“Understood.” Dax took a step back and stumbled against his chair. “Right. Well, I’ll just let you get back to work, then. And I’ll get you that letter. Really, I’m very responsible now.”
“Sure.” The loan officer opened his desk drawer and dropped Dax’s proposal inside. “I’ll be in touch with you about our decision.” He turned to the computer on his desk.
“Right.” Dax rubbed the back of his neck. “Great. I’ll, uh, talk to you later.” And with as confident and responsible a stride as possible, Dax hoofed it out of the man’s office.
He nodded goodbye to the assistant, cursing under his breath as he pushed out of the office. Of all the times for Lissa to send him a sexy pic, she had to do it then. That seemed to be just the way his luck was running lately. And if it continued, there was no way he was going to get Off-Road Adventures.
He’d missed his first meeting with Ted because of Lissa’s antics, forcing him to reschedule after the loan officer had a meeting with Christian. Christian, who probably had a tidy amount saved in the bank already and who’d never even received a parking ticket.
Now, Lissa sent him a picture that made him look like a frat boy.
Dax couldn’t help but think that maybe his luck had started a downward spiral when he’d picked up the lovely stowaway in New Orleans. And that maybe, when all was said and done and Lissa had disappeared from his life to go to Santa Fe, the good times they were having wouldn’t be worth the havoc she’d caused.
Chapter 12
Lissa snuck another glance in the restaurant’s entryway mirror. She pulled all her hair over her right shoulder, cocked her head, and shook it back to where it’d been.
She shouldn’t be this nervous. It wasn’t like Dax would be her first. She was pretty impulsive when it came to her bedmates, not putting much significance into the act besides how much fun she had with someone. But with Dax …
The door opened, and Lissa glanced up eagerly. Her shoulders dropped. A young couple walked in, passing Lissa where she sat in the alcove before the hostess stand. Slouching back in her chair, she stared at the faux-Tuscan-style brick painted on the far wall. The Italian restaurant in Pineville had some lovely murals: the crumbling façade of villas, Roman statues hidden in lush courtyards, grape vines twisting up near the moldings. It was a feast for the eyes, as well as what Lissa hoped would be a feast for her tummy. But it was hard to fully appreciate the work put into the murals, not when her mind kept circling around to thoughts of Dax.
He’d sounded tense when they’d agree to meet at Rocco’s in downtown Pineville for dinner. His meeting with the loan officer probably hadn’t gone well. She twisted a curl around her finger. Well, she hoped they’d be able to make good memories tonight to erase his bad. She swallowed, trying to bring moisture back to her mouth. Tonight was going to be amazing. She hoped. Her time here in Pineville was flying by, and she didn’t want to waste any more of it where it came to Dax.
She crossed one leg over the other, smoothing the hem of her asymmetrical gypsy skirt down over her calves. She checked the time on her phone. One minute until they’d agreed to meet. Dax was usually five minutes early for everything. His appointment with the banker must have been really bad. Would he—
The front door swung open, bringing in a small breeze and the fresh scent of the out-of-doors.
Lissa looked up and smiled in relief. Dax filled the doorway, his head almost touching the top of the low frame. All his muscles looked tense; even his jaw was tight, until his gaze landed on her. He glanced at her strappy high heels, and his shoulders unbunched. He slid his eyes over her flirty skirt and silky tank top, and his mouth eased from its tight line into a sexy smile. By the time his gaze locked with hers, all the tension in his body seemed to have leaked away.
“Wow.” Dax blinked. “You look great.”
Her heart fluttered. He sounded so sincere. Awed almost. It was enough to give a girl a big head.
Barking erupted on the sidewalk, and Dax turned and pointed a finger at William through the front window. The dog’s leash was tied around a parking meter. William circled three times and lay down on the sidewalk, giving them his back.
Lissa stood, and Dax walked over to her and kissed her cheek.
“Sorry I’m late.” He blew out a breath. “William put up such a ruckus when I was trying to leave the shelter, I had to bring him with me.”
