Sweet Little Lies (Heartbreaker Bay, #1) - Jill Shalvis Page 0,33

it.” Pru looked down at herself. “Ever.”

“Even Thor’s wearing glitter,” he said. “You’re messing with his manhood.”

“Real men aren’t afraid of glitter,” she said.

“Real men are terrified of glitter.”

At the end of the day, Pru collected her dog from Jake’s office, where she found him asleep sprawled on top of the desk.

“Seriously?” she asked.

“He likes to see what’s going on,” Jake said.

And Jake liked the company. She’d almost feel bad about taking Thor away when she’d moved but oh yeah, it’d been Jake’s idea for her to go. “I hope he got glitter all over you.”

“Hell no,” Jake said. “Glitter doesn’t dare stick to me. But you’ve got some on your face.”

She couldn’t get rid of it. She’d already sent Elle an I-hate-you text. Twice.

“We’re going to have to forfeit tonight’s game,” Jake said. “We’re short a player. Trev’s out with mono.”

She and a group of Jake’s other friends and employees played on a local rec center league softball team. Jake was their coach. Coach Tyrant. “Who gets mono at our age?” she asked.

Jake shrugged. “He’s a ship captain, he sees a lot of action.”

“I’m a ship captain,” she said. “I see no action.”

“And we both know why,” Jake said.

Not going there. “Don’t forfeit,” she said. “I’ll find us a player.”

Jake raised a brow. “Who?”

“Hey, I have other people in my life besides you, you know.”

“Since when?”

She rolled her eyes and ran out. Well, okay, she didn’t run exactly. Thor refused to run. But they walked fast because she had an idea, one that would further her plan to bring Finn more fun.

Of course she’d deviated from the plan a couple of times now, starting with allowing her lips to fall onto his—not once but a holy-cow twice—but she’d decided to give herself a break because he was so . . . well, kissable.

And hey, now she knew that his mouth was a danger zone, she’d just steer clear. Her inner voice laughed hysterically at this, but whatever. She could do it.

Probably.

Hopefully.

In the courtyard, she tied Thor’s leash to a bench, kissed him right between his adorable brown eyes and dashed through the open doors of the pub. Breathless, she scanned for Finn, but couldn’t find him.

Sean flashed her a smile. “Hey, Trouble.” He gestured to her face. “You’ve got some glitter—”

“I know!”

His smile widened. “Okay then, what can I get you?”

“Finn,” she said, and then blushed when he just kept grinning. “I mean, I need to see him. Is he in his office?”

“Nope, boss man isn’t in.”

She’d never been here when Finn hadn’t. “But he’s always here.”

Sean laughed. “Almost always,” he agreed. “But right now, he’s . . . well, let’s just say he’s pissed off at me, so we decided he’d work from the house office so I could live to see another day.”

He didn’t seem all too worried by this. “I need a favor,” she said.

He leaned over the bar, eyes warm. “Name it.”

“I need his address.”

Sean went brows up. “His address.”

“Yes, please.”

“You going to show him a good time?” he asked. “Because darlin’, he sure could use it.”

“I’m on it,” she said and then realized what he’d meant, which was not what she’d meant. “Wait, that’s not—”

“Oh, it’s way too late,” Sean said, laughing his ass off.

“I just need to talk to him,” she said, trying to regain some dignity.

“Whatever you say.” Grabbing a cocktail napkin, he pulled a pen from behind his ear, scrawled an address down, and handed it over to her. “We share a house in Pacific Heights. Less than a mile from here. Go do your thing.”

“Which is talking,” she said.

“If that’s what you kids are calling it these days,” he said. “Good luck, Trouble.”

Not sure why she’d need good luck, she grabbed Thor and headed back out.

Finn lived straight up Divisadero Street, a steep hill that had Thor sitting down and refusing to go another step about a hundred yards in.

Which was a hundred yards past when Pru had wanted to sit down as well. But she scooped the dog up and determinedly kept going, making a quick stop along the way for a spur-of-the-moment gag gift that she sincerely hoped Finn found funny.

By the time she arrived at his house near the top of the hill, she was huffing some serious air. She looked back at the view and was reminded of why she loved this city so much. She could see all of Cow Hollow and the marina, and beyond that, the gorgeous blue of the bay and the