“Bad decisions.” Annie sighed. “I thought I loved him.”
“It didn’t take you long to figure out you were wrong.”
“He lost his job not long after we got married. He decided to stay at home and live off my salary. When I had to stop working for a while, he refused to look for a job.”
“Damn.”
“Precisely.” Annie glanced back at the bowling lanes. It was better than meeting Dylan’s all too knowing gaze.
“And you haven’t dated since you were seventeen years old?”
She squirmed in her seat.
“Annie?”
“I’ve been on one date. It didn’t work out.”
“Well…” Dylan didn’t seem to know what to say.
Annie couldn’t blame him. Seven years was a long time not to have dated more than once.
“You want to tell me why?”
“He kept talking about his mom and how much he liked living with her.”
Dylan’s eyes popped open. “I didn’t mean that. But since you brought it up, how old was he?”
“Thirty-one. He was a nice guy, just not the right guy for me.”
“So why haven’t you dated anyone else?”
Annie finished the last of her hot chocolate. “That was a month ago. I’m still looking.”
“Why are you looking when you’ve got me?” Dylan clamped his mouth shut when he realized what he’d said. “For one date, I mean. It doesn’t even have to be a real date.”
“What do you mean? A date is a date.”
“What if we did something that people don’t normally do on dates?”
Annie smiled. “Like mend a fence or round up some cattle?”
Dylan’s eyes gleamed. “How about going for a run with me?”
Annie shook her head. “No way. You’re training for a Half Ironman Triathlon. I haven’t run anywhere since I was at school.”
“You could ride your bike behind me?”
“I’d feel like a groupie,” Annie muttered. It was bad enough being around Dylan when he was wearing clothes that covered his whole body. Running shorts and a barely there t-shirt would ruin her concentration and send her into a hormonal meltdown. “I thought you were training with Logan?”
“I don’t think he’d mind missing one of our sessions. He keeps complaining that I’m getting him out of bed too early.”
“That’s probably got more to do with who he’s sleeping beside. When is your Ironman competition?”
“Two weeks from this Saturday.”
“So you’re in countdown mode?”
“You could say that.”
Annie thought about all of the things she’d planned on doing over the next few days. She had a haircut appointment for tomorrow night, a girls night out on Friday, a bowling tournament on Saturday and more bridesmaids arriving to choose dresses on Sunday. Her personal life was bursting at the seams.
Dylan was watching her closely. “It won’t work,” she said. “I’m really busy over the next few days.”
“Sunday morning. Seven o’clock sharp. I can pick you up from your place.”
“I don’t…”
“A bet is a bet.”
“But my bike…”
“Your bike will be fine. I’ll choose a trail that’s friendly to girly bikes.”
Annie’s gaze sharpened. “What do you mean by girly?”
“Your bike is peppermint green with a basket on the front. It’s not built for real dirt trails.”
“Just because my bike’s pretty, it doesn’t mean it isn’t tough. I’ve ridden for miles on my bike. She’s never let me down once.”
“She?”
“Yes, she. I’m not likely to ride a ‘he’.” Heat scorched her cheeks when she realized what she’d said.
Dylan groaned. “Are you trying to kill me with images I’d rather not see?”
“I’m going to zip my lips together before I get into more trouble.”
“Wise move.”
Annie thought so, too. Especially given the heat spiking between the two of them. She’d have to be in a coma not to feel the nerve tingling attraction between them, but she wasn’t worried. As long as Dylan had his touching issues she was safe. She could hold his hand, get him used to hugging people, then leave him to sort the rest out. Given his wicked sense of humor and ability to flirt with anyone, she was sure ‘the rest’ wouldn’t take long to conquer.
“Have you got your bowling schedule for the competition on Saturday?”
Annie frowned. “My first game is at ten o’clock.”
“Would you mind if I missed that game and caught up with you for the next one? I could find a running track and get my training in at the same time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The tournament. I told Brad I’d be there.”
Dylan looked so sincere that Annie almost believed him. Until she saw the twinkle in his eyes. “You are not coming to Great Falls. You’ll distract me.”
“Too late. I told Brad I’d be there.”
“Brad has a short-term memory. You can’t come. You need to spend this weekend training for the Ironman competition.”
“Maybe, but what’s Brad going to think if I don’t turn up?”
Annie threw her hands in the air. “I don’t care what he thinks.”
“Your dating cover will be blown. He’ll think he’s got a chance.”
Annie’s hands fell to the top of the table. Her life had suddenly got complicated and there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. “I’ll tell him the truth. You’re training for the Ironman competition. And then I’ll gush about how wonderful you are, tell him you’re the most amazing man in the world and that I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”
The smile in Dylan’s eyes disappeared. He looked serious. And sad.
She bit her bottom lip. “Did I say something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No. You’re right. I don’t need to go to Great Falls and you don’t need to lie about our relationship. He’ll get the general idea after seeing me tonight.”
Annie nodded. She was still trying to work out what she’d said wrong. She glanced at the lane closest to them and watched two couples laughing with each other as they took turns to bowl.
