Wolf with Benefits

CHAPTER NINE

Toni walked into the kitchen the next morning and looked over her family seated at the big wooden table, eating their breakfast.

“Anyone seen the dog?”

Kyle dropped his fork onto his plate. “You get this fancy job and now you don’t even remember our names?”

“I don’t mean you. I’m talking about the actual dog. I should walk him since I’m sure none of you will.”

“We have a dog now?”

“You all played with her last night.”

Her family gazed at her. Even her mother . . . who’d actually gotten the dog.

“Where’s Dad?” Toni asked, needing to speak to someone with actual sense, but they all pointed in random directions, which didn’t really help her. “Useless,” she muttered. “All of you . . . brilliant but useless.”

“But we are brilliant,” Troy said, grinning. “And isn’t that’s what’s important?”

“No.”

Toni walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. As she neared the front door, it opened and her father walked in with the dog on what was probably the little crap leash that came with her from the pound.

“She’s nice,” he said, pointing at the dog. “I’ll pick her up a real leash and collar this afternoon.”

“Thanks for walking her and not just putting her outside.”

“Of course. Besides, I think the kids should have a dog.”

“They should?”

“The more interaction they have with something other than—”

“Their own ego?”

Paul chuckled and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “Good luck today.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” She stepped back. “How do I look?”

Her father looked her over. “Like you run a banking empire.”

Toni glanced down at the suit she’d borrowed from her mother. “I can shop for something new this weekend.”

“You hate clothes shopping.”

“I know.” She sighed.

Looking up at her father, Toni hopefully asked, “Walk with me to the subway?”

“No,” he said simply, surprising her. “You’ll be fine on your own.” Then he sort of shoved her out the door, briefly stopping to grab her backpack and shoving it into her arms. “You have a good first day, baby.” He winked and closed the door in her face.

Shocked—her father loved to go walking with her—Toni turned to head down the steps and into her new life.

“Mornin’.”

Toni stopped and stared. Ricky Reed sat on the stone handrail eating nuts. Almonds, it looked like.

“Morning. What are you doing here?”

“You left me hanging.”

“Hanging? About what?”

“Whether you took the job or not.”

“You’re here at seven in the morning because you wanted to know if I took the job with the Carnivores?”

“Yep.”

“You’re a strange wolf.”

“Some might say.”

Not sure where this conversation was going, Toni said, “Look, I have to go.”

“Need some company?”

“Company?”

Ricky slid off the handrail, tossed the rest of the almonds in his mouth, and gently took her arm. He moved down the rest of the stairs, and Toni was forced to walk with him.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“I guess. Hard not to be.”

“You’ll be fine.”

Toni stopped on the street and the wolf stopped with her. “What if I’m not?”

“What if you’re not what?”

“Fine. What if I’m not fine? What if instead of fine, I just suck.”

“I watched you yesterday, Toni. You were made for this job.”

“You’re right.” She nodded, desperate to believe him. “You’re right. This is probably not as big of a deal as I’m making it.”

“Right.”

“Ulrich is like my cousin. He’s family. This is probably just a cute title with some cash to make me feel better.”

“Well, I didn’t say—”

“I’m sure this isn’t a”—she made air quotes—“ ‘real job.’ Right?”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

Feeling better, understanding that this wasn’t a real job, just something to keep her busy over the summer, Toni started off again toward the subway. When she and the wolf reached the corner, a limo cut in front of them. The driver’s side door opened and the mountain lion from yesterday stepped out of the car.

Toni threw up her hands. “Mr. Van Holtz,” she snapped, “already told you he’d pay for your goddamn limo!”

“I know. This is it.”

Toni’s mouth dropped open. “You made him buy you a Mercedes limo? Damn cats!” She swiped her arms to the side. “Get out of our way!”

“I’m here for you.”

“So you can show off the new limo you stole from a very nice canine!”

“No,” the cat snarled back. “I’m your new driver . . . bitch.”

Toni smirked. “That is such utter bullshit.”

“You sure are saucy today,” the wolf teased.

“Quiet.” She refocused on the cat. “The Carnivores are giving me a new car. Ric wouldn’t waste money on a limo for me, too.”

“You’re still getting a new car for your personal time. The limo is so you won’t have to worry about traffic and can work and take phone meetings. By the way, your new phone is in the back and I think you’re supposed to be on a call right now with one of the Russian teams. Something about arranging a security detail because of what Novikov did to their coach when he was on the Minnesota team. I heard it was really ugly and the team had to sneak out of Russia.”

