Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,18

and scampish expression, this bedraggled creature had looked a little like her childhood puppy Peanut. At least she was able to save this one …

Anger flared. Oh, how she would happily do a murder if she ever found the culprit.

Back to her current dilemma. She checked Craigslist again, and while there were plenty of apartments in Chicago, they were mostly out of her price range. She needed to save every penny for her return flight to Thailand in January for the job she’d lined up. Years traveling outside the US had affected her credit and she would never pass the background check. A roommate situation would be better, but the one she visited yesterday had definitely given her creeper vibes.

Never trust a guy with a waterbed.

Now she needed to figure out where she could park her car tonight so as not to draw the attention of any nosey passersby.

Or worse.

Back to the beach, perhaps, site of her great adventure in dog rescue. Did they gate it at night? If that didn’t work, she could park at the strip mall close to the highway. After eleven it was completely empty.

The phone rang, and Kennedy’s heart rate ticked upward. She had left a message for a room in an all-female collective, so was ever hopeful.

“Is this Kennedy?”

That voice. Either someone was about to sell her car insurance or Hot Jerk had tracked her down.

“Might be.”

“This is Reid Durand. We went swimming together earlier.”

Cute. But then she recalled not cute. This asshole had cost her a job.

“Is the dog okay?”

“Bucky? Oui, just fine. Shitting everywhere, eating me out of house and home, and generally taking over.”

“His name is Bucky?”

He paused a beat. “Yeah, after Bucky Barnes from the Avengers? First I thought I’d do Fury—”

“Because of the one eye.”

“Right, but he didn’t respond to that. The vet said he’d broken his leg a few times but it didn’t heal so well. He’s got a slight limp and some other scars.” She heard his sharp, angry intake of breath. “And with what he’s been through, it seemed … well, anyway, he responded to Bucky.”

Despite her best efforts, a smile played on her lips. She could see the dog as the Winter Soldier: tortured, bruised, in need of his best friend—and saving his best friend from a watery demise. She liked how Hot Jerk had thought that through.

Then she remembered that she didn’t like much else about him.

“How did you get this number?”

“Mia Wallace gave it to me. I heard you lost your job.”

“Oh, did you now.”

He sniffed. “I just got back from the coffee shop. That wasn’t me who complained and got you canned.”

“But Laura said—”

“That manager chick? What a piece of work. I didn’t get you fired but … it was my fault, all the same.” Vigorous yapping sounded in the background. “I have a proposition for you. Could you come over now so we can discuss it? I can’t leave him.”

Drop everything and attend to the king? Oh, sure! People who looked like that expected everyone else to do their bidding.

Yet he’d figured out Laura. She was a piece of work, and it was nice to have consensus on this during a time when the world was against her.

“I’m kind of busy.” Figuring out where I’m going to sleep tonight.

“And I’m in a bind here,” he said imperiously as if his problem superseded all others. “I have to go out of town tomorrow for a couple of days and I need someone to stay with him. It’s either that or I’ll have to kennel him and I don’t think he’s ready for that.”

Ask and the universe shall provide. She tried to sound as casual as a limp noodle. “For how long?”

“Two days. More like three. I’ll be back on Wednesday. But I need someone to stay with him for the next two nights.”

“At your place?”

“Yes, at my place,” he said impatiently. Jeez, she was just confirming. “It’s an emergency. I asked Mia but she says her dog doesn’t play well with others. She could drop in but not stay overnight and I don’t think he’s ready to be alone yet. I know it’s an imposition but I owe you.”

Back to that. “I thought you didn’t get me fired, so how is it your fault?”

“It’s hard to explain. It would be easier if you came over and discussed the details. He already likes you.”

She already liked him. The dog, that is.

If she had to place her priorities in order right now it would