Seducing Fortune (A Serendipity Novel Book 3) (25 page)

“Probably electrical.”

She snorts. “Most likely.”

A sidewalk leads us to a door with a metal sign announcing a requirement for visitors to register. At the entrance, we step around a puddle of water dripping from an air conditioning window unit.

An elderly woman with a cane greets us at the door. “Come in. How can I help you?”

“Can you tell me how this works?” Veronica glances around. “I need a place to stay for the night.”

The woman nods. “I see. We’re a short-term facility, but there’s a waiting list. You can fill out paperwork, and we’ll determine your eligibility. Then we can give you a call when there’s an opening.”

I take a step forward and hold out my hand. “Hi. I’m Collin Cordova. This is an emergency for Veronica. She only needs to figure out something for tonight. You don’t have even one bed?”

“No, we don’t. Let me get you some paperwork.” The woman turns her back on us and hobbles to the desk where she picks up a clipboard.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Veronica is out the door before the shelter employee turns around. I catch up to her midway down the sidewalk.

“Hold on,” I say and gently place an arm on her shoulder.

She jerks out of my grasp. “No homeless shelter. You’re a very nice guy. I’m not your problem.” Her weak smile, only a hint that tips one corner of her mouth, makes me uneasy. It tells me how destitute she is. She doesn’t belong in this place or any other shelter. We’re wasting our time because I can’t abandon her.

“You can come home with me. For tonight. You can sleep on my sofa.”
What the hell am I doing?

She stares at me with a look I can’t interpret. Fear? Horror? Shock? Perhaps a mixture of all three?

“Come on. Get in the car. I can’t let you take off walking. It’s going to be dark soon and where do you think you’ll go?” I shake my head and close my eyes for a second. Only a second because I have the feeling she’ll run off if I don’t insist.

“What’s in your trunk?”

“My what?”

“Chainsaw? Garbage bags? Bleach?”

I can’t help but grin, which probably reserves my spot in the murderer category. “You checking my supplies list?”

“I’m a girl.”

“You must watch a lot of crime drama.”

She taps her fingers across her lips while looking at the traffic milling by on the highway. “I was taught to stay away from strangers.”

“The creep back in the bus station is the type you should be worried about. Not me. Come on.”

She doesn’t make eye contact. She studies her sneakers.

“Hey,” I say. “I’m going to call someone to vouch for me. Murderers don’t like witnesses.”

Her gaze flits to me and her mouth smashes to suppress a smile. “Okay. A girl. Call a girl, but not your mother. Your mother might lie to protect you.”

My cell phone rings at that moment and I study the display. “Gotta take this. Just a second.”

Veronica leans on the open door and looks away like she’s not listening.

“Hey, bro,” I say. “What’s up?”

“Wanted to see if you were going to be around tonight. I’m at the store picking up steaks. Thought we’d grill. Maybe shoot some pool,” Jordy says.

I turn away from Veronica. “Listen, I’m bringing someone home. I’ll talk to you about it when I get there.”

“You have a date? It’s about fucking time. I was starting to think you had a problem with chicks.”

“It’s not a date. It’s … umm … well, a friend,” I say, at a loss for how to explain the incidents of the day.

“Whatever, man. It always starts out that way.” Jordy chuckles. “Oh, he says, we’re just friends.”

“I have to go. I’m heading home.” I glance up at Veronica. My gaze pulls to her battered arms as if by magnetic force. Only the outsides are bruised. She’d been defending her face or body. “Later, bro.”

I put the phone down and then remember I was supposed to call a girl. This poses a slight problem. I have exactly one female friend. If she doesn’t answer, I’m not sure who to call.

I speed-dial Malerie. “Mal. I need a favor. Could you give me a … well … a character reference? My new friend Veronica would like to speak to you.”

Veronica takes the phone from me and walks away from the car.

In this moment, I feel like the kid I was in fifth grade. Girls whispered things I wished I could hear. I was always far too interested in females and what made them tick.

I spent my high school years wondering what made them so attractive. So beguiling. So irresistible.

Not anymore. Not after my ex taught me what some girls do behind your back.

Veronica returns to the car and holds the phone out to me. I mentally compare her to the women I’m around most of the time. She looks so bedraggled. I notice a leaf tucked into her hair behind her right ear. Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t quit staring at it and itching to pull it out.

