“I know. I should have seen that,” I admitted. “You warned me enough times.”
“You were dealing with a lot of crap, honey, I get it. But, I hope you see this for what it is. Dalton’s a good guy. He was back in high school and he obviously still is, so try not to push him too far away, okay? You kind of get a second chance here.”
“How is it you two seem to know each other after only meeting a couple of times?” I cried.
“It wasn’t just a couple of times. It was every day at lunch,” she reminded me. She’d told me her version of my first interaction with Dalton (which I disputed and continue to dispute, because her memory’s that of a dementia patient), when she and I were walking into the cafeteria as he was walking out. He had first lunch while Aspen and I had second, and it seemed as though I saw him leave every day. Even if I was running late, I ran into him as he was leaving, and he’d smile and say hi, but I could never fully find my voice, so I’d just nod or pretend I didn’t see him.
“For two seconds while he was walking out and we were walking in,” I countered.
“Well,” she smiled, “We’re obviously both smart and extremely intuitive people.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not interested in me, Aspen.”
“Ohmigod, Andrea!” She threw her hands up in the air. “He’s been interested in you since the second you walked into the cafeteria Freshman year.”
Aspen often spoke for me, and then when we were alone she’d berate me for a few seconds before dropping her head back with a dramatic groan (a bit like she was doing now), and we’d continue on with our lives.
“Okay, let’s drop it,” I said.
“I’ll drop it like it’s hot, babe, as soon as you admit he’s into you.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not into me.”
“Andrew Jackson send you down the Rivers!” she snapped.
I snorted as I choked on a laugh. “What the heck was that?”
“I like it.”
“It’s stupid.”
“It’s genius,” she quipped.
“You’re a dork.”
Ever since we’d met, Aspen had made up names for me mostly because she thought Andrea was kind of lame (totally in solidarity to me, because I hated it as well), so she called me anything but. And they just got weirder (and dumber) the older we got. However, Andrew was used whenever she was irritated with me, so I was apparently stuck with that for the evening.
“He likes you, honey,” Aspen continued. “Just lean in a little, okay?”
I bit my lip and gave her a little nod. “I’ll lean in.”
“Halle-freakin-lujah,” she sang, then smiled. “Go get gussied up...make that man weak in the knees.”
“Okay, honey.” I headed back upstairs with a lightness in my heart I hadn’t had for a very long time.
* * *
Dalton
I parked in front of Andi’s home and frowned. I didn’t like how exposed her porch was. Before knocking on the door, I did a perimeter search and made a few mental notes to speak with my buddy about. Alamo Slater was the Sgt. At Arms for the Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club, and he was good at risk-management, not to mention a kick-ass mechanic. Which is how I met him. He stepped in to run my BMW shop a few years ago, and now did it when I was between managers or someone was on vacation. I’d tried to hire him, but Alamo owned his own place, so he wasn’t interested.
Once I texted Alamo, I rang the doorbell, and couldn’t contain my mild surprise when Aspen opened the door. I’d only met her once or twice outside of the high school cafeteria, but she hadn’t changed much. Her hair was longer, and she had a few extra laugh lines, but she was still just as pretty as ever.
“Dalton Moore, as I live and breathe,” she exclaimed, her hand flat on her chest for affect. “Why, sir, you just get better with age.”
I chuckled, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “And you are just as gorgeous as ever, Aspen.”
“Charmer.” She stepped aside. “Come in. Andi’s almost ready.”
I walked inside and followed Aspen into the great room. The house was bigger than it appeared to be from the outside, and Aspen had obviously upgraded recently. She came from money, so I wasn’t surprised. “Nice place.”
“Thanks. Can I get you a beer?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
Aspen looked past me, so I turned and felt my heartbeat speed up.
“Hi,” Andi said.
“Hey. You look beautiful.”
She wore a black knee-length skirt with knee-high boots that brought very inappropriate thoughts to my mind. I took a few deep breaths and thought about football while I took in the rest of her. Silver lace peeked out from a creamy sweater that slid off her right shoulder, and all I wanted to do was run my lips over her skin. Damn, she was stunning.
“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed as she smiled. “You look nice as well.”
“Ready?” I asked, in an effort to distract myself from wanting to drag her up the stairs.
“Yes,” she breathed out. “I’m starving.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. I plan to try everything on the menu.”
I chuckled. “Excellent.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I hope you have room on your credit card.”
“Absolutely.”
“Have fun,” Aspen called as Andi led the way out the front door.
“Lock up,” I ordered.
“Always,” Aspen said, and did as I demanded.
I opened the car door for Andi and waited until she was settled before closing it and making my way to the driver’s side. I started toward the restaurant and noticed she was unusually quiet. “You okay?”
“Yep.”
“Was everything okay with your car?”
“About that,” she started, and I hid a smile. “I’m confused as to why you replaced all my tires, including the two that were fine, and then tuned it up when I didn’t need a tune up.”
“You needed a tune up.”
“Not for another few months.”
