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“No, that’s okay. I saw the pictures in the ad. The place looks beautiful.”
“Thanks!” In spite of the bizarreness of the situation, Sully felt a pulse of pride. Cinderellawasbeautiful.
“I’ll be a good tenant, I swear,” Tess said in a rush. “I can pay first month and last month and the security deposit, whatever it is. I’m, uh, not currently employed, but I have a lot of savings.”
Danger, danger, danger!
Sully knew he should smile, take the woman’s application, and pour a liter of kerosene on it before lighting a match. She was everything Hue had warned him about, all rolled into a chaotic petite package.
Tess looked down and rubbed her arm. Her lower lip quivered. Despair rolled off her in waves that were almost physical.
“I know how this must look,” she said softly. Her hazel eyes found his again. “But I swear I’m a good person. A mostly sane person. I just need… I just need something to go right today.”
Aw, hell.
“Okay.” The word popped out of Sully’s mouth.
“Okay?” Tess’s voice betrayed her shock.
“Yes,” Sully heard himself say. “If you want the house, it’s yours.”
Tess smiled, and it transformed her face. She was a beautiful woman, though Sully felt no romantic attraction to her. The cloud of despair hanging over her was a clear “keep your distance” warning. The only thing Sully wanted was to be the one thing that went right for her today. After all, he knew what it felt like to need a win.
“Wow,” Tess babbled. “Yes, that would be… wonderful. Thank you. When can I move in?”
“You’ll need to fill out an application,” Sully added quickly, “and I’ll need to do a credit check and background check.”
“Of course, of course.” Tess’s ponytail bobbed as she nodded eagerly. “I have great credit.”
God, Hue was going to kill him for being such a softie, but Sully didn’t care. It felt good to help someone in such obvious need, and at least she wasn’t a—
“Oh shit!” Tess’s eyes widened and she whipped around, lurching for the Jeep. She flung open the back door and pulled out a large handbag.
The handbag yowled.
Tess gave Sully a weak smile. “You allow cats, right?”
Ch. 8 Alanna
“Roger,youareaprince among men,” Alanna declared as her new bestie pulled into the small parking lot of the Yucca Hills Animal Rescue.
The Uber driver grinned at her. “Don’t I know it, darlin’.”
Roger was as easygoing as the blue Honda he drove, and he’d been game for the past hour’s adventure.
“Here’s a little extra something if you just wait here a bit,” Alanna said, plucking a $20 bill from her purse.
“You got it.” Roger tucked the bill into the pocket of his ancient, acid-washed jeans.
Alanna struggled to exit the car, pushing her way through a cluster of reusable plastic bags, each stamped with the logo Yucca Hills Pets Palace.It’d taken a Herculean effort by Roger to fit the swanky scratching post, massive tub of litter, and WiFi-enabled smart litter box into the Honda’s tiny trunk. Alanna had been worried the beer-bellied boomer might slip a disk, but he’d somehow done it.
It’d been worth all the trouble. Nothing but the best for her future mutant cat.
Though Alanna was sober… well, mostly sober… well, sober enough, her conviction hadn’t wavered. Once out of the car, she dug through the piles of bags until she claimed the pink carrying case with price tag still attached.
Roger shoved a Jefferson Airplane cassette into his car’s retrofitted tape deck, then leaned out the window.
“Good luck,” he called.
