“It doesn’t matter anyway.” She hiccupped as a fresh spate of tears began. “Easton and I broke up.”
“Because of us.”
The way Tami said it didn’t make it sound like a question.
“Yes, he hates the idea that you don’t like him or his family. He’s proud to be an Anderson and rightly so.”
Louis’s brows shot up. “So you just gave up? Let him walk away? That doesn’t sound like my little pumpkin. She would have fought for what she wanted. Maybe you don’t care about him as much as you think you do. Maybe it’s just the sex.”
Heat rushed into her cheeks and she wished the earth would open up and swallow her. She did not want this conversation with her parents. “It’s not just the sex.”
Her mother shrugged and tapped her chin. “He is a sexy man, and he has big feet too. Any girl would want to get into his pants. But looks aren’t everything, you know. The real question is does he know what to do with his–”
“Tami! Please stop. I will say I haven’t missed this.”
Dizzy buried her face in her hands, completely mortified.
“I’m just saying that there’s more to a man than his looks.” Her mother was chuckling and so was Louis. “Young people these days are so prudish. Sex is a perfectly normal biological need, and I’m assuming our daughter is not a virgin.”
Not even close but that wasn’t the point.
She didn’t raise her head from her hands, preferring not to look her parents in the eye. Not today. Maybe not tomorrow, either.
“Please let’s not talk about sex.”
“Fine,” Tami huffed. “What do you want to talk about? How wimpy you are? How you let life happen to you instead of going after what you want?”
Dizzy’s head jerked up and her eyes widened. “That’s a crappy thing to say. You’re parents. You’re supposed to try and make me feel better about myself. You’re supposed to build my self-esteem.”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Louis replied with a grin, wrapping his arm around his wife.
“What crazy kind of ABC Afterschool Special is this? I’m not feeling all that great about myself when you call me wimpy.”
“Then do something about it,” Tami answer promptly. “Or you can stay here and be miserable.”
“I don’t want to be miserable,” she answered automatically.
“And you want Easton.” Her mother’s gaze ran over her daughter. “And yet here you are blaming us for losing him when you could be with him working things out.”
It was a little their fault but she and Easton had a whole lot of ownership in this argument too.
“I don’t blame you–”
“Lovely,” Tami said, pushing her toward the door. “Now go get him. I don’t want to hear you cry about him for the next fifty or sixty years and on into your next reincarnation. Go work this out. Your father and I still have more primal screaming therapy, plus we’re not done with our nude yoga. Unless you’d rather give up on Easton and join us. Your father’s favorite is the Eagle pose. It’s good for his sciatica.”
Oh hell no.
Dizzy was going to need to bake cookies for the entire cul de sac after her parents left to apologize. For the screaming. For the nudity. And anything else her parents might think up between now and then.
Retrieving her purse from the table by the door, Dizzy dug for her car keys. “I’m going to talk to him.”
“Have fun and make sure he sees to your sexual needs as much as his own, pumpkin,” her father said with a wave. “We love you.”
They did. She was sure of it.
“I love you too.”
After the strangest pep talk ever, she was ready to go work things out with Easton. She was ready to admit that she loved him. He might love her or he might not but he cared, and that was a start. Time to take this Anderson bull by the horns and get her man.
This wasn’t about her parents. Or what they believed or what she believed. This was about the two of them scared to death and getting cold feet. Time to warm up those toes.
It was time to be happy.
Chapter Thirty-One
‡
Easton’s assistant stood in the doorway of his office just as he was gathering his notes for an important meeting with his brother Shane. They needed to make some decisions regarding a few upcoming projects.
“Whoever it is tell them I’ll call them back. I was supposed to be in the boardroom five minutes ago.”
Amy had a strange smile on her face and her cheeks were pink with excitement. He didn’t remember the last time she looked this animated.
“Are you sure? Because there’s a young woman here to see you. She says it’s important.”
Sighing with frustration, he counted to three before replying. Amy was too good of an assistant to yell at over something trivial. It wasn’t her fault he was in a lousy mood and hadn’t had enough sleep last night.
“It being important doesn’t make me any less late,” Easton explained. “Have her make an appointment.”
That smile grew annoyingly wider. “Okay, I’ll just tell Dizzy that you’re too busy to see her.”
Dizzy? Here?
“Wait,” he barked, dropping his notes on the desk as his heart leapt into his throat and his stomach plummeted to his feet. “Dizzy’s here?”
Amy nodded and Easton could swear she giggled too. “She is. Should I send her in after all?”
Straightening his tie, he took a deep breath but it failed to slow his racing pulse. Why had she come? What did it matter? He could fix this now. “Yes, please and let Shane know that I’ll be delayed.”
Amy whirled on her heel and marched out of the office. “Will do, Boss.”
It felt like forever waiting for Dizzy to enter his office but it was actually only a few seconds. She was still dressed in that sexy black skirt and white blouse, her legs looking amazing in black high-heeled pumps. At some point, her hair had fallen out of its up-do and it was now lying in a riot of chocolate waves around her shoulders.