Then she saw what she’d missed. She hadn’t said anything wrong. She’d said everything that Dylan thought would make his life right. Annie glanced back at him and wondered what had happened in Afghanistan to shake his confidence so badly.
She nudged his foot under the table. “It wasn’t all lies.”
The shuttered look Dylan sent her worried her more than the sad look she’d seen.
“What do you mean?”
“You are wonderful…and you were amazing until you told me my bike was girly.”
“I could always buy you another bike?”
Annie smiled. “So then you’d be amazing and wonderful?”
“Something like that.”
“We’ve got to get you a house or a new color scheme first. What did you decided to do about the big house on Morning Sun Drive?”
“I’ve bought it.”
Annie stared at him.
His mouth curved into a smile. “Lost for words?”
“Your mortgage payments must be huge? Even if I’d let you buy me a new bike, which I wasn’t going to, it would definitely be out of the question now.”
Dylan sat back in his seat. “Don’t be too sure about that. I quite like the idea of being amazing and wonderful.”
The challenge in his eyes worried Annie. He was every bit as competitive as she was. After tonight, she had a feeling they were both heading toward a brick wall at a thousand miles an hour. The only differences between them was that Dylan had a massive mortgage and he didn’t seem to care.
Chapter Five
“Oh my God, look at you,” Molly said with awe.
Annie twirled in the middle of Molly’s living room. “I got my hair cut.”
Tess stuck h
er head around the kitchen door. “And colored and blow-waved. She’s going to put the rest of us to shame.”
Molly walked across the room and touched Annie’s short pixie hairstyle. “You look like a Fairy Princess. The chestnut streaks are so subtle that I almost didn’t see them.”
“That was my idea,” Sally said from the sofa. “And the dress is positively sexy with a capital ‘S’.”
Annie looked at the cross-over bodice and short skirt of her dress. It was made from the finest wool she’d ever seen. “I splurged on the dress. Next time Sally doesn’t come shopping with me.”
“I love shopping, especially when I’m helping someone look even more gorgeous than they normally are.” Sally put the magazine down that she’d been flicking through. “Are we ready to paint the town red?”
“I just need to call Logan,” Tess yelled from the kitchen.
Annie turned to Molly. “What’s Tess doing in your kitchen?”
“It’s Becky’s birthday tomorrow. Tess made her a cake and she’s decorating it.”
“Does she need any help?”
Sally pulled her jacket on. “I’ve already tried that. She said it will be quicker on her own.”
That sounded so much like Tess that Annie could only smile. “Why is she calling Logan?”
Molly picked up her bag. “She’s in love, he’s in love. It’s a wonderful world they’re living in.”
Annie glanced down at her watch. “Her wonderful world has a happy hour that’s just started. I’ll make sure she doesn’t take ages to tell Logan how adorable he is.”
“Good luck with that,” Sally said. “You might have to unplug the phone.”
Annie knew that unplugging the phone wouldn’t work. Tess would simply call him on her cell phone or spend half the night texting him.
She stepped into the kitchen and stared at the beautiful birthday cake. Layers of decadence was sitting on the kitchen counter. It was the kind of cake a confident thirty year old would eat without hesitation. Annie dipped her finger in the almost empty bowl of frosting. The vanilla buttercream melted in her mouth.
She wasn’t entirely convinced that Becky was up to ignoring so many calories, not after their calorific binge yesterday. Turning thirty was taking a toll on Becky’s confidence. She’d come into the café yesterday worried that half her life had slipped by in a blur of adolescent crushes and unfulfilled dreams. Even Annie started to get slightly depressed after listening to her for ten minutes.
When Tess saw the energy levels being sucked out of both of them, she’d brought two slices of cherry liquor cheesecake out of the kitchen. They’d sat at Becky’s table while Tess served the café’s customers, commiserating with each other and eating enough calories to sink a battleship.
Tess put the phone down and smiled at Annie. “What do you think?”
“It’s lovely. Do you need help with anything else?”
Tess picked up the mixing bowls and put them in the dishwasher. “There are some candles in the brown paper bag beside you. Could you put them on the cake while I clean up?”
“Sure.” Annie opened the bag and tipped the candles onto the counter. They were all different shades of purple. “I didn’t know you could buy purple candles?”
“It’s Becky’s favorite color,” Tess said. “A lady who lives outside of Bozeman made them. She puts lavender oil in the wax to make them smell amazing.”
Annie sniffed one of the candles. Even without lighting them, the sweet flowery perfume tickled her nose. “Making Becky a birthday cake was a really nice thing to do. You’ve got so much happening at the moment.”
Tess looked over her shoulder and smiled at Annie. “You and Kate help me in the café, Pastor Steven organizes the meals we make for The Lighthouse Café and Logan’s mom is helping with the wedding. I can still squeeze in a cake or two. While we’re talking about squeezing things in, what did Dylan decide to do about the houses he was looking at?”
“He bought one of them.”
“From the tone of your voice I’d say he bought the most expensive one?”
Annie nodded. “I don’t know what he was thinking. It’s a beautiful home and the kitchen is to die for. But it was so far out of his price range that it wasn’t funny. I just hope he hasn’t paid too much.”
Tess smiled. “I don’t think the price will worry him.”