“You’re not late.” Brushing some dog hair off the sleeve of his sports coat, she let her fingers linger on his biceps. “You were working at Forever Friends wearing this?” She was so used to Dax in T-shirts, seeing him in a button-down and a blazer was a shock. A welcome one. He looked damn good in a jacket, even when paired with his cargos and boots. Maybe especially then. He was still her outdoorsy Dax, just the mature, businessman version.
“I went back to work at Off-Road right after my meeting.” The muscles in his arm went rigid under her fingers. “I just stopped at the shelter to drop off my receipts with Brad for my trip to New Orleans. I didn’t have time to change, except to take this off.” He pulled a blue-and-gray tie out of his pocket and shrugged.
Lissa fingered the tail of the tie and squinted at it. “Are those …”
Dax shifted his weight. “Rows of Bigfoot, yeah. It’s the only tie I own. Besides, the Bigfoot images are too small to notice unless you look closely. Right?”
Smothering her grin, Lissa was quick to reassure him. “Right. It looks perfectly respectable unless you’re up close and personal with it.” Winding the tail of the tie around her palm, she reeled him into her. “Speaking of up close and personal, how—”
“Table for two?” A hostess popped up next to them, menus in her hand and a smile on her face.
“Thanks.” Dax took Lissa’s elbow.
She tugged the tie from his hand and folded it, then stuck it in her bag. “What about William? Will he be okay out there?”
“He’ll be fine,” Dax said. “He could have been lounging on one of the velvet dog beds Marla bought for the shelter, but he chose to harangue me until I caved and took him out. He has to deal with the consequences now.”
“Hmm.” Lissa would skip dessert at the restaurant to make the dog’s banishment as short as possible. Maybe take Dax and William for ice cream at the shop down the street. If they were good boys. She grinned as they followed the hostess to their table.
Sliding into a booth, Lissa looked up to invite Dax to sit next to her, but he was already getting in across from her. She bit her lip and took the menu the hostess handed her. Not quite as cozy as she’d hoped for, not for a prelude to what she wanted to be a deliciously intimate night, but Lissa could work with this.
She scanned the menu and pushed it aside. Leaning her elbows on the table, she studied Dax. His eyes looked a little tired. Sad perhaps. She placed her hand on his wrist. “It didn’t go well at the bank? You didn’t get the loan?”
He laid his menu down. “I don’t know yet. I have to get a letter from the judge who sentenced me to prove I’m a responsible individual who’ll pay off his debts. That, and not get arrested in the next two months.” He frowned. “It’s a big question mark right now. And I don’t know how long my boss will wait to sell to me, not if my coworker, Christian, gets his own loan.”
“I’m sorry.” Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Lissa considered Dax and all the ways she might cheer him up. She felt for the cuff of his pants with her foot. “But there’s nothing you can do about it now. So there’s no point in worrying.” She skimmed her toes up past the hiking boot, searching for skin.
Dax snorted. “You would say that.”
She paused and drew her foot back. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” He picked his menu back up and disappeared behind it.
Lissa snatched it away from him. “Why are you mad at me? Did I mess up your pie charts?”
“They were
fine. Everything’s fine.”
Oh heck no. Lissa didn’t go in for that passive-aggressive crap. If Dax had a problem with her, he’d best air it now. She pushed the small candle in the middle of the table out of the way and leaned forward. “It’s not healthy to keep emotions bottled up. And I can sit here all night pestering you, so you might as well talk now. What’s wrong?” Her stomach churned. Dax was usually more serious than she liked, but he was never unhappy. He’d never had to force a smile with her, not like the pained one that creased his handsome face now.
He raked a hand through his hair. “Look, you knew I was going into an important meeting and you sent me a picture of you in a bikini. The loan officer saw it, and it only confirmed to him that I was an irresponsible partier. The timing wasn’t great, but I’ll get over it.”
