Carter nodded as he wiped down the counters. “She’d deal with all the Anderson family bullshit well too. She already does so much for the community. She’s always volunteering her time for one thing or another and she’s deeply involved in the politics of Tremont, understanding the issues. She’s passionate about this town as well. After all, she could have stayed in New York City after she graduated from art school but she came home. Add in that she’s smart, talented, funny, and beautiful and she’s a winner. Hell, if you don’t ask her out, I will.”
“The hell you will.” The words came out before Easton could censure them. “Dizzy is too nice a girl for a playboy like you. Leave her be.”
Grinning cockily, Carter just laughed. “I can’t imagine how you would have reacted if you were actually attracted to her. Thank goodness she’s just a little sister to you.”
It was then that Shane decided to join them, the kitchen door swinging open and almost smacking Carter in the face.
“Sorry, I’m late. I got to talking with Mom. What have I missed?”
Easton picked up a dishtowel and tossed it at his younger brother. “Nothing. Now get to work. We saved the hand washing for you.”
Eyes widening, Shane easily caught the rectangle of cloth. “Okay, what’s eating you?”
“He broke up with Melanie last night,” Carter piped up. “We think he should ask Dizzy out but now I’m thinking I will instead.”
“I guess I missed quite a bit,” Shane said slowly, his gaze darting between brothers. “And I think I’ll keep it that way. Unless East wanted my opinion.”
“I don’t,” Easton said curtly. “And don’t call me that.”
Easton’s mother and West’s mother had thought it would be hilarious to have sons named Easton and Westin, born only months apart. It wasn’t funny at all.
“Whatever,” Shane laughed. “You know you’re the only one that is bothered by that name. Everyone else couldn’t give a shit. Now Carter, where are you going to take Dizzy?”
“Nowhere. He’s taking her nowhere.”
Shane’s brows flew up and Carter and Noah snickered, not bothering to hide their amusement.
“I think I hit a sore spot. I’ll just stay quiet and scrub this pot.”
Easton had had it with his siblings. Only Shane was married and the others didn’t know anything more about women than Easton did. Hell, probably a lot less.
“I’ve done my share. Last one out of the kitchen turns on the dishwasher.”
Easton turned and exited the kitchen, striding out of the back door and outside to get a lungful of fresh air. He’d apologized, eaten dinner, cleaned up, and now it might be time to go home. Everywhere he turned he couldn’t get away from well-meaning family. He knew that Carter wasn’t going to ask Dizzy out but he’d taken the bait. He also knew that his brothers and Leann were just wanting to see him happy. They cared about him and it wasn’t done to make him crazy, even if that was the actual result. But it also meant that a few awkward conversations were to be had. That’s when a terrible thought occurred to him.
If they’d been bugging Easton about Dizzy, had they been talking to her about him? Did she think that he liked her and wanted to ask her out? How did she feel about him and that prospect?
This was worse than fifth grade. Leann might as well pass Dizzy a note asking if she liked Easton. Check yes or no. This was why he was a workaholic. He simply didn’t get all of this romance stuff. Numbers were safe and predictable. Emotions? They were much more dangerous.
Chapter Ten
‡
Truly hot days in Tremont were a rarity. As in hot enough that Dizzy could slip on her bikini and head down to the lake for a cool swim. The weatherman was already saying that a cold front was coming in tonight and the temperature was going to dip again, probably for good. Since she’d had no art classes to teach today she’d decided to take advantage of the sunshine. She’d spent a few hours outside, had a picnic lunch, and now home to take a nap.
She hadn’t been sleeping all that well lately despite Leann staying with her.
As she’d loaded up her little economy car before leaving she couldn’t help but sneak a glance over at Trip’s place. He hadn’t been outside much the last few days, only getting in and out of his truck when he left the property. Normally he sat outside on his back patio and read but he hadn’t done that either. It looked like he was going to keep to himself, which was fine with her. She’d seen him be cornered by Angela Kincaid just a few houses down yesterday morning when Dizzy was headed to the grocery store. She didn’t know what Angela had talked to him about but it probably wasn’t the weather or the price of gas because he hadn’t looked happy. At least she didn’t think he did, but then she’d only caught a glance as she was driving away.
Tired and hot, Dizzy pulled her car into her driveway and cut the engine, retrieving her wet beach towel and picnic basket from the back seat. She was juggling her keys, a half-empty bottle of water, and an overflowing bag when an SUV parked right behind her. She’d managed to lock the car when Easton stepped out of the driver side of the vehicle, looking far too dressed up for such a warm day. His suit was well cut but he had to be roasting in the jacket and tie.
“Did I catch you as you’re leaving?”
“No, I just got back from the lake. I had a swim and a little picnic. What brings you by on a Wednesday afternoon? Did you quit your job?”
Normally Easton would be holed up in his climate controlled office buying and selling…well…she really didn’t know. She only knew he was really good at it. She’d heard Shane describe Easton as a financial genius.
“I’m still gainfully employed, thank you. Didn’t you call my assistant and tell her that you needed me to sign all the participation certificates for the art show? I had a business lunch so I stopped by on my way back to the office.”