“Isn’t it called the Soviet Union now?”

“Good God,” the cat sneered. “Russia hasn’t been called the Soviet Union since they disbanded in the nineties.”

“Well when they keep changing their name how am I supposed to keep track?” Ricky shot back. “I’m an American! Our country has only had one name!”

Toni rubbed her eyes. “I have to go.”

“You okay?” the wolf asked her softly while simultaneously giving the cat the finger.

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Today’s going to be great. You’ll see.”

“Okay.”

She forced a smile and walked to the limo. “You going to open the door for me?” she asked the cat.

“Just get in the damn car, canine.”

“Bastard,” she muttered before getting in the limo and answering her new phone.

Ricky walked into the Llewellyn Security offices and barely ducked a fist to the face.

“Bastard!”

Laughing, Ricky backed away from his irate baby brother. “Mornin’ to you, too, hoss.”

“You left me alone with them,” Reece accused. “You left me alone with She-wolves who were worried about you. Who spent the entire time talking about you and that girl you fucked ten thousand years ago. And I, big brother, was trapped in a cage—and unable to get away!”

Mindy, the cheetah receptionist, giggled but quickly turned away when Reece glared at her.

“I’m sorry,” Ricky said, and he really meant it. “I’m sorry. I panicked, and I ran. Just like Daddy taught us.”

“Don’t blame our dear, sweet daddy for this.”

“He always said, when you hear the click of a gun, the growl of a momma bear, or the concern of a She-wolf . . . you run. You run like the Devil himself is on your ass. And that’s what I did. And you would have done the same.”

“You’re still a bastard.”

“I know. But I also know you understand.”

Ricky patted his brother on the shoulder and headed to his office. He stepped inside, ready to get to work, when a voice from the corner of the room stopped him cold.

“Hey, big brother.”

Hearing his sister’s voice, Ricky headed right back to the door, but Reece was there, grinning, as he yanked the door closed. Grabbing wildly for the doorknob, Ricky desperately pulled on it, but a strong hand gripped his shoulder and dragged him over to a chair, shoving him into it.

Sissy Mae Smith, younger sister of Bobby Ray Smith, stroked his cheek. “You poor, poor thing. How hard this must be for you.”

Ricky glowered at the Alpha Female of his Pack because he was aware that while his sister was honestly concerned, Sissy Mae knew better. But like many of the Smith She-wolves, she was a vicious little instigator. He’d never known anyone who loved tormenting a body more than Sissy Mae Smith . . . except maybe her momma or that lion Sissy Mae was mated to.

“You can’t avoid this,” Ronnie Lee said, stepping forward. Only a few weeks pregnant, she wasn’t even showing, but her emotions had been a nightmare of love and concern since she’d conceived. Ricky knew this wouldn’t last once the pup was born, but the thought of putting up with “concerned Ronnie” as Rory called her, was beginning to make Ricky Lee panic.

He loved his sister, couldn’t wait to meet his nephew, but he wanted the baby sister who, when a few years ago he was kind of sad about breaking up with some girl he couldn’t even remember now, told him, “Get the fuck over it, Ricky Lee. She’s probably already fucking somebody else by now.”

Lord, he wanted that Ronnie Lee back! Not this one who was stroking his head like he was a wounded dog she’d found on the side of a busy highway and needed to rush to a vet to have his leg removed.

“I know this is hard, Ricky Lee. I know how you felt about Laura Jane.”

“You mean when I was eighteen? And lived by my dick?”

“It’s all right. We’re here for you.”

Then his sister was hugging him. Ronnie Lee was hugging him.

Someone kill me now.

“They want what?”

Toni looked at the notes she’d barely managed to scribble as the interpreter for the Russian coach had rattled off the Siberian shifter team’s demands for the international game. She read the demands out loud again, stopping when Cella Malone said, “That one.”

Her long legs up on the table, her long black hair streaked with white and orange-red strands, Cella Malone crossed her arms over her chest and took in a deep breath before asking, “They want Novikov in a cage?”

“Yes. Um . . . before and after the game, and during, uh, half-time.”

“And you agreed to that?”

“No.”

“What did you agree to?”

Toni, getting the feeling she’d screwed up, admitted, “Nothing.”

“Did you negotiate?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Toni glanced around at the table full of people and said, “Didn’t know I was supposed to.”