“I hope this isn’t a bad time.”
Clearing his throat so he could speak, he motioned to the small sofa on the right side of his office. “It’s fine. Please have a seat.”
They both sat on the soft leather couch with a respectable ten to twelve inches between them. Easton’s fingers itched to reach out and touch the soft skin of her cheek but at this point he didn’t dare. He hoped she was here to work things out but maybe she was just there to bring him a pair of socks he’d forgotten and had ended up in her laundry.
She looked as nervous as he felt, her hands wrung together so tightly the knuckles were white. She hadn’t looked at him, not fully, and now his own nerves had kicked in. She was probably there to tell him she never wanted to see him again.
“I’m very sorry about what my parents said,” she began, her gaze still on her hands. “They’re challenging and they have some very definite ideas about things. Like screaming, yoga and nudity.”
Um…okay. He wasn’t quite following here.
“Yoga?”
She finally looked up and their gazes met. Her brown eyes were dark with emotion – maybe sadness or regret?
“And nudity,” she confirmed. “Just ask Leann. I’ll probably be paying for her therapy bills for awhile.”
What in the hell had happened in the last hour and a half? Leann had looked just fine this morning.
“She’s a licensed clinical therapist, Dizzy. I’m sure she can handle whatever it is.”
“That’s not why I came here.” Dizzy lifted her chin and reached across the space between them to place her hand on his. Her skin so incredibly soft and warm. His own fingers wound through hers and she didn’t pull away. A good sign. “I came here because I want to say that I’m sorry–”
“No,” he interrupted hastily. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry, baby. I intended to come see you tonight. I’m the one that screwed up and I’m the
one that needs to apologize. I am really sorry, Dizzy. I acted like a jerk and you were right to throw my ass out. If you’re willing to keep seeing me despite how your parents feel then I should simply count myself lucky. Hopefully someday they will change their minds but in the meantime, I want to make you the happiest woman in Tremont. I…I love you, honey.”
Her entire body seemed to relax and she slumped against the cushions. “I came here to apologize for telling you to go fuck yourself. I love you too.”
His heart seemed far too large for his chest, making it hard to take a breath. She loved him too. He’d almost screwed this up completely but somehow she’d forgiven him.
“I was scared,” he confessed, pulling her closer so he could feel the warmth of her skin and smell the floral fragrance of her hair. “Your parents reminded me of how different we were and I thought you would eventually get bored with me. I’m so bland compared to you.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead and she looked up at him and smiled. There was a love and tenderness in her face that he’d never seen before, and he wanted to see it every day, all the time.
“You don’t bore me in the least. And it turns out that I might not be as different and strange as I thought. I might be almost as normal as you are. Let’s not tell anyone.”
There was a story behind this but now was definitely not the time to find out about it. He’d rather kiss her instead. Besides, he could never think of her as merely normal. She was everything that he wasn’t and more. He wouldn’t have her any other way, either.
Pressing her back onto the cushions of the sofa, his lips found the spot where her pulse beat madly at the base of her throat before traveling up her neck to linger behind her ear. Her hands, however, were pushing at his chest and slightly dazed, he lifted himself up.
“Do you want me to stop?”
He would if she wanted him to, of course. His office wasn’t the most romantic place for a reunion.
Her smile was sexy and inviting, and her fingers were trailing down his chest to his stomach.
“I want you to lock the door.”
She was as brilliant as she was beautiful.
Chapter Thirty-Two
‡
Easton had managed to wrap up work early and take Dizzy to the diner for a bite to eat. She was proud of him leaving the office before it was dark and she’d teased him that perhaps he should make a habit of it.
Their afternoon lovemaking had made both of them ravenous and before she knew it they’d demolished cheeseburgers and fries, practically doing everything but licking their plates clean. Patting her very full stomach, Dizzy sat back and sighed with contentment.
“Nobody makes better burgers than this place,” she said. “This was totally worth blowing off a couple of meetings for. Admit it.”
“It is nice, but you know I can’t do this every day. But I’m definitely going to try to do it more often.”
That was good enough for her. She didn’t need Easton every minute of the day. She just wanted to make sure that he made their relationship a priority.
“Do you mind if I run next door for a minute? I want to see if Carla got anything new in.”
It was only one door down and there would be other people. She’d be fine.
“I’m sure she has.” Easton pulled out his credit card to pay the check. “Go ahead and I’ll be there in a minute. I wouldn’t mind picking up something new either.”
Sliding out of the booth, she dashed over to the bookstore, waving at Carla as she entered, heading straight for the cozy mystery section. There appeared to be a few new titles on the table. One had a delicious-looking cupcake on the cover and it appeared to be a new book in a series she’d enjoyed. She picked it up to read the back to make sure it wasn’t one she’d already read but with a new cover.
“Funny running into you here.”
A familiar voice pulled her from her reading and she whirled around to find herself face to face with Trip Stanford. Far too close. He’d violated social norms of personal space by being only a few inches from her but she didn’t dare take a step back and let him know that his proximity bothered her.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Trip.”
