”
She pointed at her Forerunner in the abandoned lot next door, where he’d missed seeing it on the way in.
“You know,” he said, “your skills are pretty scary sometimes.”
“Which is why you should keep me on your good side.”
Her eyes flickered with mischief, and he fought the urge to grab her face and kiss her right then and there.
“Point taken,” he said. “Wanna come back to my house so I can work on that?”
If she followed him home, he could beg her to forgive him for being an idiot that morning.
Then, he had plans to keep her on whatever side she wanted to be on. Not to keep her safe, but to have her there. For as long as she’d have him.
* * *
Sierra agreed to follow Marc back to his house for two reasons. One, his house was less than five miles from Adrien’s place. And two, she wanted to check on the dog.
There was probably a third reason, but she wasn’t letting herself think about that, so she focused on convenience and the furball.
After parking at the end of the driveway behind Marc’s rental car, Sierra walked straight to the back yard. She was glad to see that furry brown face greet her. She knew Marc wouldn’t call animal control or leave the gate open, but in the back of her mind, she feared losing the dog along with Marc.
But the dog was still there with his slobbery, smiling face full of teeth.
She bent at the gate to scratch the side of his head and ears. “Hey, dude. Missed me? Is this guy taking good care of you?”
Marc reached a hand over the fence. His face lit up a little when the dog jumped to lick him.
“I can bathe him while I’m here.” It was the least she could do. Plus, if she washed him, she could sneak him in the house for some snuggles.
“That would be good. Poor guy’s been scratching a lot.”
“I’ll bring him some flea drops tomorrow. And I’ll make some calls about finding a foster home.”
She could have sworn a slight grimace had flashed across his face when she’d said that. But when she looked again, it was gone.
“No rush,” he said. “He’s not any trouble out here. And he does make a nice alarm system.”
“A cheap alarm system.”
“Vet bills aren’t cheap.”
She followed him in the house, where he told her all about his lunch with Freddy and some bouncer named Johnny. Apparently, his brother-in-law was still a less-than-stellar husband, but he was cleared on the suspicious stuff happening lately.
“So wait, you thought he was some kind of bookie and youinvited him to lunch?”
He handed her a can of orange soda, her favorite. She grabbed it without thinking at first, the gesture and response comfortably familiar. Then she froze and stared at the can as her stomach flipped.
Had he remembered that it was her favorite, or had he grabbed the first thing he found in the fridge?
He hadn’t even asked if she’d wanted one. He’d just assumed that she did.
“I had Freddy with me. And we were in public.”
