But it was her heart that pounded when she saw her landlady’s car in the driveway. Great. What did she want?
Callie unlocked the door, then opened it. “Mrs. Winkle, is there something wrong?”
The older woman raised her chin. “That’s what I was about to ask you. I saw you with the policeman yesterday and it looked like he was doing a sobriety test.”
The old busybody. Callie took a deep breath and smiled sweetly. “A bad case of allergies, that’s all. Was there anything else?”
Mrs. Winkle glanced over her shoulder.
Damn, she’d forgotten about Rogar’s car being parked out front.
Mrs. Winkle looked at Callie again. “I won’t have any shenanigans going on in one of my rent houses. Mr. Abner, a few blocks over, didn’t keep a close eye on one of his renters. I told him more than once that he had to keep up with what’s going on, but he only laughed.” She puffed out her chest. “The next thing he knew, they were throwing wild parties. I tried to warn him.”
“I’m sure you did your best.”
“So, did you get a raise? That’s a pretty fancy car for someone who works at the zoo.”
Callie gritted her teeth to keep from saying something she might regret, but before she could say anything, Rogar stepped into the living room.
No good could come from this. Mrs. Winkle would kick her out for sure, and houses this cheap weren’t easy to find in a halfway decent neighborhood. At least, he’d put on a shirt, although he hadn’t bothered to button it, and he was barefoot. She glanced at Mrs. Winkle. The woman’s mouth had dropped open. The old battle-ax finally drew in a long, deep breath.
“You have a man in your house.”
Rogar continued forward, took Mrs. Winkle’s hand in his, and brought it to his lips. “Prince Rogar Valkyir, at your service.”
Callie almost lost it. He hadn’t lied. Did the man not know how? He was going to get her thrown out on her butt.
“Prince? Here, in one of my houses?” She drew her hand out of his, her eyes narrowing, then sneezed. “Oh, excuse me.” Her brow puckered. “Is there a cat in the house? I swear, I sneeze every time I come over.”
“And each time I tell you, there are no animals,” Callie said with more than a little exasperation.
“I met Callie when she was attending college,” Rogar interrupted. “We became friends. She was gracious enough to let me spend the night.”
Mrs. Winkle still looked skeptical. “You’re a prince and you stay here, rather than a five-star hotel?”
“No matter how lavish one’s surroundings are, they can’t dispel the coldness of a hotel room. Only the warmth of a friend’s hospitality can do that, and I find the home Callie rents from you is quite warm.”
Mrs. Winkle’s frown turned to a smile. Wow! Callie had never seen her landlady smile. In fact, she was actually simpering. Of course, why wouldn’t she, Rogar had complemented one of her rent houses. Couldn’t she see they were practically dumps?
“I do try to make the houses as nice as possible. My daddy always told me that you could judge a woman’s worth by the property she owned.” She sneezed. “Excuse me. It must be pollen or something.”
“You’ve done a splendid job making this home so exquisite, and Callie has told me more than once that she looks up to you.”
“I have?” Callie cleared her throat. “I have. I mean, you are a businesswoman, after all.”
“You have to run a tight ship,” Mrs. Winkle nodded.
“It’s the same way with a country, even one as small and insignificant as mine. If you don’t stay on top of everything, you soon have wars.”
Mrs. Winkle nodded. “Exactly.” Then sneezed.
“But I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted your conversation. What were you saying?” Rogar’s gaze never left Mrs. Winkle.
“It was nothing, really. I mean, I don’t actually let my renters have people move in with them, but since you won’t be staying long…” She let her words pointedly trail off and Callie saw Rogar hadn’t quite sweet-talked the old biddy.
“It’s so peaceful here that I might decide to stay longer than I’d planned.” He reached into his pocket. When he pulled out his roll of bills, Mrs. Winkle’s eyes grew big.
Oh, yeah, give my landlady counterfeit money. Dig the hole a little deeper, why don’t you.
He peeled off 5 one-hundred-dollar bills. “I believe this will cover the cost of Callie having a guest more than a few nights. If I should decide to stay longer, I’m sure we can come to an arrangement that will benefit us both.”
Mrs. Winkle grabbed the money out of his hand, practically salivating. “I’m sure we can.” She sneezed twice before stuffing the money down the front of her dress.
“And you won’t mention that I’m here. The press can be quite annoying at times. I never seem to have a moment of peace when they discover my whereabouts.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“If you don’t mind, I need to get ready for work.” Callie looked between the two. It was nauseating watching Mrs. Winkle being reduced to a giggling schoolgirl as Rogar fed her ego and her bank account.
“Of course, dear.” She looked at Rogar as if she hoped he planned on lingering.
“It was nice meeting you,” Rogar said.
Mrs. Winkle held out her hand and Rogar kissed it. She blushed, then hurried back to her car, sneezing three more times before she got inside and drove away.
Callie thought she was going to be sick from all the sugar that had flowed between Rogar and Mrs. Winkle.
Bleh!
Chapter 9
“I need to get ready for work,” Callie said when Rogar closed the door.
“You’re really going to work? I thought you were lying to your landlady.”
Now he’d confused her. “Why would you think I was lying? I may be half Symtarian, but the Earthling side of me still has to pay the bills.”
“I have money.”
She threw her arms in the air. “Counterfeit! It’s illegal to make your own money. Which I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. You have to stop making money illegally. I’d rather not spend the rest of my life in jail as an accomplice, if you don’t mind.”
“Don’t you want to know about your ancestors?” He conveniently changed the subject.
Now he’d hit a sore spot. “Of course I do. Everyone wants to know where they came from, what their relatives were like. I won’t deny I’ve had questions over the years.”
“Then stay with me.”
“Ten years ago I might have jumped at the chance.” She shook her head. “I’ve been on my own for a long time now and I’ve learned to make my way without any help. My job probably doesn’t seem like much to you, but my dream has always been to work with the big cats. There’s an animal keeper job opening up soon and I’m next in line. I’ve worked hard for that position, and I won’t let anything jeopardize it.”
“You’re from another world.”
“Only part of me, the rest is from right here on Earth.” She tilted her head and studied him. “I’ve never shifted until last night, and I had to think about it before I could. Can I control it? Keep from shifting again?”
He took a step back and Callie knew she’d shocked him.
“You would give up that part of who you are?”
“Then it can be done?”
“You would be killing a part of yourself.”
“Just like my parents killed off a part of themselves when they dumped me at the orphanage?”
“You don’t know their reasons.”
“And the next verse is, I don’t want to know.” She looked at her hands, gathering her thoughts. “What if the truth is worse than I could imagine?”
“What if it isn’t?”
“Maybe I don’t want to take that chance.” A long time ago, she’d created a fairy tale in her mind that her mother and father had to leave her because they were dying of some horrible disease. The lies she told herself were so much better than facing what the truth might actually be—that she was dumped because she’d become a burden. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to face the truth.