Page 38 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
If I could kill him with my bare hands, I would. In this moment, I swear I would.
Lottie sighs before gracing me with the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen, and the corded muscles in my neck slowly unwind. “They are, but no more so than anyone else in Sweetbriar.”
“I’m not like other people in Sweetbriar.” I’m truly offended by this, and I don’t need to meet Rafe’s gaze to know he wants to tell me to watch my tone again. It’s radiating from his pores.
“No,” she agrees. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met…in the best way possible.”
I stand a little taller as the compliment weaves through my molecules as if they’re a magical cure for all the insecurities I hide.
“You have a nice smile. You should use it more.”
“I want to kiss you.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why can’t I control my mouth around her?
Rafe chokes on a laugh.
“I’m sure you do, but I don’t date clients, so that’s not happening.” Her voice carries a strange wobble that I think I like.
“It will.”
She backs up a step, and I tell my legs to stay still, even though they want to move with her.
“I’ll make a deal with you, Thane.”
Her smile is directed solely at me, and I press my fist to my chest. What the fuck was that? I’m used to the volcano that lives there—I wasn’t ready for an earthquake.
“What kind of deal?”
Lottie’s lashes flutter, and the crinkle at the corners of her blue eyes narrows, but it still manages to brighten her entire face. It’s as though she’s turned up the sun that rises on her whim. “I’ll help you with Kara.”
“You will?”
She nods. “I will. But you have to do something in return.”
“Done.” I’ll do anything for either of them.
Take her on a date? Help her with her woefully outdated servers? Redesign her website that functions as though a toddler made it? Create a business plan that incorporates all the uses for her technology? Identify who’s penetrating her cloud services? Actually, that one I’ve already started on. It’s like Whac-A-Mole with a fuckwad, but I’ll catch him—I always do. Jesus, I’d do all of this and more if she helps me with Kara.
“You never make a deal without knowing all the facts. You know better than that.”
Lottie Sinclair is scolding me now? She’s right—I do know better. But I have zero hesitation trusting her, and that’s never happened before, not even with Rafe.
“Okay, what are your demands?” I have the oddest sensation that I’m floating, so I surreptitiously check to make sure my feet are touching the ground.
“Therapy.”
“No.” It’s out before I’ve fully registered what she said. Therapy? No fucking way.
“Thane.” She stomps her foot. “Do you want help with Kara or not?”
“You know I do.”
“Breathe,” Rafe says.
I scowl at him. He has the timing of a chimpanzee.
“The only way she’s going to feel safe and secure is if you both seek therapy,” Lottie says. “Separately, and together.”
“No.”