A waiter sidled up, but Lissa narrowed her eyes and shook her head. The poor boy scurried away. “I didn’t expect you to share that picture with the room. It was a text for you to open when you were alone. I was hoping to get you to come out to Marla’s cabin.”
Dax gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. “I didn’t intentionally show—” He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before leveling her with his hazel gaze.
She’d never noticed before that even his eyes were in harmony with his environment. A woodland mix of earthy browns and pine needle greens. Her pulse spiked. If he didn’t get his eco-adventure company and it was in some way her fault, he’d never forgive her. He belonged in the out-of-doors. Belonged to nature. He had to get his business.
“I know you didn’t send that picture to disrupt my meeting. None of this is your fault.”
She clenched her fist under the table, hoping the bite of her nails into her palm would distract her from the burn behind her eyes. “But you’re still pissed at me.” She waited for him to deny it. Prayed for it.
He didn’t.
Lissa jumped out of the booth. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’ll take William tonight.” It wasn’t the male she’d hoped would share her bed that evening, but at least she wouldn’t be alone.
“Come on.” Dax stood. “Let’s just have dinner. I’m sorry.”
Words easily said, but Lissa didn’t want to hear them if they weren’t sincere.
“No, thank you,” she said, her words clipped. “Life is too short to waste faking pleasantries and pretending to have a good time.” Turning on her heel, she stalked from the restaurant.
William popped to his feet, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, and barked in greeting.
Someone, at least, wanted to be with her. She unknotted his leash and gave him a good head scratch. “Want to hang with me tonight, boy?”
He licked her cheek.
“Okay.” She straightened. “Let’s go.” She started back to her motel, grateful the owner was a dog lover. He brought his two Shih Tzus into the office with him every day. He wouldn’t give her grief about having William.
Her phone rang, and she dug through her bag to find it. The screen read Number Unknown.
Lissa looked down an empty street before crossing into it as she swiped across the screen to answer. “Hello?”
“Good evening, Annalise. How’s the weather up north?”
She froze. William pulled at the leash, then turned back to stare up at her.
It couldn’t be. Not with her new phone number. “Morris?”
The gallery owner chuckled. “Of course, it’s me. Did you really think I’d just forget about you stealing my money?”
Well, she’d hoped. Headlights turned onto the street a block down, and Lissa hustled herself and William to the sidewalk. “I didn’t steal anything. It was my money. You can’t steal your own money.” Right? That had to be right. She chewed her bottom lip. Was entering a private office without permission illegal? There hadn’t been a lock on the door. The idiot had left all that money sitting on his desk while he’d gone to the bathroom.
“It isn’t your money. Not anymore.” He breathed heavily through the line. “It wasn’t even my damn money, you little fool. It belongs to some very bad men. You think the Three Stooges I’ve sent after you are scary? They might break some bones to get what I want, maybe cut some scars into that pretty face, but they’re teddy bears compared to who’ll come after you if you don’t hand over that cash.”
Break her bones? Legs unsteady, Lissa wobbled to the curb and plopped down onto her butt. She thought about the three men who’d followed her to the hanging gardens. She hadn’t seen them since. And although they looked like they would bloody a nose or two, she couldn’t imagine them really hurting her. Besides, it was her damn money. That phrase was becoming her personal mantra.
“I always thought of them as Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedledumber. The Stooges were fun, not like your idiots.” She tugged at the hem of her tank top. “How did you get this number?” Lissa was proud of how even her voice sounded. As if being threatened with bodily harm was no big deal.
“I called your parents. You went on and on about what great artists they were, so it wasn’t hard to dig up their contact info from some other gallery owners I know.” He murmured muffled words to someone in the room with him before coming back on the line. “Your mom was happy to give me your new number. She thinks my commercial art gallery here in New Orleans is the perfect place for you to sell your work.” He huffed. “She was kind of a bitch about it. Like just because I sell paintings to tourists it isn’t real art.”
