Page 25 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“So, do we have a deal?” Lucy asked, sticking out her hand.

It was a full second before Cal moved. But then she grasped Lucy’s hand firmly and shook it so hard that sparks flew up her arm and her pulse started to race.

Chapter Ten

Opening the door for a second time was no easier than opening it the first time. But that was mostly because this time, Cal was carrying a collection of boxes she’d picked up from the cellar of the pub. Rosalee had begrudgingly told her she could take them.

She struggled through the door, leaving the boxes in the hall before turning back to grab the two she’d dropped and catching sight of someone strolling down the pavement. She leaned on the doorframe and watched as Lucy came closer.

Okay, okay, she was being an idiot. Pretty women always made her into a bit of an idiot. To be fair, the offer to help had seemed genuine and Cal knew she could use it. The wedding invitation… that was trickier. But she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

The thought of spending a few hours with Lucy though, that had been what really sealed the deal. Not that she had any intention at all of starting something, not when she was only around for a few days, but having someone friendly and attractive around was only going to make this job easier.

And Lucy was both of those things.

Cal grinned as Lucy turned into the front garden. “Wasn’t sure you were going to show up.”

“It’s my day off,” said Lucy, grinning right back. “It was this or be stuck in the garage painting.”

“You paint your garage?”

“It’s not my garage, it belongs to my landlords, and I don’t paint it, I paint in it. Big difference.”

“Ah,” Cal said, noticing that Lucy’s eyes crinkled a little in the corners when she smiled. “So you’re a painter then.”

“Of the artistic variety, rather than the painting and decorating variety.” Lucy surveyed the open front door with its cracked paint. “Though I could probably do both at a stretch.”

“No beautification necessary here,” Cal said firmly. “This is purely sticking things in boxes and getting out of here.”

“Right,” Lucy said.

They dawdled on the doorstep for another few seconds.

“Shall we go in then?” Lucy asked finally.

Cal swallowed, nodded, and led the way inside.

Somehow, knowing what she was going to see made it worse rather than better. Coming into the living room and seeing the mantelpiece bare made her heart still for a moment and she had to stop, holding onto the back of the couch. She didn’t think she’d ever seen the mantelpiece without some collection of knick-knacks on it.

“You alright there?” Lucy asked, coming around the couch.

“Yeah, fine.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “I gather that you weren’t on the best of terms with your mum, but you do know that that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be affected, right?”

Cal grunted in response.

Lucy sighed. “Did you cry yet?”

Cal forced herself to smile a little. “You know that big, bad butches don’t cry, right?”

Lucy raised her other eyebrow, a talent that Cal found herself jealous of. “You know that sweet femmes don’t launch flying rugby tackles at shoplifters, right?”

This time Cal did actually laugh. “Fair enough.” She looked around, trying to make herself feel something more, blinked trying to make herself cry. “Yeah, now that we’ve talked about it, I can’t cry. Not on demand.”

“I could poke you in the eye if you think that’d help?” askedLucy.

Cal laughed again. “Maybe later?”

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