“Did you at least say no?”

“No.”

“Then Yuri”—the Moscow coach—“thinks you agreed.”

“But I didn’t agree.”

“But you didn’t say you didn’t agree.”

“But I didn’t say I agreed, either.”

“Yuri won’t care. As far as he’s concerned, we’ll be putting Novikov into a cage. Not that I blame the man. It’s been a few years, but that poor bear is still recovering from what Novikov did to him. But Novikov isn’t going into a cage. And we’re not playing the Siberian team without him, because I don’t like to lose. And playing against a team made up of polars, tigers, and a couple of foxes is what nightmares are made of.” Cella sighed and shook her head. “I’ll call Yuri myself.”

“No, no.” Toni shook her head and fought her desire to shift to jackal and start chewing on the furniture out of anxiety. “I can deal with it.”

“Yeah,” one of the department heads cut in. “You did such a great job already with Novikov in a cage and everything.”

Toni glared across the table at a fellow canine, a red fox, but she bit back her automatic, Kyle-like response.

“I’m sure,” Toni tried to insist to Cella, “that I can handle this. I just need you to—”

“Could you guys get out?” Cella asked everyone else.

The other department heads quickly left, leaving Toni alone with the big She-cat. She was really a stunning beauty, but Toni couldn’t ignore those knuckles of hers. They were bloody and torn, like she’d just been in a fight. And everyone knew about the Malones. A tiger family of one-time Irish Travelers who had a very tough reputation among shifters. So Toni really didn’t want to get on the wrong side of this woman.

“Look, kid,” Cella began. “I know you’re new to this, but you need to step it up. I’ve got a lot going on,” she complained, rubbing her forehead. “And a killer headache. I mean you did a great job with Novikov and with Bert. Better than anyone else. Plus you got Ric Van Holtz’s stamp of approval. All of these are good things. But don’t think for a minute that your connection with Van Holtz is going to protect you. You don’t get this job right . . . I’m firing your ass and Van Holtz isn’t going to override my decision. So step up your game.”

Toni nodded. “Yes. Of course.”

“And, sweetie . . . what are you wearing?”

Toni glanced down at her mother’s suit. “A business suit.”

“Why? Are you selling insurance?”

“Well . . . I . . .”

“The bottom line is . . . you look uncomfortable. And uncomfortable to shifters means weakness. You don’t want these guys thinking you’re weak. They will stomp all over you. So grow a backbone, wear something you’re actually comfortable in, and I’ll handle Yuri for now. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Cella swung her legs off the table, swiped up her papers, and walked out of the conference room.

Alone now, Toni dropped her head on the table. Not even lunch yet and she wanted to walk into traffic.

This had been a huge mistake. Huge. Gigantic. What had she been thinking? And even worse, she’d been getting calls and texts from her siblings all morning. It seemed that everything was currently a mess at home and now here. All because of her, as far as she was concerned.

“Hi!”

Toni’s head snapped up and she looked at the woman standing in the doorway.

“I’m Kerri,” the woman said, her smile bright.

Toni nodded.

“Your secretary.” Oh, God. She had a secretary now? What for? “Although I prefer admin, if that’s okay. Or assistant. Whatever.” The woman was so . . . perky. She couldn’t possibly be a shifter.

“Yeah,” she said, as if reading Toni’s mind. “I’m a full-human. Married to a wonderful hyena. I love his Clan. You know, when I first met him, I totally thought he was a woman, just big-boned, but then I found out he’s actually a man. He laughs at everything, like at my cousin’s funeral, which was awkward, but I just adore him. So you’re a . . .” She pointed a finger at her. “Jackal, right?”

Toni nodded. “That’s so cool! I wish I were a shifter. Being full-human is okay. I mean I’m healthy and not unattractive. But to be able to shift into an entirely different species . . . that’s so cool!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway, your office is finally ready.”

“Office?” The bobcat had put her at a desk not far from his own, and Toni hadn’t thought much about it. It was small but would do for her purposes.

“Floyd didn’t tell you, right?” Kerri asked with an eye roll. “Typical. You started so quickly after being hired that we didn’t have much time to set up your office. And I was making sure it was all going perfectly, so I’m very sorry I wasn’t there to greet you when you got in and that you had to deal with Floyd.” She stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes. Seconds later, her big smile returned. “Okay! So let’s go see your new office!”

