Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories (The Flirts! Collection) by Lisa Scott Page B

an estate and the house needed some work, but the family wasn’t ready to make any changes. With business slow, I had plenty of time to work on Lucy’s bedroom. She’d changed her mind from a seashore theme to a Fairy Princess Kingdom after going on a Tangled binge, watching the movie two times a day for a week. We’d decided to try painting a mural.
    “Aunt Kristen, Rapunzel isn’t smiling! None of your people are smiling.” Lucy sat down on the floor with a humph.
    I looked at the figures I’d drawn and she was right. I just couldn’t conjure up the enthusiasm for a happily-ever-after. “I’m sorry. I’ll erase them and start over.”
    “I’ve got a better idea.” Her eyes widened and she smiled. “Can we do a kitty room instead?”
    I laughed. “I’ve got nothing else to do. Why not?”

    That Saturday, Mom and I arrived at the event primped and polished. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror of the hotel ballroom and wished Tony could see me looking like this. But that would probably just make him feel more distant from me.
    Mom and I each took a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. My mother wanted to mingle, but I just wanted to find my seat. She frowned at me. “Party pooper.”
    I went to our table and picked up one of the programs, leafing through it to keep myself occupied. It was going to be a long night, filled with vapid conversation from the kind of people I couldn’t stand—people who cared more about appearances and status than the true value of a person.
    I scanned the ads from the evening’s sponsors and my eyes froze on a listing for Malone, Mancuso, and Fiore, Attorneys at Law. Malone. Tony’s father was a lawyer. It had to be him.
    I went back to the registration table. “Hi, can you tell me which table the Malone law firm is at? They’re friends of the family.”
    The lady scanned the list and her finger stopped mid-list. “They’re at table eleven.”
    “Thanks.”
    I headed for their table, not sure what I was going to say. Several people were gathered nearby, and I had no idea who his parents were. I walked up to a man with eyes just as blue as Tony’s and he stopped talking. “Can I help you?”
    “Are you Mr. Malone?”
    “Yes.”
    My heart sped up, almost like it had when the attacker first showed me the knife. I took a deep breath. “My name is Kristen Gold. I’m a friend of your son’s.”
    “Are you related to Dick Gold, of Gold Insurance Partners?”
    “Yes, that’s my father.”
    He held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you. I didn’t know you were friends with my son, Nick.”
    “I’m not. I’m friends with Tony.”
    His smile disappeared and his wife wandered up to us. “What is it, dear?”
    “She knows Tony.”
    She pressed her lips together.
    I squared my shoulders. “That’s right. But you don’t know him. Not anymore. He saved my life last month.”
    His mother looked up. “What?” She set her hand against the string of pearls around her neck.
    I nodded. “I was held up at knifepoint in a parking lot where Tony was working. He jumped off the roof and knocked the guy away from me. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if he hadn’t been there. He’s a good person. I got to know him...really well.” My voice quavered.
    His father set down his drink and crossed his arms.
    “I really care about him. But he’s convinced he’s a rotten person who doesn’t deserve ‘someone like me.’” I made air quotes around the last part. “And maybe if he had the support of his family as he tries to turn his life around, he’d have a different opinion of himself.” My voice was getting louder and a few people had turned to look.
    “You do know about his past, don’t you?” his father asked. His face was reddening, but I didn’t care.
    “Yes. He told me everything. Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”
    “No one in our family has ever been incarcerated.” He hissed the last word.
    “Has anyone in your family ever saved