“She says I can trust you.” Veronica slides into the passenger seat. “But I’m still warning you. No funny business.” She folds her arms as I close the door.

I run around to my side of the car. It’s a relief to slip into the driver’s seat with a plan in mind. I place my phone in the holder on the dash, wait for the traffic to clear, and head toward home. “What did Malerie say?”

“Not much.” Veronica shrugs. “She your girlfriend?”

I give an amused smile. Malerie’s a firecracker and clearly in love with her boyfriend. “No.”

“Sister?”

“Not hardly.” I slow the car past some road construction. “We’re friends. Nothing else.”

“Um-hmm,” she says in a disbelieving tone. “She likes you.”

“Yeah. She does.”

“Maybe she wants to be your girlfriend.”

“No, she doesn’t. Why’d you think that?”

“She was more worried about me doing something to you than the other way around.”

I laugh. “Mal is okay. She’s a little protective of the people in her life.”

Veronica nods. “Like a sister would be.”

“I guess. I don’t have siblings.”

We’re silent for the rest of the drive. I run the scenario of how the next half hour will go. I’ve never brought anyone home, much less someone who is clearly a stranger, most likely homeless, and definitely on the run from something.

Jordy meets us at the door of the house as if an alarm went off signaling our arrival. His eyes widen, but he has the good manners to keep his mouth shut.

I set Veronica’s duffel bag next to the sofa. “Veronica, this is Jordy. Jordy, Veronica.”

“Nice to meet you,” she says and ducks her head. Her flushed face makes me want to punch Jordy for his assessing appraisal of her.

The tension in the air is a living, breathing animal and circles the three of us. I clear my throat and raise one eyebrow at Jordy. “My friend Veronica and I ran into each other this morning. We got caught in the storm. I’m going to let her get cleaned up before dinner.”

“Oh, yeah. That storm was a trip.” Jordy moves aside. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Go to the top of the stairs and turn right. Bathroom’s…” I take another look at her. “You can put something of mine on, and we’ll throw yours in the laundry.”

“You don’t have to wash my clothes.” Her voice is proud. The uneasiness she’d shown earlier in meeting Jordy is gone.

“No problem. Come.” I don’t wait for her to answer.

She follows me up the stairs and waits at the door to my bedroom.

“This is my bathroom in here. You’ll have to walk through my room.” I nod at the opposite door. “Here’s something to put on.” I grab a T-shirt and pair of gym shorts and offer them.

She eyes the clothes like I’ve asked her to wear a stripper’s getup.

“Be quick. We’re having steak. I’ll be out back on the deck when you’re done. Clean towels are in the cabinet. I don’t really have any female toiletries, but use anything you want.”

Her lips part and she hesitates. I know she wants to say something. But she doesn’t. She only takes the bundle from me and walks past.

Downstairs, Jordy meets me at the bottom of the stairs. “So, is she from here or Chicago?”

I shrug. “Nope.”

Jordy rubs his jaw. “She looks like hell. Did you notice there’s a leaf in her hair? You sure you don’t have sunstroke? She’s not exactly the type of girl you could get. You should let me fix you up.”

“Back off.”

Jordy and I have gotten along since the day I moved in, but I have a definite urge to stuff a raw steak down his throat to shut him up. He’s a man whore and needs to feel a little empathy for somebody like Veronica who doesn’t have Daddy’s money.

So she doesn’t wear Prada or Gucci. She has more important things to worry about—like a place to sleep for the night.

“Maybe a giant piece of hail pinged you on the head during the storm.”

I move around Jordy and head to the deck. “I’m now ignoring you. Steaks. Where?”

The raw steaks are on a platter in the kitchen, so I grab it along with the grill utensils and go. We have an agreement. I do all the cooking since my roommates seem to only know how to burn food. Jordy strolls straight to the fridge, snags a beer, and follows me outside.

I
sigh
. I’d always pictured homeless people as old guys with a paper bag holding their daily bottle. Never do I imagine someone Veronica’s age.

The heat of the day is lessening and a tree shades the area where the grill is positioned. Jordy relaxes on a lounger and nurses his beer while I start the grill and arrange the steaks.

