Page 24 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

Lucy looked around the pub. “Are you really a thief?”

Cal narrowed her eyes.

“No, I’m just asking,” said Lucy. “Just answer me truthfully and that’ll be the end of that.”

“Beyond lifting a few sweets from the Guptas when I was a kid, no.”

“So, when do we start?”

“Start doing what?”

Lucy grinned at her. She had no idea why she was doing this other than the fact that Cal was very obviously someone in need. “Cleaning out your mum’s house.”

“No, no,” Cal said, drinking a large mouthful of beer. “You don’t have to—”

“I don’t have to do anything.” Lucy put her hands on the table. “I was homeless when I came here. Full on living on the streets and everything. Someone gave me a hand. She had no reason to, other than that she was kind. She just did it and it changed mylife. So… I’ve got a lot of debts to repay.”

“I’m not your debt,” Cal said.

Lucy sniffed and could smell a citrusy, musky scent that smelled like men’s aftershave. The smell made her stomach flip over a little. Alright, she wasn’t being completely honest. She did know why she was doing this. Partly it was because Pen had helped her. But it was also because… spending a few enforced hours with Cal didn’t seem like a hardship.

“Fine, then I’ll help you with your mother’s house and you’ll do something for me in return.”

Cal’s eyes glittered a little at this and Lucy felt her stomach flip again. She really did like her.

“Got anything in mind?” asked Cal, eyebrow lifting suggestively.

Lucy had a flashback to straddling Cal on the street and her insides turned molten. Then she heard Mikey laugh at the bar and an idea came to her.

Whatever was going on here, Cal needed to be a part of a community. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but if Cal said she wasn’t a thief then she wasn’t a thief. And someone should put that right. No one deserved a reputation for something they hadn’t done.

Maybe all Cal needed was an in, someone to stick up for her, a chance to prove herself.

“My friends are getting married this weekend,” Lucy said, leaning her elbows on the table. “I could use a date.”

Cal laughed until she realized that Lucy wasn’t laughing. “You’re serious?”

Lucy shrugged. “A couple of hours at a nice wedding balanced against a zillion hours helping you clean out your mum’s house seems like not too much to ask.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But you don’t want to spend time with me?” Lucy asked, biting her lip and looking up at Cal from under her eyelashes.

“Oh, Jesus, the things I do for a pretty face,” Cal groaned.

“So you think I’m pretty?” Lucy beamed.

Cal sighed. “I think… I think there’s a million things you don’t understand here, Lucy.”

Lucy wasn’t so sure. She understood loneliness. She understood complicated families. She understood that Cal was as attracted to her as she was to Cal. That seemed like a lot of understanding to her.

“Come on, it’s a good deal,” she said. “And at least you’ll get to see one friendly face a day. I promise that I won’t mistake you for a shoplifter again.”

Mikey laughed at the bar again and Cal looked over at him, her eyes clouding a little. “There might be people at this wedding that aren’t exactly pleased to see me.”

“These people are my friends. Trust me. You’ll be fine. And I can always defend your honor.”

Cal laughed.

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