End of Story(37)

“Really?”

My smile felt all sorts of wrong. “This is unfortunate, but it’ll be fine.”

Cleo said her goodbyes, and Lars helped her carry her gear out to her car.

Now was a great time to pace. Back and forth across the living room in a fevered fashion. Once I disposed of the shirt, of course. Every window was open to air out the room, but the horrible scent still lingered. What a feral little thing.

“You all right?” asked Lars, when he came back inside.

“No.”

“Hey, it’s—”

“My cat urinated on a client’s fifteen-thousand-dollar guitar,” I moaned.

He paused. “Susie...”

“Austin must hate me. He definitely will when I tell him I don’t want to go out to dinner with him. Though maybe he’s changed his mind about that and fair enough.”

“Austin asked you out?”

I nodded. Still pacing my heart out. “And he’s really great. He’s attractive, smart, funny...”

Lars crossed his arms.

“We only turned our backs for a minute. We were just setting up the last shot by the mantel. She’s never done anything like this before.”

“It’ll be okay.”

“What if he wants me to replace the instrument? I spent all of my spare money doing up the house.”

“I’ve known Austin a long time and he’s not the kind of guy to act like an asshole. Not over something like this.”

I kept right on pacing. “Did you see the look on his face when he left?”

“Yeah,” said Lars. “But it’ll be okay. He was upset. Not angry.”

“I just have the worst feeling.”

“You’re fine.”

“He probably does hate me.”

“He wants to get into your pants, by the sound of things,” said Lars. “But it’s not like he’s going to sue you when you turn him down.”

“Oh my God,” I gasped. “He could sue me. I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe I should just go on the stupid date.”

“What?” He frowned. “No. He’s not going to sue you. I don’t think going out with him is the answer. Unless you’ve changed your mind and want to go out with him.”

“No, not really.”

“Right.” Tension eased out of his broad shoulders. “There’s your answer then.”

“What a mess.”

“The peroxide was working, right?”

“Who knows?” I kept on pacing, tugging hard on my braid. “What if word gets around that I destroyed a client’s property?”

“There’s no reason anyone would find out.”

“No one will hire me ever again,” I said morosely. “I’ll be the cat-pee lady. That’s what they’ll call me.”

“Susie...”

“Hmm?”

Lars stepped into my path and grabbed hold of my shoulders. He’d startled me mid-doom spiral. And the frown on his face and intensity in his eyes was immense. “You have to calm down,” he said sternly. “Nothing bad has happened yet.”

“But it might.”

“You don’t think you’re maybe being a touch overdramatic?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “What if I did go out with him?”

“That is not the answer,” he said through gritted teeth. “As we’ve already discussed twice now.”

“Yeah, but are you really sure it wouldn’t help? Because right now it’s not like it would hurt anything. I can smile and be friendly for the sake of my immediate economic future. It’s not like he isn’t a pretty man.”

Lars’s frown amped up to a scowl. “Wait. So you are attracted to him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Susie, I need an answer.” He got all up in my face. His expression somewhere between confusion and rage. “Yes or no? Are you going to go out with Austin or not?”

“Um, well...”

Guess my hesitation was the last straw for him. Because he made a growling noise and slammed his mouth down on mine. Warm firm lips pressed hard against me and there they stayed for one seemingly endless moment. Truthfully, it seemed like less of a kiss and more like an act of desperation. There wasn’t really any passion in it. Not of the normal variety.

When Lars drew back, his gaze was both wary and worried.

Meanwhile, my eyes felt as wide as the moon. My heart hammered inside my chest. If his intention had been to distract me from the cat-pee problem, he certainly managed that.

His fingers untangled themselves from my hair and he took a step back. Then he opened his mouth and closed it and opened it again. Finally he said, “Shit.”

“Did you just get jealous, panic, and kiss me?”

“Yes.”

“Is that something you normally do?”

His brows drew down. “No.”

“No,” I agreed.

With a groan, he deposited himself on the couch. His hands covered his face while his elbows rested on his knees. The pose of a man in much anguish. No. A confused modern male confronted with his feelings. One of those. As for me, I loved having his mouth on mine. Even if the kiss could use some work.