Page 50 of Boss Me Around

“Is Kyle your boyfriend, McGuire?” Unger grunts from the floor, where Bella has now joined the crew holding him to the ground, clearly not trusting that the humans have this situation handled just yet. She sits on his head, her tail swishing into his face as he adds, “I wouldn’t be surprised. You always seemed a little light in the loafers to me.”

“None of your business, Unger,” I say pleasantly, taking a cue from my cool as a cucumber girlfriend. “It won’t concern you, anyway. Seeing as you’re going back to prison, you won’t be invited to the housewarming party.”

“Starling, are you okay?” a worried voice shouts from outside. A moment later, Starling’s sister, Wren, appears in the doorway in a long white nightgown, carrying a shotgun.

“I’m fine, and the bad guy is already on the ground,” Starling says. “But we should call the police.”

“I called 911 a minute ago,” Wren says. “As soon as I saw your car parked down the road. But they said two other people had already called in.”

“Probably Nora and Sheila,” Starling says. “I sent out a few SOS texts before I left my car.” She glances up at me. “I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness for overreacting than get in trouble for underreacting.”

“Smart,” I say. “But if there’s ever a next time for something like this, you should stay in the car.”

“Agreed.” Wren surveys the scene for a moment, double checking that Starling is really okay before she lets her weapon drop to her side. “The police should be here soon. In the meantime, somebody want to tell me what the heck is going on?” She blinks again. “And why there’s a skunk sitting on that man’s head?”

“Unger was trying to steal from me,” I say, nodding toward the pinned man. “But Starling, Gage, and Norman helped me take him down, with a little help from Bella. She’s my skunk and a real sweetheart as long as you don’t get on her bad side.”

“That’s bullshit! I wasn’t the only one who—” Unger breaks off with a grunt, his voice muffled as Gage applies fresh pressure to his back and Bella flops her tail over his nose.

“Shut up, Unger, you’ve done enough damage,” Gage growls. To me he says, “Thank you, Christian. For the chance to be on your side. Norman and I promise you won’t regret it.”

“We do, we promise,” Norman agrees.

He starts to say something else but is interrupted by the sound of sirens wailing in the distance.

Starling takes my hand as we all turn to face the door.

“I’m so sorry,” I murmur for her ears only. “About the tape. From what Matty said when we talked earlier, getting it taken down probably won’t be easy.”

“It’s okay.” She sighs. “Well, it’s not okay. It’s mortifying, but like I said, seeing you in trouble put things in perspective. I can survive the fallout from a sex tape.” She tightens her grip on my hand. “Not sure I could survive a world with no Christian in it.” Her lips tremble into a shy smile as she adds in a softer voice, “You really love me?”

“I do,” I promise. “A ridiculous amount.”

Her grin widens. “Me, too. I’m totally smitten with you, McGuire. Have been for a while. And I secretly always thought you looked smoking hot in your stripper speedo.”

I smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She leans closer to my side. “I’m so glad you’re going to be mine.”

“Me, too,” I agree, holding her close as we wait for the police to arrive and the rest of our life to begin.

Chapter Twenty-One

STARLING

Over a month later…

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a turkey in an old-fashioned bow tie will be in want of a matching lace collar for his wife.

And a new bouncy ball.

And extra corn feed.

And his dog bed in case he decides he needs a nap while at a playdate at a friend’s house.

“Oh my gosh, they’re adorable! So fancy and vintage,” Nora says when I arrive at the gate to her backyard with the two turkeys and all their accoutrement around ten a.m. She stands back, motioning for Kyle and his new mate, Penelope, to come on in, as I set the feed and bag of toys inside by the fence. “Welcome, guys. Happy Thanksgiving! We’re so glad you came to party with us.”

“Thank you so much for taking them,” I say, beaming as Kyle and Penny race off to explore the toddler slides Nora borrowed from a friend for the occasion. “Penny’s even smarter than Kyle. I just know she would have figured out what the McGuire’s are serving for supper today and flipped out.”

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