“Andi, if the sticker on your window was correct, you hadn’t had an oil change in over two years.”
“Which meant I could push it for another few months,” she countered.
“And those two “fine” tires were bald, sugar,” I said.
“They were?”
“Yeah. And I don’t like the idea of you not having a full-size spare. Donuts are dangerous.”
“They’re not dangerous, Dalt. You just have to go slow, which I have no problem doing.”
I loved the way she called me ‘Dalt,’ it meant she was relaxing… finally. “I’ll feel more comfortable if you’re drivin’ a car with a regular sized tire. Humor me.”
She rolled her eyes, but I didn’t miss the smile in them. “I didn’t realize you had much, if any, say in what I drive.”
“I’d like to.”
“Let’s get through dinner and go from there.”
I chuckled. “Well, it’s not a ‘no,’ so… progress.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m wearin’ you down.”
She didn’t respond as I pulled up to the restaurant and parked, but I was bolstered by her silence. Sliding out of the car, I walked to her side, glad to see she waited for me to open the door for her. There was something special about a woman willing to be treated like a lady.
I held my hand out and she took it, standing with a smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I kept hold of her hand and we made our way to the door.
Andi
MY HEART RACED as Dalton took my hand and we headed into the restaurant. His touch rendered me speechless and I found myself unable to form words… you know those things that make sentences? They’re very useful when trying to get to know someone… only I was at a loss.
Luckily, Dalton did all the talking and I could just stand there and smile (did I smile? I wasn’t sure). He dropped my hand and laid it on my lower back, propelli
ng me gently forward, and I realized we were following the hostess toward tables. I pulled myself back together (well, for all of about twenty-two seconds, because then he held my chair for me before taking his). Lordy, this man was irresistible.
After handing us our menus, the hostess left us and Dalton smiled. “You’ve gone quiet.”
I nodded to my menu. “I’m reading.”
“Yeah? Without opening the menu?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Smartass,” I whispered.
Warmth spread through my body at his quiet chuckle and I focused back on the options. He let me have my privacy as I attempted to process my emotions, but our server arrived before I’d managed to solve the world’s problems and pick something to eat.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.
“I’ll have a glass of merlot,” I said. I liked wine, but it wasn’t as though I was picky about it.
Dalton read off his choice, an entire bottle, of some fancy winery’s merlot and handed the server the wine list. Then he ordered a couple of appetizers, and my stomach rumbled, but that was all the noise I could muster.
“Sound good?” he asked.
I nodded, still not quite able to speak.
The server walked away, and Dalton took my hand. “Hey. You okay?”
“Yep.”
He smiled. “Andi, relax. There is no pressure.”
“I am relaxed,” I lied.
“I can hear you thinking.”
“Neat trick.”
Dalton chuckled again. “You wanna fill me in?”
“Not really, no.”
The server returned with our bottle of wine and, after Dalton approved it, poured us each a glass and left us again.
“Okay. Let’s start with something easy,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. “How easy?”
“Where did you go after you testified?”
“That’s an easy one?” I squeaked.
“You disappeared Andi.”
“I didn’t disappear. I moved in with Aspen’s grandparents.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “I emancipated myself from my parents and moved in with them. Aspen and I transferred to St. Vincent’s.”
He let out a quiet whistle. “Wow, sugar, that’s rough. I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that.”
“I’m not.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong, it sucked while I was going through it. I’m not going to minimize it, because my brother’s a monster, but I feel like I have tools under my belt that I wouldn’t have had if Aspen’s grandparents hadn’t taken me in. I have some perspective now and I wouldn’t have had that. My parents are very, very uptight, and they’re miserable people. It’s all about image with them, and I would have turned out like them if I hadn’t been forced to choose a different way.”
“No you wouldn’t have.”
“You don’t think?”
Dalton shook his head. “No way.” He leaned closer, squeezing my hand. “I’m gonna give you a little insight. You ready?”
I leaned forward as well and nodded. “Lay it on me.”
“You and I were gettin’ to know each other in high school, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Um, sure. It was a long time ago, though.”
“Not that long.” He shook his head. “But that’s beside the point. Even in high school, you were cool, sugar. You didn’t have a stuck-up bone in your body. That’s your doing, obviously, because Jet thought everyone was beneath him, so even if you hadn’t moved in with Aspen’s grandparents, you would have figured that out. And what you did? Testifying against your brother,” he smiled, “that took courage, baby.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“So, let’s put aside the cat and mouse a little, huh? I’m not gonna let you hide. We’re gonna get to know each other and go from there, sound good?”
“And if that’s not what I want?”
“Sugar, if you can tell me you don’t want this and make me believe it, you can walk away.”
I wrinkled my nose and he laughed. “Bite me,” I whispered.
He tipped his glass toward me. “Something to look forward to.”
Heat infused my body. “Ohmigod. You really are evil.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said.”
This time I giggled.
“I love that sound, sugar.” He sipped his wine. “I want to hear it often.”
