“Bryan, hi.You’ve got great timing; I was about to call you to see when I could come by your office to pick up the keys.”
There’s a sigh down the line.No, no … not this too.
“I’m sorry, Mia.I received a call from your employer, and I’m afraid we’ve had to deny your application for the apartment.”
I come to a stop on the sidewalk, the last of my hope draining onto the pavement, trampled beneath the feet of the jostling crowd.Someone curses me as they pass by.
“Please, my lease runs out this week.I need this apartment.I’ll pay two months up front, whatever you want.”
“I’m sorry.We’ve already rescheduled a viewing for Thursday.Unless you can regain steady employment in the next two days, there’s nothing I can do for you.Have a nice day.”
That’s it then.
They say losses come in threes, right?Boyfriend, job, apartment.I’ve lost it all.Do I win a prize now?
Maybe I should hang it all up.Move back home, go back to theFerntree Gazette.Start again.
As I start walking, I’ve no goal in mind.I have nowhere to be.
It doesn’t surprise me when Lucky appears at my side.“I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener, you know, and if sugar’s not your thing, there’s still time for breakfast.My treat.”
I must really look pathetic if he is willing to subject himself to breakfast after I yelled at him.Twice.
He bumps my elbow with his.“I’m going to guess you skipped breakfast this morning, so you have to be hungry, and I know the right spot for something hot and filling.”
I bet he does.
No.
No sexing the Englishman.
“Why do you even care?”I ask.“You don’t even know me.”
The kindness in his eyes is too much.Soft and compassionate.
Too close to pity.
It’s a stark reminder of everyone who said I shouldn’t move here, that I couldn’t make it, that this city would chew me up and spit me out.It’s the knowing looks I’ll get when I slink back home, proving them all right.
I can’t do this right now.
A crew cut in a suit is stalking toward us, on a mission somewhere.Lucky steps out of their way, bringing him toward me quicker than I can process, seemingly between one blink and the next.My heart thunders in my chest.
On instinct, I step backward, the scent and heat of him intense up close, my nerves sparking and jolting in a way I haven’t felt in a long, long time.It’s too much and not enough.
There’s something behind me, something knee-high that barks, and I startle.The world shifts, tipping sideways, and I know I’m falling the wrong way.Not onto the sidewalk, where all I’d have to worry about were people trampling me, but to the road.
Ahead, a bike messenger barrels toward me, and there’s not enough time to stop him.
Lucky’s hands grip my arms as he pulls me upright, out of the way.
My stomach is in my throat.My eyes feel like they are pulsating, or maybe I’m blinking too much.I can’t breathe.My fingers are clawed in Lucky’s shirt.I can see them, but I can’t feel anything.There’s nothing but noise.
“You’re okay.Breathe.”
Jesus, he smells good.Or is that the doughnut?Knowing my luck—ha, luck.Like Lucky.Okay, maybe I’m delirious.He probably smells like this all the time.Just walks around, smelling amazing, like some sort of English Pied Piper with rock-hard pecs and kissable lips.I bet they’d be soft.They look soft.
Vaguely, I register his voice, gentle and low, but I’m distracted by the way he’s running his hands up and down my arms.He hasn’t even tried to pry my fingers out of his shirt yet.