“Yo. Throw one on the grill for me.” Dylan, my other roommate, opens the French doors leading to the deck.

“Got you covered,” Jordy answers. He looks from me to Dylan. “Tell him about our dinner guest.”

“You’re making a big deal out of this.” I stab a T-bone steak with the grill fork and move it to a cooler spot on the grill.

Dylan grins. “Guest?”

The French door swings wide, and Veronica stands hesitantly in the opening. Her blonde hair is wet but combed. Her freshly-scrubbed face is a little pale. My clothes swallow her frame, making her look frailer than she has all day—which I didn’t think possible.

Still, there’s something undeniably appealing about her. She’s missing the hard-edged look of the girls my age who layer on makeup and dress like every minute is a runway opportunity.

It has to be the fact that she’s wearing my clothes. She looks like the little sister you want to protect.

Dylan seems to be the only one on the deck with brain cells not stunted by the sight of Veronica. “You must be an answer to my prayers,” he says to her.

She takes a step back inside. “Me?”

“I’m Dylan.” He holds out a hand. “I think you’re the best thing that’s happened to me all day.”

“Veronica, Dylan. Dylan, my friend Veronica. We ran into each other this morning.”

“He means I ran into his car.” She gives Dylan a nod, appearing not at all impressed with his flirting.

Dylan laughs and points at me. “I like her.”

“She’s serious.” I turn my back on them to tend the steaks. Dylan has a predatory gleam in his eyes that grates on my nerves.

“You don’t have to hit my car to get my attention.” Dylan’s voice is light and teasing.

“Veronica isn’t looking for a date,” I say without turning around.

“Can I use your hair dryer?” she asks.

“You can use anything you need.” I sit in the teak chair beside the grill as she closes the door and disappears.

“Girl cleans up nice.” Jordy leans back in his lounge chair and places both hands behind his neck. “I think she’s off-limits to us,” he says to Dylan.

Dylan grins. “So what’s up with her showering? Or did you two…”

Jordy gives a snort. “Not hardly. She looked like she’d been on a three-day-drunk when she—”

“Hey now.” I shoot him a burning look. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing.” Jordy places his hand over his mouth, and a suspicious looking grin peeks out from one corner.

“You got something you want to say? Say it.” I fold my arms over my chest.

“So who is she?” Dylan loosens his tie with one hand and drops into the nearest chair.

This is the question I can’t answer. If I admit I picked up this strange girl off the street and plan on giving her a bed for the night, they’ll both commit me. So, I stretch the truth. “Veronica’s a sweetheart. A friend. She can’t stay at her place tonight, and I offered her the sofa. It’s not a big deal. I’d appreciate it if you guys would make her feel welcome.”

Jordy shoots me an odd look. “Sorry. Hey, didn’t mean to be a dick earlier.”

“Yeah, well. She was a little messy earlier.”

The French doors open and Veronica steps through. “Hi.” She hugs her body by wrapping her arms across her middle. The gesture draws attention to purple bruises lining her forearms and my stomach gives an unfriendly churn.

“What can I do to help?” Veronica only makes eye contact with me and I wonder if she’s unnerved by the fact she’s alone with three strangers. Three strangers who have no reason to treat her well.

“Not a thing,” Jordy answers. Getting out of his seat, he adjusts his ball cap and nods to me. “Almost ready?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Jordy heads to the door and I look to Dylan. “Can you give me and Veronica a minute to talk?”

“Sure,” he says. Dylan grabs the tie he’s removed and follows Jordy into the house. Veronica lingers at the threshold.

“I’d like to talk about you being here,” I say.

“Okay.”

“I don’t bring strange girls home.”

“So why me?”

I study her face—the way her widened eyes express her confusion. “I also want you to know you’re safe here. I don’t know what you’re running from, but well … I wanted you to know you don’t have to be afraid of anything.”

“Who says I’m afraid of something?”

“Who did that to you?” I point the grill tongs at her arms.

“Nobody. I fell.” She stands military straight, her head up.

We stare at each other in challenging silence. I wait for her to admit the lie. Veronica dares me to contradict her.

“I also wanted to let you know Jordy thinks we knew each other before today.”

“Why would he think that?”

“Because I implied it. Unless you want to answer questions, it’s best to pretend we’re old friends.”