She didn’t have anything else to say. She didn’t care if he was having a nice day or what he was reading or how he’d been, so acting like she did would be the height of hypocrisy.
Trip leaned down to look at the cover of her book. “That looks like a good one. A murder mystery, eh? You must really like those.”
The douchebag was smirking. Smirking. Looking far too pleased with himself.
She held up the paperback, her stomach churning with a mixture of anger and disgust. No, make that fury. He looked so superior as if he had the world in his pocket.
“They always get the killer in the end, although it might take a little time. But they always do.”
“Books are like that. Real life is different.”
Not this time, asshole.
“Not so different. Killers are caught every day.”
He tapped the book with his finger. “Maybe you should stick with stories, Dizzy. Make-believe and fairy tales.”
Her fingers tightened on the book and for a moment she contemplated smacking him upside the head with it but she’d been brought up not to consider violence an answer. But she was seriously questioning her upbringing right about now.
“I know what’s real and what isn’t,” she said instead, fighting to keep her tone even despite the rage that was sweeping through her at his smug attitude. “And I know what I saw. I’m not about to forget it.”
He smiled like a man that didn’t have a care in the world. “You need to let it go.”
“I won’t.”
“You should. No one believes you.” Leaning forward, he chuckled and his voice dropped to a whisper. “I got away with it.”
The bell over the door rang and Easton strode into the bookstore, his gaze scanning the back of the room for her. When it found her, his expression turned thunderous and even Trip took a few steps backward. He might mess with her but he clearly didn’t want to tangle with Easton Anderson.
With a strong arm wrapped around Dizzy’s waist, Easton glowered at Trip. “Stanford. You’re off work a little early.”
“I took a vacation day.” Trip wasn’t smirking anymore but he was still smiling. “I had a few things to take care of.”
Easton smiled as well but it wasn’t a real one. “Yes, I heard the police brought you in this morning for questioning. You lawyered up. Probably a smart move on your part.”
“You can’t be too careful. The judicial system can easily railroad an innocent man.”
Dizzy couldn’t take this bullshit anymore.
“You just admitted you got away with it.”
Trip feigned outrage, his eyes going comically wide and his mouth falling open.
“I certainly did no such thing. You really need to stop making up stories, Dizzy. I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Easton rubbed his chin and nodded. “That’s good to hear because when I was paying the check at the diner I got a call from my cousin West. He still has contacts in the police department and he told me that the search warrants for your home, vehicle, and office have all been approved by the judge. If you hurry home now, you might just have time to move your victim’s body off of your property before the cops get there.”
That smug look was wiped away completely, leaving a pale and shaken man. Trip quickly turned on his heel and raced out of the bookstore leaving Dizzy and Easton behind. She sagged against for support, her emotions taking every ounce of energy she’d had left.
“Please tell me what you said was true,” she pleaded.
“Part of it was true.”
“Which part? Did they only get a warrant for the office or something?”
“No, they got the warrants for his house, car, and office. The part that wasn’t true was that he had time to move the body.” Easton smi
led then. A gleeful smile. “They’re already at his house. You did it, baby. You got him.”
This wasn’t about Dizzy, though. This was justice for Janine Erskine, who might rest a little more in peace after today.
* * *
Easton and Dizzy stood off to the side of Trip’s driveway as Janine’s body was rolled on a gurney from the backyard to the front. She was shrouded in a body bag but that didn’t stop his stomach twisting in his abdomen as she was loaded into the coroner’s van.
It was all so sad and wasteful. Trip had killed that poor girl when she should have had a long life ahead of her. Maybe a husband and kids. Or at least that cat she wanted to adopt. There wouldn’t be any of that now. All because Trip couldn’t control his anger toward women.
Of course, Trip hadn’t made it home before the cops had begun their search. He’d been handcuffed while they dug up his flowerbed and scoured his home. His truck had been impounded. Bag after bag of evidence had streamed out of the backyard, carried by crime scene investigators dressed in jumpsuits and wearing gloves. At one point, West had shown up and spoken to the lead detective before coming to stand beside Easton and Dizzy.
“He’s not saying anything without his lawyer,” West reported, a grim expression on his face. “But he did say he wanted a deal. Says he has some information about a missing girl in Washington State.”
The acrid taste of bile rose in Easton’s throat. Trip had been so sure he’d gotten away with it. Was this the second time? Zach was sure that Trip wasn’t a practiced killer but that didn’t mean Janine was his first.
“I think he’d say anything right about now,” Dizzy replied softly, so low he could barely hear her.
None of them were happy. There was no triumph, no elation at Trip’s arrest. There was a woman who was dead that shouldn’t be. And it had only been an accident of fate that Dizzy had witnessed it.
Or maybe there was more to it. Maybe it was that crazy universe at work that Dizzy always talked about. Was her standing there at that exact moment something more? Certainly there was evil in the world, but there was goodness as well. Who was to say that each side didn’t have an army in that never-ending battle? If Easton had to choose someone to fight the good fight he would certainly select Dizzy. She was formidable and she’d never given up, even when the odds were against her.
Window to Danger Page 19