Ricky had his head back and was staring up at the ceiling. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be. He was a strong, confident wolf who’d traveled the world. And yet he couldn’t seem to come up with any way to get these two She-wolves out of his office.

Ronnie was still talking, practically in tears, while Sissy Mae did that annoying repeating thing.

“I know you’re trying to get over this,” Ronnie Lee said.

“Trying so hard,” Sissy agreed.

“That you’re pretending her being here doesn’t bother you.”

“Pretending. Such pretending.”

“But we’re here for you.”

“We are so here for you.”

Just when Ricky was entertaining the idea of jumping out the window, there was a short knock at the door, and without waiting for an answer, Rory pushed it open.

“Hey, Ricky, I need you to—”

A job folder in his hands, Rory stopped mid-step, his gaze bouncing back and forth between Ronnie and Sissy.

“What are y’all doin’?”

Ronnie put her hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “Just talking to my brother. Is that all right with you?”

Rory lowered the folder. “Tell me you two aren’t still going on about Laura Jane.”

“Well, it’s not like you care, Rory Lee!”

“Because I don’t care! Neither does this idiot!” Rory stomped over to Ricky, grabbed his forearm, and yanked him out of the chair. “Now if you don’t mind, we have actual work to do.” Rory shoved the folder into his hand. “This client is having a problem with his system. Go take a look at it.”

Practically running, Ricky headed out of his office. “I’m on it!”

“This conversation isn’t over, Ricky Lee!” Ronnie yelled after him. “You’re going to have to face this at some point!”

Inside the elevator, Ricky gave a quick wave to a still giggling Mindy while he rammed the first-floor button until the doors closed. Then he let out a breath and said, “Not if I can help it.”

Toni sat at her giant mahogany desk with the state-of-the-art computer system, three HD monitors—why she’d need more than one monitor, she didn’t know—and her ergonomically designed leather executive chair. She sat and she silently freaked out.

It was a gift she had, silently freaking out. Most people, especially her family, did it loudly with much crying and yelling. Using the excuse of being artists, they were always very emotional, but Toni could never afford to do that. Someone in her family had to at least appear calm and rational.

This was true even if she were a total and complete mess. As Toni currently was at the moment. And she had been for the last three hours, through lunch, and several phone meetings, while she sat at her fancy new desk and silently freaked out.

“Hi, boss!” Kerri said as she walked into the office. She’d quickly become familiar, something Toni normally didn’t mind. But she hated that Kerri kept calling her “boss.” She wasn’t a boss. She’d never be a boss. At least not a good one.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier. Mr. Van Holtz is out of the office for a few weeks, but he handpicked me and didn’t want you to be fooled by my extremely perky nature and tendency to tell too much information about myself. He says that I’m really good at what I do and disgustingly loyal. He thinks we’ll get along great—and so do I!”

She sat in the chair across from Toni. “So, now that we have a few minutes, let’s discuss my role.” She flipped open the top of the leather folio she had in her hand, the PC tablet fired up and ready for her notes. “What do you need from me?”

Toni sat and stared at the woman, her eyes wide.

“Ma’am?”

“I can’t do this,” Toni finally admitted. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t belong here.” Toni jumped to her feet. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Go? Now? But Miss Jean-Louis—”

“I just . . . yeah.”

Swinging her backpack over one shoulder, Toni walked out of her office, down the hall, and to the elevator. As the elevator headed up, she began to write her resignation letter in her head.

Of all her bad ideas, taking this job had been the worst. But that was okay. She’d be fixing that as soon as she got home. She just had to get out of here first.

Ricky really did love rich people. Why? Because they paid for everything. Things that the rest of the world thought nothing of doing themselves, the rich insisted on hiring other people to do for them. For instance . . . rebooting the monitoring system. What did rebooting entail? Pressing the restart key on the PC keyboard until the system restarted. That was it. Then everything would start up again and go back online.

The owner of this system knew that information. It was something the company always told all of their clients. Information many of them appreciated and used. But the richer the client, the less they seemed to want to help themselves. Especially the clients who were born into their wealth. They were so used to others doing for them that even the simplest task required a staff.

But Ricky didn’t care about any of that because he’d just earned his company a little extra cash by rebooting a computer, double-checking that the cameras were working, and chatting up a client for an hour or so, something Ricky didn’t mind doing. He enjoyed talking to people even when they had nothing in common. You just never knew what you might learn from talking to strangers.