“What do you mean?”
Tess turned around. “He’s just gone into business with John Fletcher. They bought an old warehouse the other day. Logan wrote a story about it.” She looked closely at Annie’s face. “You didn’t know?”
She shook her head. “I thought he had some money, but not that much. He lied to me.” Annie felt a swell of anger build inside her. Tomorrow she might think it was irrational, but tonight it was real. So real that she wondered what else he hadn’t been honest about.
“Did you ever ask him how much money he had?”
“No, but he doesn’t look rich. He doesn’t have an expensive truck and he doesn’t wear expensive clothes.” Except for his suits. They were over-the-top gorgeous and probably cost more than Annie made in a month.
“How does someone look if they’re rich?”
Annie frowned. Tess had been a model before she came to Bozeman. A very successful model that had worked with some of the top fashion designers in the world. Although she’d never told Annie how much she’d earned, it must have made her a very wealthy person over her career.
“I don’t know what a rich person looks like, but that’s not the point. I’ve been worried about his mortgage. How dumb was that?”
“It wasn’t dumb. It was sweet. And you’re still jumping to conclusions. He could have invested every dime he owns into Fletcher Security. Does it really matter how much money he’s got?”
Molly stood in the kitchen doorway. “Are you two coming, or are you leaving Sally and I to enjoy ourselves?”
Annie looked at Tess. “We’re coming. I could do with a raspberry daiquiri about now.”
“Sounds serious.” Molly spied the cake and smiled. “Becky’s going to love it. It’s just as well she’s staying with a friend tonight otherwise half of it would be gone by the morning.”
“Is she still not feeling okay about turning thirty?” Annie asked.
“Some days are better than others. After tomorrow, she hasn’t got a choice.”
“Truer words were never spoken,” Tess said. “But in the meantime, we’ve got a happy hour waiting for us.” She dropped the dishcloth into the sink and wiped her hands. “Let’s go, ladies.”
Annie followed Tess and Sally out of Molly’s apartment. While they were waiting for Molly to lock the door, Tess leaned in close to Annie.
“Don’t be angry with Dylan. He’s a nice guy.”
Annie sighed. She knew he was a nice guy. The problem was, he was now a nice guy with lots of money. She knew it shouldn’t matter, but it did.
***
Dylan looked around Charlie’s Bar and Grill. He’d never been inside the building and he didn’t want to be here now. The room was packed with cowboys, executives and college students. It was enough to make him run for cover.
Logan pointed toward a booth. “Tess said they’d be on the far side of the room opposite the jukebox.”
Dylan switched into bodyguard mode and watched everyone around him. It was the only way he could cope with the crowd of bodies. “We get the girls and then we’re leaving?”
Logan nodded. “Ten minutes at the most and we’ll be out of here.”
Tess had sent an S.O.S out to Logan, asking him if he could give them a ride home. Dylan had been at Logan’s place, trying to outwit him on the pool table. He’d driven his truck into town as well, just in case they needed an extra set of wheels to sort out the inebriated women waiting for them.
Dylan slowed down when he saw Molly and Sally sitting in a booth. A woman was standing in front of them, dancing to the song blasting out of the jukebox. Her arms were swaying in the air a
nd her short black dress had ridden up her thighs. He ignored the people around him and the sound of too many voices all trying to be heard.
All he focused on were the woman’s long legs, tiny waist and shorter than short dress. He swallowed as her whole body started moving to the music, sending him into an even faster tailspin than he’d been in before.
The music ended and Molly and Sally clapped and laughed with the woman. Logan went up to the table and smiled at the brunette. She turned sideways and patted his chest.
Dylan saw her lips curve into a smile and his whole body went into overdrive. It was Annie. She’d cut her hair, done something different with her makeup. And then there was the dress. The one that hugged her body like a second skin. The one that had stopped him in his tracks and left him stunned.
Logan nodded toward Dylan and Annie froze. Even though he was fifteen feet away from the table, he knew something was wrong. She didn’t turn around, didn’t smile, didn’t do any of the things he’d thought she’d do. Annie slid into the booth, picked up a tall glass and gulped back whatever was in it.
In the few seconds it took to get to the table, Dylan knew one thing. She wasn’t happy.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” Tess said from behind him.
He glanced at Annie before turning to Tess. She had a tray of glasses in her hands and a smile on her face. “Annie needs to go home and I’ve had one too many glasses of alcohol. Do you think you could drop her off at her house, Dylan?”
This must have been news to Annie. Her mouth dropped open and she stared daggers at Tess. “I can get a cab.”
Tess put the tray of drinks on the table and waved Annie’s bad mood away. “Don’t be silly. Dylan’s here now.”
Tess looked at Dylan. She was up to something, but he didn’t know what. He glanced at Logan. He seemed just as confused.
Tess passed out the glasses on her tray. “Don’t look so worried, Logan. It’s water with a slice of lemon. Annie’s going now, so you can sit with us until we’ve finished our drinks.”
Molly nudged Annie’s arm. “Go on. You’ve got an early start tomorrow. It won’t look good if you miss your ride to the bowling competition.”
Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) Page 9