Page 52 of Shallow

He’s halfway across the room before he glances back at me with a smoldering grin. “The big badwolf.”

Seventeen

Cary

Balancingthe phone between my ear and shoulder, I crumple another invoice and toss it in thebackseat.

“You’re doingwhat?” The shriek Taryn lets out almost shatters myeardrum.

An hour after walking out on Shiloh, I’m sitting in the parking lot of my apartment building, having a phone conversation with the last person I want to talkto.

Wincing, I lean away from the earpiece until she stops yelling. “I’m taking Shilohout.”

“On a date?” There’s a hard clip in her tone, and I know I’ve hit anerve.

“More like ondisplay.”

“What the hell is that supposed tomean?”

The answer is so obvious to me that I shake my head and slump down in the bucket seat of my car. God, are all women this dense? “What’s the one thing she can’thave?”

“You.”

“Focus,Taryn.”

“I don’t know,” she whines, letting out a dramatic sigh. “Blow?Booze?”

“Now you’re getting it. What better way to fix our problem than to create one?” I pause, giving her time to process my words and hopefully ignite that dimwitted lightbulb tucked somewhere inside that vapid head of hers. After a few silent moments, itbrightens.

“You’re going to get herhigh?”

Okay, maybe not so much brightens as flickers a few times thenexplodes.

“Don’t be stupid,” I hiss. “Messing with that shit risksmyrecord. I’m calling Will then taking her to the bar and getting her assplowed.”

“Thenwhat?”

Holy shit. I can’t believe I actually put my dick in thisbitch.

“You’ve got to stop smoking weed, Taryn. It’s turning your brain into Swiss cheese. Why would I invite my best friend, who’s also her probation officer, to meet us fordrinks?”

“Oh,” she squeals, finally catching on. “When Will catches her shitfaced, he’ll have to report it. God, that’s brilliant,Cary!”

“Yeah, Iknow.”

“I’m all in, baby. Slaps on the wrist like this just add to the bigfinale.”

“Meaning?” I sit up straight, the callous lift in her voice catching me offguard.

“The original plan has been set in motion. Shiloh is going down permanently and in steel handcuffs. That bitch is finally getting what’s coming toher.”

Shit.

I’d thought I’d been clear in the café for her to knock this shitoff.

“Taryn,” I say, speaking slowly. “I want to make her pay for what she did, not obliterate her fromexistence.”

“And I’ve told you that you don’t have a choice anymore,” she snaps back. “Your hands are going to get just as dirty as mine in this, or your parents will be out on their asses, and I’ll rename that center of yours the Taryn McDaniel Fitness Emporium. It’s yourchoice.”