I couldn’t help myself.Anybody is good compared to Cillian.
All I got in response to that was an emoji with its tongue sticking out. Finn was right about one thing, though. If I hadn’t let my father in, I would have been beating myself up. Andbecause I had let him in, I was beating myself up. There was no winning.
To take my mind off it, I took myself on a punishing run through the streets of Paris, barely capable of thought, never mind self-recrimination, by the time I’d completed the ten kilometer loop. I came out of the shower to my phone ringing, snatching it up before it went to voicemail, and giving a breathless greeting.
“Am I interrupting something?”
The voice sounded amused and accented. An Irish one. It wasn’t Cillian. Therefore, that left only one option. “Cormac?”
“Close. Mac. Come on, work with me. I’m trying to save you a whole syllable. Think of all the other words you can fit in during the day if you let that syllable go.”
Confusion ricocheted through my brain. “I didn’t give you my number. Did you get it from Finn?”
“That’s right. I called him up and even though I don’t want them to know I’m here, I asked for your number. I figured they’re just not smart enough to connect the two things.”
“Then… how?”
“You left your phone unlocked when you went to the toilet.”
“And you just…?”
“Borrowed it, put my number in it, called myself from it. You didn’t notice that my name came up?”
“No.” I pulled my phone away from my ear. Sure enough, there was a name on the screen. Not just a name, though. Cormac had entered his name asMy new bestest buddy, Mac.I put my phone back to my ear. “That’s…”
“Sweet. I know. I’m always thinking of others.”
“Not the word I was going to use.”
“Thoughtful?”
“Not that either.”
“Ingenious?”
“Did you call me to play word guessing games?”
Cormac laughed. “No. That’s just a bonus.”
“Whatdidyou call me for?”
“To tell you that you can take me out today and show me the sights of Paris.”
“I can, can I?” Despite my words, I found myself smiling. Of course, Cormac King was the type of man who thought nothing of forcing his phone number on someone without asking them. And of course, he was the type of man who wouldn’t waste time getting embarrassed about his underhand tactics.
“It’s Sunday. You’re not working.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not busy.”
“Are you?”
I turned to survey my empty flat. What had I been planning to do for the rest of the day? Sit and stew about my father, probably. Do my best to convince myself that tracking him down to check he had a roof over his head wouldn’t be a good course of action. I could do laundry, or some cleaning, but neither of those appealed. “Nothing.”
“Great!” Cormac sounded genuinely pleased. “It’s a date.”
“It’s not a date.”
“You know what I meant. A friend date.”
