Page 21 of Bad Guys Need Love Too

Ren shrugged. “That’s OK. I have a full identity built for Bill the utilities guy. You can tell him we’d been dating for a while behind his back, but weren’t ready to tell him. So, when I came to see you and he was home, we pretended I was there to check for a gas leak.”

She should not be feeling a little zing of excitement at the thought of even fake dating Ren. But she was. So much so that she was choosing to ignore how he’d built an entire identity for Bill the utilities guy just to gain access to her house. “I’d feel like a real jerk breaking up with him over the phone,” she admitted. “Is there any way I can do it in person? Maybe meet at a coffee shop, or something?”

The sigh Ren let out sounded like he’d conjured it up out of hell’s basement. Heclearlywanted to say no. And she knew she was asking for something dumb. With an assassin after her (which even sounded weird when she was saying it in her own head), the safe play was to hang out here in Ren’s underground fortress with her French/German-speaking guard dog.

But hell, she’d dated Neal for years. Had agreed to marry him at one point. Even given her current circumstances, dumping him over text just seemed…wrong. Their relationship was at least worth an in-person goodbye. (Or, an in-personfuck off, as the case may be.)

Tenley nudged Ren with her shoulder. “Aw, come on. You can safeguard her in public for a few minutes while she breaks this poor loser’s heart, can’t you? I’ll even go in first and scope the place out if you want.”

He glared at her, but when his eyes turned back to Lark, they softened in a way that didnothingto quell the tingly feelings he inappropriately inspired in her. “I can make it work,” he eventually grumbled. “Our contract killer is still in the hospital under what I discovered is a fake name. He’ll probably be there until midday at least. I can jam up his release paperwork for at least another few hours. So, if we meet Neal—” he said her soon-to-be-ex fiancé’s name with the same enthusiasm most people reserved for ticks and bill collectors “—this morning, in public, at a place that’s not anywhere near any of the places you usually frequent, it should be fine.”

She swallowed hard at his use of the wordwe. They were actually going to do this. She was finally going to be rid of Neal, once and for all. And Ren was going to pretend to be her new boyfriend. “This is all kind of surreal,” she grumbled.

Tenley smirked at her. “Don’t you worry, cupcake. What’s surreal for most people is just…Tuesday for career criminals. You’re in good hands.”

Ren shot his friend a look sharp enough to separate flesh from bone, presumably because he didn’t want Lark to think of him as a career criminal. She assumed it was because he didn’t wanther to be afraid of him. He needn’t worry. The fact that he was a criminal (with a criminal for a best friend) was the least of her concerns.

The crush she was developing on him waswayscarier.

CHAPTER 11

Lark was wearing a ball cap with all her hair tucked up underneath it, huge dark glasses, and clothes she’d never worn before beneath an oversized men’s jacket. Most people, even those who knew her well, wouldn’t be able to pick her out of a crowd.

But Ren could have.

He’d know her anywhere, no matter how she disguised herself. Because for him, she was one of the only things he’d ever found that made him think this entire fucked up world was worth saving.

She glanced at him from the passenger seat of his SUV. The ridiculously oversized glasses Tenley had given her slid down her little button nose, giving him a glimpse of her gorgeous-but-terrified eyes. “Are you sure you’re OK with this?”

He shrugged. “I mean, I would prefer you not be in public until this thing is resolved. But we took plenty of precautions. I’m not too worried.”

Or, he was no more worried than usual, he supposed. He pretty much existed in a constant state of worried readiness. That wasn’t anything she needed to trouble herself with, though. It was admirable that she wanted to break up with her douchebag fiancé in person.

And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t willing to move heaven and earth to help her scrape this particular piece of gum off her shoe.

She shook her head. “No, I mean the whole pretending to be my boyfriend thing. Are you OK withthat?”

Would it be creepy to admit he was looking forward to that part because it might give him the opportunity to touch her in a casual way without her shrinking away from him in fear? Yeah. That was creepy. “I don’t mind.”

All bow to the king of understatement.

She looked across the parking lot toward the diner he’d chosen as a meeting place for the breakup and his debut as Lark’s boyfriend. Her obvious nervousness made his gut clench. For a person who was as sweet and kind as Lark, this had to be terribly difficult.

He wished he could’ve sent Tenley to break up with the guy for her. Tenley would’ve gotten the job done in under three minutes, convinced him never to darken Lark’s door again, and pocketed his wallet while he wasn’t looking.

But Lark wasn’t anything like Tenley. Or him, for that matter. He’d never had a long-term romantic relationship, so he’d never had to break anyone’s heart. He didn’t think it’d be a problem for him, though. Unless he had to break Lark’s heart. Which he wouldn’t because he’d rather die.

God, he was pathetic.

“Are you ready?” he asked quietly.

She squared her shoulders and sat up a little straighter in her seat. He loved that about her. She was nervous, she’d had the worst week of her life, and she was still ready to march in and do what needed to be done. He admired the hell out of her strength and her desire to do the right thing, even when that thing was painful.

“This has been a long time coming,” she said. “I never should’ve accepted his marriage proposal.”

“Why did you?” he couldn’t help but ask. She was light years out of his league. He’d always wondered why she even agreed to date the little turd, let alonemarryhim.

Her nose scrunched up in a way he found utterly adorable. “I’ve been with him since college. I guess maybe I got…complacent? At some point, I got tired of waiting for the whole heart fluttering, super passionate, sexy, fairy tale kind of love, and figured the safer bet was to stick with the steady, predicable guy who seemed to love me a lot.” She shrugged. “It seemed like the best way to not end up hurt, you know?”

---