Even better, once Ricky was done with that client, he did an evaluation for another wealthy family and was now done for the day. Realizing it was nearly four, he decided to go see how Toni was doing the first day of her job. He recognized the look of terror on her face when she’d understood that limo was for her. Most people would run, jump, and skip into the backseat, but she just looked . . . confused, then panicked.

He walked in through the huge glass doors of the Sports Center. This was the main floor where the full-humans congregated. Here they could find all sorts of kid sports for future athletes, including gymnastic classes, basketball, ice skating, hockey, whatever. There were adult facilities, too. But to get to the real heart of this place, one had to descend to the lower floors where all the professional tri-state shifter sports teams trained and had their home games. That’s where the real entertainment was, but Ricky didn’t quite make it down there . . .

She stood with her back against a pillar, one leg bent at the knee, the foot pressed against the concrete behind her. Long brown hair reaching her slim waist, bright green eyes ever watchful, cheekbones as sharp as her tongue. She smiled as soon as she saw him and he knew she’d been waiting for him.

He walked up to her, nodded his head. “Laura Jane.”

“Hey, Ricky Lee. Your brother told me you’d be here.”

“Rory or Reece?”

“Reece.”

That made sense. If Reece thought he’d have a shot at nailing Laura Jane, he’d tell her anything she wanted to know. Not that Ricky blamed his baby brother. All these years and Laura Jane still looked good. Even at seventeen, there’d been something very sultry about her and it was still there, but now it had matured, been honed into something lethal.

“So what do you need, Laura Jane?”

“Well, I came to visit my kin for a couple of weeks, and your sister has not been making it easy.”

“What do you want me to do about that?”

“I figure if we can show her there’s no hard feelings about what happened all those years ago, she’d back off a little.”

Ricky doubted it, but he was curious to see where this was going.

“And how should we show her that? That there’s no hard feelings, I mean?”

Laura Jane gave one of those slow, drawn-out shrugs. The kind that used to drive him wild when he was seventeen. “Maybe we could go have dinner. Talk about old times. Show your sister there’s nothin’ to worry about anymore.”

“You know, Laura Jane, that sounds like a real nice idea but . . .”

Ricky Lee’s words of refusal faded away when Toni sprinted past him in that uncomfortable-looking suit. Charging right behind her was some full-human gal who kept calling her name.

“Uh . . . excuse me, Laura Jane. I’ve gotta . . .” Ricky didn’t bother finishing, just went after the two women, catching up to them at the corner.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I have to go,” Toni said, her arm out as she tried to hail a cab.

“But Ms. Jean-Louis,” the full-human protested, “I’m sure this will work out.”

“Nope. It won’t. I’ve gotta go.”

Yup. That was panic. Ricky knew the signs.

“Tell them I quit,” Toni barked, her arm waving wildly at any and every cab that passed.

“Don’t tell them anything,” Ricky ordered the full-human, his arm going around Toni’s waist and lifting her off the ground. “Just say she left for the day. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.” She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a set of keys and a piece of paper. “This is also for Ms. Jean-Louis.”

Ricky nodded and, with Toni in his arms, stepped in front of an available cab. The cab screeched to a halt, and while the driver cursed at them, Ricky carried Toni to the back of the cab and pushed her inside.

He looked at the full-human. “She’s gone for the day,” he reminded her again. “That’s all that needs to be said.”

Grinning, appearing relieved, the full-human nodded. “Gone for the day. I’ll take care of it.”

Once in the cab, Ricky closed the door and gave the driver—who was still cursing at him—Toni’s address.

When the driver finally pulled back into traffic, Ricky looked over at the She-jackal who was curled into the corner of the cab—panting.

“So, darlin’,” he asked, “how did your day go?”

The wolf reached into the cab and insisted on dragging her out.

“No!” she argued, slapping at his hands. “I said take me to LaGuardia! This is not LaGuardia!”

“Come on. Once we get you inside and get you some ice cream or some hot chocolate—”

“No!”

“—you’ll feel much better.”

“Stop being so rational!” She grabbed the inside door handle on the opposite side and held on.

“Now, darlin’,” he said, “don’t make me get a pinch collar and a leash.”

“I hate you! I hate my parents! I hate my brothers and sisters! And I blame you for all of this!” Toni knew she was being irrational, but she simply did not care.

“You’re absolutely right,” the wolf soothed. “And you should go inside right now and tell them all exactly how you’re feelin’!”

Toni stopped trying to kick the wolf in the face and thought on that.