Dizzy unlocked her front door and motioned Easton to follow her in. With a sigh of relief, she dumped her bag near the door and headed straight for the kitchen.
“I did but I didn’t expect you to come to me. I would have brought them to your office.” She pulled out a fresh bottle of water. “Want one? It’s unusually hot today.”
Easton accepted it gratefully. “It sure is. I think it was already snowing last year at this time. Doesn’t school start in a few weeks?”
She waved them toward the comfortable sofa and chairs in the living room. “It does but I don’t have too much to do to get ready. I just need to set up my student files and organize the new art supplies. Thank you for that, by the way. I’m told that Anderson Industries is the official sponsor of art and music classes in the Tremont school system. How did that happen?”
Drinking down half of the bottle in one go, Easton looked much cooler than he had a few minutes ago. “West is how it happened. You know how the school budgets are tight every year. He came to me and Shane with the idea and we couldn’t say no. We know how important art and music are to the curriculum and it’s good to give back to the community.”
“It is, but…”
She probably shouldn’t say what was on her mind.
“But?” he prompted, looking surprised. “You don’t think we should have?”
Sighing, Dizzy set her bottle on the coffee table. “You made it too easy for the town council and the school board. They know they can always run to your family to bail them out of whatever stupid thing they did. If art and music are important than the town needs to figure out how they are going to fund those activities. Funny thing, they never seem to have an issue funding sports.”
He finished his water and screwed the cap back on. “You know that if we hadn’t intervened some teachers might have lost their jobs? One of them could have been you, Dizzy.”
“I’m well aware but it still isn’t right. The Andersons are always coming to the rescue and you have to be getting tired of it.”
Easton shook his head. “It’s a privilege to have what we have and this town has been very good to our f
amily. I know everyone thinks that I have a cash register for a heart but I do care about Tremont.” He leaned forward so they were eye to eye. “And there was no way I was going to let you get laid off because of budget cuts.”
He was close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. Too close for comfort. The thoughts she’d been having about Easton since dinner on Sunday were disturbing. She’d never thought of him…that way, and in one fell swoop she now couldn’t think about anyone else.
“Thank you,” she said, an awkward tension in the air that hadn’t been there a week ago. “But I know that I’m just a cog in the machine and easily replaceable. It’s never a good idea to start thinking that you’re irreplaceable.”
Easton chuckled, the sound coming from deep in his chest. Had he always laughed this way? “Is that comment directed at me, by any chance? Am I getting a little too big for my britches?”
Dammit, now her attention was pulled to the way the expensive fabric of his pants strained over his powerful thighs and across…
Dear Lord, it is hot in here.
Dizzy took another gulp of her water and then placed the cool bottle on her forehead. She was beginning to feel faint.
Great, now I’m some Victorian virgin with a case of the vapors.
“I’m sure your mother would never allow that,” Dizzy replied, her voice coming out shockingly normal despite the turmoil in her belly. “No, it was directed to the universe in general and myself in particular. I just want you to know that I don’t expect the Anderson family to rush in and save my job just because Leann and I are friends.”
“How about we save it because what you do is important?”
This conversation was going places she hadn’t expected.
“Where is Easton Andrew Anderson and what have you done with him?” she demanded in a haughty tone. “You might look like him but you don’t act like him.”
He finished off the last of his water and laughed. “I’m trying something new.”
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Have him sign the certificates and leave. Don’t flirt.
“Such as?”
I am truly an idiot.
“It has been brought to my attention that I need to be more human, more open, if I don’t want to end up alone and bitter telling kids to get off my lawn. My own twin told me I was too much work to be around.”
Dizzy’s mouth fell open. “Noah said that? Really?”
“Really,” Easton confirmed. “So I’m thinking that maybe I need to try and be more like him. More…easygoing and less…what was the word he used? Uptight. I might as well. I was already trying to be less of an asshole.”
An image of Easton dressed casually, cutting loose in some local honkytonk with one of Carter’s floozies came unbidden into Dizzy’s brain and she couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. That was the last thing he needed to do.
“I don’t think you’re uptight.”
Chapter Eleven
‡
Dizzy was simply being kind. Easton was well aware that he was uptight, especially compared to his free and easy older twin. Despite running a ranch the size of a small country Noah rarely showed any stress whatsoever, making everything he did look easy.
“You don’t have to say that.”
Frowning, she slapped her water bottle onto the end table. “I’m not just saying it. You’re fine the way you are. Don’t let your brothers and cousins make you think that you have to change. Anyone that truly cares for you will accept you as you are.”
“Warts and all,” Easton added with a grin. “You forgot that part.”
“Since when do you have an ego problem? Normally you’re cock of the walk, sure of yourself. Even when you should question your judgment, you usually don’t.”
“Shit, that kind of hurts. Even when I should question myself? I hope that doesn’t happen often.” From the expression on her face he could tell she was thinking about Friday night. He could have handled the entire situation a hell of a lot better. “I apologized for that.”