Lissa bit back a hysterical laugh. “I’m so sorry my mom hurt your feelings while you were getting my number in order to threaten me.” Dropping her head to her knees, she willed her heart rate to slow. Even with a successful gallery owner calling her mom, pretending to want Lissa’s work, her mother still didn’t think she was a real artist.
She thudded her forehead on her knee. And that really shouldn’t be the headliner right now. She blew out a breath and focused on the phone call. “Morris, if you’re in trouble with another crook, it’s not my problem. You took my money. I took it back. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of the story.” And that money was going to get her to Santa Fe, where she’d show her parents, show everyone, just what kind of artist she was.
His chair creaked. “Listen up, little girl. I actually kind of like you, so I’m going to give you some good advice. Come back to New Orleans now, with the money, and all will be forgiven. Don’t make my men track you down in Michigan. And don’t make my associate’s men come for you. The feds are sniffing around us and he isn’t in a pleasant mood.”
“The feds?” Ripping off some artists wouldn’t be a matter for the feds. Lissa thumped her forehead against her knees. What had she gotten herself in to?
Morris paused. “Forget I said that. Just bring me my money. I swear, if—”
Lissa hung up. She tossed the phone down and dug her palms into her eye sockets. She couldn’t give up that money. It was her money, damn it. Her dreams. She clenched her hands into fists against her forehead.
Her empty hands.
She jerked her head up. William stood ten feet away, looking down the street toward a darkened residential district.
Lissa’s stomach sank, but she tried to inject her voice with cheer. “Come here, William.” She patted her thigh. “Come on, boy.”
He looked at her over his shoulder but took a step away, his leash trailing behind him.
“Please don’t run away.” A gust of wind fluttered the hem of her skirt, and she wrapped her arms around her knees. “I don’t think I have the energy to chase you right now.” Her voice caught, and she was glad her only company was a dog. People were used to seeing her perky. Upbeat. Not on the verge of bawling like a baby.
She sucked down another ragged breath and closed her eyes, trying to force back the tears. Her mom thought she was only good enough to sell trite crap to tourists. Even if she excelled at Brugg
ard-Tayo, graduated with honors, would her opinion change?
Lissa was a grown woman. Her parents’ opinion of her talent shouldn’t matter.
But it did.
Something warm and soft rested on her shoulder. William whined and licked her cheek.
Giving a wobbly chuckle, she turned and wrapped her arms around the sweet dog. “Thanks for sticking by me.” She kissed his muzzle and grabbed the end of the leash. “I needed that tonight.”
Two blocks down, a laughing couple spilled onto the sidewalk from a bar. A neon sign flashing the words “Pins ’N Pints” hung above its door. That door slowly eased closed, shutting out the sounds of rock music and people having fun.
Lissa brushed her fingers under her eyes, knocking away any moisture. Maybe that was what she needed tonight. To let loose, have some fun.
She looked at the Bluetick. “What do you say, William? Should we see if they’re a no-dogs-allowed kind of place or if they’re open to everyone?”
He barked.
“Don’t worry.” She stood and brushed dirt off the butt of her skirt. “If you’re not wanted, we’ll find somewhere else to go a little wild. You and me are a pair.” She strode over to her phone and ground her heel into the rectangle of plastic and glass. She jumped up and down on the shattered pieces a couple of times for good measure.
The act of destruction was invigorating, and she gave a loud whoop, feeling what was left of her pent-up nerves disappear into the night air.
William raised his head and bayed along with her.
Lissa grinned. It was going to hurt to leave the dog behind when she went to New Mexico, but she didn’t think she’d be able to sneak him into such a small school.
But that wasn’t a problem she had to worry about tonight.
Tonight, she wanted to forget. So she lifted her face to the sky and joined William in howling at the moon.
* * * *
Dax slapped another strip of duct tape over the tear in the nylon and pounded it down with his fist. He needed a new damn tent, but they cost money. Money he didn’t have. Besides, he loved this tent. It was just three pounds and roomy enough for his long legs. Of course he’d probably added a pound or two in duct tape, but that couldn’t be helped.
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