Staring down into said glossy eyes, I swallowharshly.
It’s just a dog. You don’t even like dogs. They chew shoes and dry hump and leave a trail of drool and destruction everywheretheygo.
Somehow, my inner voice is less convincing, studying the way his shiny fur catches the light, the way his chest rises and falls gently as his eyes drift closed and he falls asleep with his tiny head pillowed against mybarefeet.
Shit.
I’m about to ask about the breed — I think it’s a dachshund, but I don’t know much about dogs so I could be off base — when Duncan’s stomach growls loud enough to wake the dead. (But not the puppy: he’s out like a light, snoozing on my feet. I can feel a puddle of slobber forming on my skin as wespeak.)
I lift my eyes away from the slumbering beast and quirk my head inquestion.
“Hungry?”
“Starved, actually. You have any food in this joint?” Duncan glances around the apartment, eyes widening as he finally takes in the sight of the boxes scattered everywhere. “By the way, why is all your shit packed? Are youmoving?”
“Yep.”
“Thought you loved thisplace.”
“Ido.”
“So, whythemove?”
Clenching my hands into fists, I try to think zen thoughts so I don’t scream at the top of my lungs abouthimbeing the reason for my unwanted change of address. We’ve only just stopped bickering — I’d like to see if we can make it a solid ten minutes before we start upagain.
“You know, I actually don’t have any food here,” I murmur, ignoring his question. “Give me a second, I’ll throw on some real clothes and we can go grab something. There’s a cute cafe around the corner with greatcroissants—”
“No!” His loud yell makes my eyes go wide. The puppy’s tiny head shoots up inalarm.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “If you don’t want croissants we can gosomeplaceelse—”
“No,” Duncan says again, calmer this time, but I see his face has drained of all color. He glances over his shoulder toward my front door, as if afraid there’s someone waiting for him on the other side. “Let’s stay here. I’m not thathungry.”
My brows lift skeptically. “Duncan, what’s going on? The truth,please.”
“It’snothing.”
“Clearly that’salie.”
He closes his eyes and rubs his temples in slow circles, massaging away a migraine. When he opens them, I see fear in his gaze along with desperation. The sight of it shakes me to the soles ofmyfeet.
“I need money,” he saysbluntly.
“What?”
“Youheardme.”
I blink at him. “You must bejoking.”
His jaw clenches. “It’s justaloan.”
“Seriously. Tell me this isajoke.”
“I’ll pay you back, every penny.” His voice is emotionless. “But… I need it Lila. Now. Today. As soon as you can get ittome.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Duncan…”
“I wouldn’t ask if it weren’timportant.”