Her sadness turns into anger with the flip of a switch. “Is that true?” she asks, glaring at her landlord.
“Well, uh,” he stutters. “I’m sorry, Lani. I never meant for this to happen.”
She shakes her head angrily. “You could’ve gotten someone killed!”
Her cat yowls in her arms, and she instantly calms down, giving him a gentle pet as she murmurs lowly to him.
Mr. Phizer looks somewhere between sorry and petulant at Lani’s outburst. I have a feeling he’s going to get a whole lot more of that as he speaks with each of his tenants. Considering how bad tonight could’ve been, he’s getting off easy with a few citations. He deserves a lot more anger than sweet Lani has given him.
“How about you take Miss Smith up to her apartment so she can grab some of her belongings,” Chief Weiss says with a smirk. He knows as well as just about everyone in the town how I feel about Lani Smith. It seems that everyone knows except for Lani herself.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s go get you a bag packed.”
I feel like a jerk for watching her ass twitch back and forth as she leads the way to her apartment. Did I mention how much I love her threadbare pajamas that form to her curves like magic?
Because I do.
I so do.
3 Lani
Today has been a shit day, and the sun has barely risen. Instead of a slow wake up with my musical alarm, I was jerked awake by the screaming of my smoke detector and a room full of choking smoke. Bleary-eyed and scared out of my mind, I grabbed Mr. Grey and ran barefoot out of the apartment and into the cold early morning.
If the fact that my building on fire isn’t bad enough. Torin Henley is here. I mean, of course, he is. He’s one of the three firemen in Sugarhill, so he’d have to respond to a fire alarm. I feel really shallow for hating the fact that the man I’ve had a crush on since before I knew what I crush was is seeing me with my hair a hot mess, barefoot, and wearing the rattiest pajamas I own.
That’s just the way it goes, isn’t it? It seems I can never run into Torin when I’m dressed to impress. No, he has to come by the store while I’m standing on a ladder and scraping the old lettering from the front window to be repainted and sweating like a pig. Or while I’m juggling a gazillion boxes of books in ninety-degree weather—also sweating like crazy. So why wouldn’t he be here to see me in my ugly pajamas with tears streaking down my cheeks and a pissed off cat in my arms.
No freaking wonder he doesn’t see me as anything other than the nerdy bookstore owner. Even back in school, he didn’t notice me… I’ve always been a bit of a nerd, and he’s always been the most handsome guy in town. And the nicest. He’s always coming to my rescue… Helping me scrape that ugly paint from the window, grabbing the boxes of books to help me carry them inside the store… Picking a six-year-old me up off the sidewalk and fixing my scraped knee. And now here he is again seeing me at my worst and offering his help.
“You don’t have to come up with me.”
Torin gives me his patented half-smile that gets me every time. That smile sets off a million butterflies in my stomach. If I didn’t know better, I would say that smile is special just for me. That his eyes light up with more than just friendliness. But it’s just him being a nice guy, nothing else.
“Nonsense, it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”
I force a smile. It’s a cold reminder that he’s just helping because it’s his job and he’s a nice guy. He drew a firm and clear line that he’s helping out of obligation, not because he wants to. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I barely choke back my tears when I see my apartment. There isn’t any fire damage, but every surface is covered in a fine layer of ash. The apple pie scent that usually fills my small apartment from my favorite candle has been replaced by the acrid smell of smoke.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It will clean.” Torin lightly rubs my lower back, offering me his strength, and I sink into it. I don’t care if he’s just being friendly. I need a friend right now.
“Right.” I nod, straightening my spine. It’ll be fine. My cinnamony apple pie candle will be back to work soon enough.
First things first, I put Mr. Grey in his cat carrier. He instantly makes his displeasure known by yowling and meowing like he’s being killed—drama queen.
I tug my duffle bag from the bottom of my closet and try to decide what exactly I’m going to need. Then it hits me… where am I going to stay? I know that Ana, Prue, and Margo will all offer their spare rooms, but I don’t like being beholden to anyone—not even my besties. My office at the bookstore has a small loveseat, and there’s a dorm-sized refrigerator and microwave that I use for lunches.
Now that I’ve got my destination settled, I start tossing things into my duffle. Torin takes my smaller bag to the bathroom and starts packing away some toiletries for me. To be honest, I’m glad he’s helping me pack up. Even though this has been my home for years, it feels unsafe. It’s no longer my sanctuary. It doesn’t hurt that Torin makes me feel safe. I’d probably be bawling my eyes out if he weren’t here right now, lending me his strength.
“You’ll need a new toothbrush,” Torin says from
