Bad Boy (Invertary 5)

“You’re always hungry,” Katy complained, but let him go.

“So your mum tells me.” Flynn ignored Victoria’s glare and plopped into an armchair. He thumped his feet onto the coffee table in front of him.

“Get your feet off my table, Flynn Boyle,” Abby snapped.

He gave her puppy-dog eyes. “But my leg hurts. It’s more comfortable if it’s raised.”

She rolled her eyes at him, grabbed a cushion from the sofa and put it under the ankle of his injured leg. She knocked his other foot off the table.

“I’ll take what I can get.” He grinned before biting off half a croissant.

“Does Mr Boyle live here now?” Victoria’s voice was icy with disdain.

“Flynn lives in a bus,” Katy said helpfully. “He’s building a house.”

“I don’t see any building,” Victoria said.

“It’s in the planning stage.” Flynn seemed unconcerned.

“You have an architect?” Victoria asked.

“I have a field. I’m still getting a feel for it. Wouldn’t want to build something before I know what kind of house I want there. It needs to be comfortable.” He looked around. “I like this house. I like the high ceilings and the spacious rooms. The big windows are good too. And those things.” He pointed at the top of the wall.

“Cornices and moulding,” Abby told him.

“Aye, I like those too. I might build something like this. But I’m in no hurry.”

“You don’t need a house,” Katy said. “You can stay in your bus and use my pool.”

“Exactly.” Flynn polished off the rest of his croissant, then batted his eyelashes at Abby. “There are some croissants left. Do you need them?”

She shook her head, wondering where all the food went. If she could bottle his metabolism and sell it to women, she’d make her fortune.

“I’ll get them.” If she didn’t, who knew what else he would eat while he was in there.

“Mm,” Victoria said. “It certainly seems like Mr Boyle lives here now.”

“I’m just being neighbourly, hanging out, being friendly. Getting fed,” Flynn said. “Showing you how well behaved I am now, so you can see I’m nowhere near being a bad influence on the kid. Isn’t that right, monster?”

Katy giggled. Abby bugged her eyes at him. So not helping.

“We’ll see,” was all Victoria said.

23

“He’s one of those footballers whose brains are in his head.”

Derek Johnstone, former Scottish manager and player

After lunch, Lawrence appeared to take Victoria into town. He wanted her to look at office properties. She was snippy about his quick decision making and very vocal about knowing nothing about offices. She still went with the man. Which made Abby wonder if there was something more going on between them.

Flynn refused to leave, even when the women from Knit or Die turned up for a meeting. He waved her away, sending her to the kitchen to talk to the women while he plugged his iPad into the TV and pulled up an old football game. Last she checked, Flynn was sitting on the sofa with Katy beside him. He alternated between shouting at the TV and explaining everything to Katy in excruciating detail. Katy seemed fascinated. Abby wasn’t sure if it was with Flynn or football.

“Don’t worry.” Margaret patted her hand where it rested on the kitchen table. “Katy’s safe with Flynn. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Heather, Flynn’s aunt, snorted. “Not unless he got drunk, stole a car and ran her over while joyriding.”

The other women nodded, which did nothing to alleviate Abby’s worries.