Page 71 of Exposed

I look back at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Mr. Elrod.”

I follow her gaze through the gate and gardens to find an oldman glaring at us. He’s standing in front of the door to the unit below Goldie’s with a rat of a dog tucked under his arm.

She tries to pull her hand from mine, but I hold tight. “Is there a problem with Mr. Elrod?”

Goldie shakes her head, but her answer doesn’t match. “Yes. So many problems.”

“Goldie!” the old man yells.

The poor excuse for a dog echoes his greeting. “Ruff!”

“I saw you in that car with that man!” Mr. Elrod yells.

“What the hell?” I mutter and give her a yank. I feel like the entire fucking world is working against me. I wasn’t kidding about locking her up. I may never let her out and will be happy to stay forever.

Goldie moves when I pull her through the gate, but it’s reluctant. When we get to the stairs, Mr. Elrod comes after us. “Who are you,sir?”

I stop. The way he saidsirsounds more likeboy. I wouldn’t give a shit about either, but Goldie is clearly uncomfortable, which is not cool with me.

What he doesn’t know is I’m not new to old, nosy people. Ever since I moved back to Miami, they’re a constant in my life.

I can charm the blue hair off old ladies, and the men usually like to talk about the weather or how technology is making our society fall apart. What none of them do is call me sir like they’re challenging me to a duel.

“Daniel Armstrong.” I let go of Goldie’s hand and offer it to the old man. “Goldie’s fiancé.”

Goldie sucks in an audible breath.

And the old man does not accept my hand but rather bellows, “Fiancé?”

I glance at Goldie. “Are you keeping our engagement a secret?”

Goldie doesn’t have a chance to answer or yell at me.

“She hasn’t told me anything.” Mr. Elrod glares at his neighbor. “Are you the reason there was a scuffle last night outside of her apartment?”

“No, no, of course not,” Goldie says. “I had a misunderstanding with a delivery driver. That’s all. My order was mixed up. It was nothing.”

“It didn’t sound like nothing,” Mr. Elrod goes on. “One man was threatening another. I heard the whole thing. It was all I could do to keep Squirrel from barking at the commotion.”

Goldie comes to my side and this time she takes my hand and rushes for the stairs as she speaks, “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Mr. Elrod follows us to the base of the stairs. “Hang on there, mister. I don’t know anything about you.”

“Nothing to know,” Goldie calls. “Love and marriage, ‘til death do us part. That’s all.”

Mr. Elrod raises his voice as we climb the stairs. “When’s the wedding?”

“Next year,” Goldie calls at the same time I say, “In a few weeks.”

I hear a frown in his voice. “So when is it? I need to mark my calendar.”

Goldie peeks over the railing. “It’s a small wedding. Very intimate. Family only.”

She rolls her eyes and digs a ring of keys from her purse even though Mr. Elrod keeps talking. “But I am family!”

She turns the lock, pushes the door in, and calls, “Have a nice evening!”

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