“Yes. I really should tell them how much they’ve screwed up my life!”

She scrambled out of the cab, yanking her bag repeatedly when the strap got caught on the door.

“I’m going to tell all of them exactly what I’m thinking!”

“Good.” The wolf easily removed the strap from the car door. She saw him reach back into the cab and hand the driver money.

Angry at the world, Toni headed up the stairs and into her parents’ rental house. But before she could say a word or take a step farther, Kyle ran into the hallway from the library.

“She’s here!” he yelled. “She’s back!”

And like locusts, they descended on her. Her mother. Her siblings. Her father and Cooper tried to stop them, but it was no use.

“You have to do something,” Oriana ordered. “Mom can’t schedule to save her or my life. I’ve already missed three classes today!”

Troy pushed Oriana out of the way. “I need you to arrange a meeting with the head of the math department at Columbia. Aunt Irene called him, but she ended up arguing with the guy.”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Aunt Irene complained from the stairs. “At least whoever I actually spoke to that refused to let me talk to the head of the math department is an idiot. And obviously jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” Troy demanded.

“That I easily raise more money for my department than he does.” Irene came down the stairs, a duffel bag in her hand. “Plus, I have, according to your Uncle Van, amazing legs.”

“Is that why you’re walking all slow and sexy down the stairs?” Cooper teased.

“Yes.” Irene pushed her way through the children and handed Toni the bag. Then she turned her around and pushed her toward the door.

“Wait,” Kyle said. “Where is she going? Why is she leaving? Stop this madness!”

The door closed behind Toni and she could hear the arguing continue as she walked back down the steps and met up with the wolf.

“That went well,” he said.

“I can’t go in there,” she admitted. “I can’t handle them right now.” She looked around. “But I have nowhere to go.” She let out a sigh. “I hate my life.”

“Come on,” Ricky said.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” he said, not making the least bit of sense. “But I swear, entertainment seems to follow you around, like a puppy after its momma. So I am along for the ride, darlin’.”

Ricky showed the keys to the doorman and, without question, he sent the pair to the fifteenth floor. Once they arrived, they walked down the hallway to the last apartment. Ricky unlocked the door and together they stepped in.

“Wow.” Toni sighed as she entered and looked around.

“Your apartment is amazing.”

“This ain’t my apartment.”

Toni stopped, faced him with wide eyes. “Are we doing some illegal Smith thing?”

That made Ricky chuckle. Everybody thought the Smith Pack was always running around doing illegal shit. And, mostly, they were. But that wasn’t how Ricky and his brothers were raised. Their momma didn’t like “the criminal types,” so she made sure that none of her boys were. Too bad she didn’t really convey that attitude to her daughter, too, but Ronnie had cleaned up her act since the Pack had moved to New York and she’d mated with that big-haired lion male.

“No, darlin’, we’re not doing anything illegal. This isn’t my apartment, but I think it’s yours.”

Toni blinked and her back snapped straight. “What? What are you talking about?”

“This is your apartment. You were having a meltdown in the cab when that little full-human handed me the keys and this address.” He held out the sheet of paper the full-human had written the address on. Toni snatched it out of his hand and gawked at it.

“Maybe she was hitting on you,” Toni said desperately. “You’re cute. She was probably trying to lure you to her house so she could hook up with you.”

“Awww. You think I’m cute?”

“Good God, would you focus?”

“No need to blaspheme.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“You might as well accept that this beautifully furnished home is yours.”

“Lies!”

Ricky pointed at the two dozen white roses on the long table underneath a mirror. “The card by these flowers has your name on it.”

“What?” She snatched up the card, tore it open, and read out loud, “ ‘Because it’s time you had a place of your own. Ric.’ ”

“See?”

“See?” she repeated back to him, her eyes locking on him. “See? Don’t you understand? This is a nightmare!”

“You know what?” Ricky placed the duffel bag back in Toni’s hand and turned her toward the bedrooms. “Why don’t you go change out of that uncomfortable-looking suit?”

“Why does everyone hate this suit?”

“We don’t. We hate you in that suit. You’re clearly not comfortable.”

“I know. I’m so miserable.”

Ricky gave her a little push. “Go change. I’ll order us some food. Chinese work for you?”

“Whatever.”

Ricky dropped his head in case Toni looked back and saw him laughing.

Such a cute, confusing little thing. But, again, entertaining. Really, truly entertaining.