Page 63 of Lorcan
I sniffed my coat as I hung it in the front hall closet.Not too bad. “Yes, definitely opposites. They met the day Carter moved into this building. He tripped over Sheffield and Rosebud. And then fell for Byron.” I held out my hand. “Want me to take your coat?”
As soon as we’d been inside, I’d grabbed a towel for him. He’d looked so miserable, I’d taken pity on him.
He removed his coat. “I should probably see if anything in the backpack got wet. I seem to recall the thing was, at some point, waterproof.”
I chuckled as he handed over the coat. “Yeah, that was some downpour.”
“Am I supposed to say I’m happy it’s not snowing?”
“Well, that depends if you have snow tires and if you get a paid day off work if there’s too much white stuff on the ground.”
“No to both.”
“Then be glad it’s just rain.”
“Fair enough.”
“I’ve got snow tires for my SUV. The ranch is up in the mountains, so often they get more snow. I’ll be able to get out there—whether or not the clients can is a whole other thing.”
“I need to get snow tires.” He winced.
“That’s a huge expense.”
“Yeah, I know. In a couple of paychecks, I should be able to swing something. Hopefully.”
He didn’t appear optimistic.
“I think I need to throw my clothes into the dryer.” I tugged on my wet jeans.
“Me too. Or at least hang them somewhere.”
“Oh, you naked? Yes, please.”
He arched an eyebrow. Then smiled. “How many years?”
I was in the middle of yanking off my sock. “Years?”
“Between Byron and Carter?”
“About fifteen? Byron’s an accountant and, believe it or not, Carter’s a successful fantasy writer. Who’s got a book being made into a streaming series right now.”
Lorcan’s mouth opened. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “He got started early and found the right agent, right publisher, and the right audience in that order.”
“Wow.”
“I have all his books if you want to read them. He’s so freaking talented. And I can say I knew him when—even though he was a couple of years ahead of me in school.”
“I don’t know anyone who’s done anything that impressive.”
I unbuttoned my jeans, pulled down the fly, and was about to yank them down. “Oh crap.”
Lorcan cocked his head.
I grabbed my phone and wallet from my back pockets.
“Oh.” He replicated my actions. “Although this phone is far less valuable.”