“You did and I didn’t say a word.”
“You didn’t have to. You’re like my mom—every thought she has is right out there for everyone to see. Don’t take up poker for a living, sweetheart.”
The endearment had slipped out before he could help it but then he remembered calling her something like that when she’d been younger.
“Your mother is a wise and wonderful woman.”
Easton would never disagree but he found he liked jousting with Dizzy. She was fun and he’d had little of that lately. Plus, he hoped that perhaps he was getting her mind off of her own issues and problems.
“That wise woman named me Easton at the same time her sister-in-law was naming her son Westin. They thought it was cute. Even your parents wouldn’t have done something like that.”
Dizzy was openly laughing at him now. “Wow, even my parents? That’s a hell of a thing to say. I guess Tami and Louis do march to their own drummer, so to speak. But let’s remember that my name is Desiree Anastasia. I’m not quite ready to forgive them for that either, so I feel your pain.”
He couldn’t ever remember anyone calling Dizzy by her real name but he had to admit that she would understand his predicament.
“It’s a pretty name,” he said. “It…suits you.”
A flush crawled up her cheeks making her look even more fetching than she already did in her cutoff jean shorts and plain white blouse. The shorts showed off shapely tan legs and the blouse was unbuttoned just far enough that he could catch a glimpse of her bathing suit top and the curve of a breast, full and ripe. They’d just fit his hands…
Stop. Just stop. This is Dizzy.
“It’s a ridiculous name but I guess Dizzy is as well. I bet you think that suits me even better.”
It was Easton’s turn to be embarrassed. “I don’t think that at all.”
“I know what everyone thinks about me, so please don’t pretend.”
It didn’t appear to bother her though, and for that he admired her. Dizzy had always lived her life to please herself and no one else. Maybe that was what he should work on instead of trying to be a little more relaxed. Not that either of them came naturally.
He wanted to say this delicately and find the exact right words. “I think it’s great that you don’t put too much stock in what other people think about you. You do whatever you want to do.”
Giggling, Dizzy slapped a hand over her mouth. “Even if what I want to do is strange or weird?”
“Even then.”
She tilted her head and studied him for a moment. “And just what do they say about me behind my back? That I howl at the full moon? That I cast spells over the neighbors? Wait…how about that I can read people’s minds? I wish I could do that.”
“No, you don’t,” Easton replied immediately. “Didn’t you ever see that movie? You definitely don’t want to know what others are thinking. I sure as hell wouldn’t, especially as most everyone thinks I’m a pain in the ass. And no one thinks you howl at the moon. They might think that you hold séances and talk to the dead, though.”
Dizzy’s brows pinched together. “Séances? Why would they think that?”
A grin spread across Easton’s face. “Because I told them?”
She slapped his arm, her eyes wide with surprise. “Easton Anderson, you did not.”
“I didn’t.” He shrugged but still enjoyed her look of outrage. “I think people just say that you like all the New Age-y stuff like crystals, meditation, yoga.”
“Yoga is not new,” Dizzy protested. “It’s thousands of years old. So is meditation and Eastern medicine. Yoga would help solve that kink in your back. You should try it.”
His hand automatically went to his lower back right above the left hip. “How did you know? Did Leann mention it?”
“I could tell by the way you favor it when you sit down and stand up. Yoga would make you feel better. Sitting all day long is slowly killing you.”
&
nbsp; “That’s a cheery thought.”
Standing, she took their water bottles into the kitchen and tossed them into the trash. His gaze followed her graceful movements and then lingered on her breasts, pressing against the worn cotton fabric of her blouse. Easton was definitely a boob-man and he’d never noticed Dizzy’s before, but now he had to wipe his chin from drooling. He had to concentrate to follow what she was saying when all he wanted to do was explore her bared body.
Focus, man. You’re losing it.
“I could show you a few yoga poses that aren’t too difficult. You could do them in the privacy of your own home. No one would ever know,” she teased, casually leaning a hip against the countertop that separated the two rooms. “Your secret is safe with me. And after all, you’re supposed to be trying to loosen up, right? What better way to shut up your brothers than to tell them you’ve taken up yoga?”
She had a point, although knowing his brothers they’d just give him shit about doing yoga instead. But it was out of his comfort zone…
And damn, he could still hear Carter’s voice in his ear declaring that if Easton didn’t ask Dizzy out he was going to.
Fuck that.
And Easton kind of wanted another reason to see Dizzy, although he was having a hard time admitting that to himself. This attraction was becoming a nuisance but asking her out might just be the answer. He hadn’t met too many women that he liked more after spending time with them.
Taking a deep breath, he plunged in to the treacherous waters. This was a terrible idea.
“I’d like that but I do need to get back to the office now. How about I pick you up for dinner later and then you can show me afterward?”
There. He’d done it. He’d asked her out. A pool of sweat had formed on the back of his neck as he waited for her answer. Did she realize what he’d just done? This was a huge shift in their relationship. Seismic. If she said yes, nothing would be the same again.
Window to Danger Page 7
