Page 20 of Bad Guys Need Love Too

Ren gave her that crooked little smile that gave herallthe stomach butterflies. “He entered twelve times. I notified him he won and sent him the tickets this morning. He already claimed them. I’m sure he’ll be calling you to give you their itinerary any minute now.”

Lark let out a relieved sigh. “OK, good. I’ll feel a lot better knowing they’re all safe.”

Tenley gave Ren a very pointed stare and asked, “What about the boyfriend? Did you make any plans for him?”

Guilt stabbed Lark’s heart. Not a big stab. More like a little prick. Which, heh, was kind of fitting. But still, she felt guilty for not even considering Neal’s safety in this whole fiasco.

A muscle in Ren’s jaw twitched. “No. I figured he could take care of himself.”

“I should at least try to keep him out of my house,” Lark said quietly. “You said the killer would be watching it, right?”

He got a look on his face like he was sniffing sour milk. “I’ll send someone to change the locks so he can’t get in. But what will make him keep his distance? A trip somewhere?”

She rubbed her temples. “No. He’d never leave town now. He just made partner at his firm.”

“Maybe if he thoughtyouwere going on a trip somewhere, he’d stay away,” Tenley suggested.

“I can make it look like you went anywhere,” Ren said eagerly.

Which was…not comforting. “That would work, but honestly, I’ve been meaning to break up with him.”

Ren sat up straighter. “You have?”

Was it her imagination, or did he sound inordinately pleased by that prospect? Or maybe it was just her own wishful thinking. She nodded. “I could just call him and tell him it’s over and ask him to stay away. ”

“Would that keep him away, though?” Tenley asked. “Is he the type that’d take the loss and move on?”

Ugh. “Actually…no. He’s not. He’s likely to have lots of questions. And he’ll argue with me.”

“You said he just made partner,” Tenley said. “Lawyer? Corporate, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.”

She shifted her gaze to Ren. “She’s right. No way is he letting her go without a fight.”

Ren’s chin hit his chest. “OK. What kind of reason for a breakup would henotargue with?”

Lark looked to Tenley, because she’d been searching for a graceful way out of this relationship for at least a year now and hadn’t figured it out. Maybegracefulwas the real problem. Maybe what she needed was a totally ungraceful, messy, ugly breakup reason. And something told her Tenley would know just how to get that done.

“You’ll have to wound his pride,” Tenley said. “Another man, maybe?”

Lark’s eyes slid to Ren, who met her gaze with a kind of unflinching intensity that gave her goosebumps. “He’d have questions,” she said. “It’s not like I go out a lot or meet a lot of eligible men at the flower shop.”

Tenley thought for a minute, then asked, “Is he hot? Like, stupid hot? Muscle-y or anything?”

“No,” Lark answered a little too quickly at the same time Ren pulled up one of his camera feeds on his phone and showed Tenley a picture of Neal.

“Oh, yeah,” Tenley said with a grin that could only be described as the Grinch about to steal Christmas from Cindy Lou Who. “Tell this guy Ren’s your new boyfriend. He’ll dissolve into a puddle of self-doubt that’ll last at least a week. It’ll buy you some time to get this all cleared up.”

Ren’s brow furrowed. “Why would he care about me?”

“Because he’s smart and successful and well educated, he thinks he’s going to rule the world one day,” Tenley said. “What he can never be, no matter how hard he tries, is as hot as you. Thinking that what she wants is a giant, tattooed, muscle-y guy that looks like he can take on John Wick with his bare hands will throw poor little Niles for an epic loop.”

“Neal,” Lark corrected.

Tenley cringed. “Like that’s any better.”

Lark bit her lower lip. “He saw Ren, though. He knows him as Bill the utilities guy.”

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