“I will try to accommodate.”
“I appreciate that,” he said.
I relaxed. Completely. It was the first time in a really long time I didn’t feel like I had to be on alert. He’d always done this for me and for a moment, I’d forgotten. But his easy way put me at ease again and I leaned in and enjoyed it.
Dinner flew by entirely too quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go home. Laden with enough leftovers to take care of me and Aspen for a couple of days. The night had been perfect and now it was over. To say I was disappointed was an understatement.
Arriving home, Dalton walked me to my door, and then quickly pulled me away from my porch. “Shit,” he hissed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Just stay there for a sec,” he ordered, and pulled out his cell phone. “Why isn’t your porch light on?”
“It’s broken. The bulb exploded. It’s on the list of things to fix, we just haven’t had time.”
He shook his head and turned his flashlight app on, shining onto the porch. I squeaked and stepped further away. “Ew! What is that?”
“Dead cat, sugar.”
“Does it look like Garfield?”
“Yeah.”
I wrinkled my nose. “It’s my neighbor’s cat.”
He stepped away from the porch as he put his cell phone to his ear. “Doom? Hey, man, it’s Dalton Moore.” He chuckled. “Yeah, back for a month or so. Yeah? Sure, tomorrow’s good. Hey, got a favor. I think someone’s messin’,” he looked at me, “with a close friend of mine and I’m hopin’ you can help me out. Great. Yeah, that’d be good. Sure. Noon. See you then.” He hung up and slid his phone in his pocket.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I need you to pack a bag and come stay with me for a couple of days. Aspen should too.”
“What?” I squeaked. “Why?”
“Because someone’s sending a message and I’m not a big fan of what they’re sayin’.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dalton, you’re overreacting. It’s some animal. We thought it was the cat, honestly, but so far, we’ve had two dead rats, a squirrel, and a raccoon. As long as we stay inside, if it’s a coyote or something, we’re fine.”
His body locked. “This has been goin’ on for how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“How long, Andi?” he demanded.
“Three or four weeks.”
He swore. “Now, Andi, you pack a bag now.”
“Okay, sheesh. Overprotective much?”
“Unlock the door, but I go in first.” He pulled a gun from the holster at his side. “Go.”
I nodded, sidestepping the dead cat, and sliding the key into the lock. Dalton stepped in front of me and into the house, flipping on lights as he went. I followed closely, a little annoyed by the dramatic reaction to a dead animal on the porch.
“Aspen?” I called.
“Andi,” Dalton said with a growl. “Let me clear the house first.”
I bit my lip and whispered, “Sorry.”
“Lock the front door, sugar.”
I did as he ordered, but pretty much only because he called me “sugar.” Gah! It did things to me.
“Downstairs is clear,” Dalton said, handing me a post-it note. “Aspen’s out.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to check upstairs.”
I grabbed his arm. “No, don’t.”
“Andi, someone might be in here.”
“Dalt, seriously.”
H
e gave me a cheeky smile. “You afraid I’ll see somethin’ you don’t want me to?”
I shook my head, but still blushed. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I won’t look in any nightstand drawers,” he promised.
Since I didn’t really have much of a choice, I followed him upstairs, slipping my heels off as we went. I still had the leftovers in my hand, which was dumb, but I’d kind of forgotten about them, and I wasn’t about to run back downstairs to throw them in the fridge while Dalton was checking out my private sanctum.
He checked every room, but didn’t look in any drawers (as promised). “This house is clear,” he said, and holstered his gun.
“Thank you tiny psychic lady from Poltergeist,” I retorted.
“Nice pull,” he said.
I giggled. “Thank you. Are you done overreacting?”
“I’m not overreacting.”
“Some animal got the cat, Dalt.” I dropped my shoes on my bedroom floor. “Probably the same one terrorizing the neighborhood. I get that you’re ex-FBI and that you’ve seen a lot of really bad stuff, but I’ve fought too hard to not see things that aren’t there—”
His mouth covered mine, and since I couldn’t hold onto the bags of food and hold myself upright at the same time, I released the leftovers and gripped his shoulders for support. Holy moly, the boy could kiss. I leaned in, looping my arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.
He broke the kiss and smiled, stroking my cheek. “Gorgeous.”
“You’re a really good kisser,” I whispered.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” He stared at me and raised an eyebrow. “So, now that’s been established, you gonna pack a bag?”
I sighed. “I don’t want Aspen coming home to an empty house. She’ll worry. Plus, if there is real danger, I don’t want her walking into it.”
“You can text her.”
“I can’t stay at your place.”
He sighed. “Yeah, my place is being rented, which means you’re gonna stay with my parents.”
“What?” I squeaked. “No, I’m not.”
“It’s the safest place.”
“I’ll go back to Aspen’s grandparents before I’ll stay with your parents, Dalton.”
“You’re gonna bang on the door of an elderly couple at almost eleven at night?” he challenged.
Written on my Heart (The Oracles Book 1) Page 5