Flora’s heart began to thud. She hated phone calls. It was part of her social anxiety, even with people she knew—her mind went blank, and she became tongue-tied. But if she said no, then Mack would assume that she thought badly of her, and their friendship might be over.

She jumped out of bed and started pacing back and forth, all the time gripping her phone with a vise-like grip. What should she do?

“If you want this friendship,” Flora said out loud, “then you’re going to have to push yourself.”

Before she could change her mind, Flora typed out, Yes.

Flora’s mouth dried up and her chest went tight waiting on the call, but to her surprise, when the phone came alive, it was a FaceTime call.

“Oh God, that’s even worse. She’s going to see me.”

She had a split second to make the decision and on impulse she accepted the call.

Suddenly Mack appeared on screen and smiled warmly at her. “Hi.”

“Hi, Mack,” she croaked. She needed a drink. “Excuse me a minute.” Flora reached for the water bottle on her table and took a cooling drink.

Mack was looking delightfully ruffled. Her hair was sexily floppy on top, and she had a casual sleeveless T-shirt on.

“You don’t mind me phoning, do you?” Mack asked.

“No, no.” Flora didn’t mind—she was just so nervous. She caught sight of herself in the corner of the screen and was horrified. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make it look less messy. “Sorry, I look a mess,” Flora said.

“No, you don’t. You look sweet.”

Flora could feel heat in her cheeks. She’d never had compliments like she had from Mack.

Mack was gorgeous, and she loved to linger on her biceps in that T-shirt. Mack was strong, no doubt, compared to most women, but it was her strength and confidence from within that really attracted her. When they were in the park today, Mack strode around as if she owned the place. To someone who couldn’t look people in the eye, that was sexy as hell.

And when she was in Mack’s company, she felt more at ease than she ever had. Flora loved that. She hoped Mack’s story was something she could live with.

Suddenly Dexter came into view and was licking the screen. Flora laughed at his antics and relaxed a lot.

“Dex, calm down,” Mack said. “He heard your voice and shot into the room. I thought he was staying in his granny’s room tonight.”

“Granny?”

“Sorry, I’m staying with Mum tonight. I didn’t really want to go back home on my own. Sometimes you just need your ma.”

Flora couldn’t help but smile at that. Mack sounded so far away from the criminal she had read about online.