“You don’t understand. Dallas was there on our first day of training. She looked at him and said, ‘By the end of the summer he’ll be mine.’ She’s been after him ever since. Without much success, but she’s persistent. She’s gonna kill you.”
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. It was going to be a miserable one today.
“Then maybe you ought to make sure we don’t work too closely together once she finds out.”
She shrugged. “I don’t really have that much control over things. But really, you should’ve been more considerate. You knew how she felt about him. Plus, she’s really so much better for him. I mean, you’re going to go home to Albert Lea in a few weeks. You’re so young too, how can you understand him and what he needs? It isn’t very cool what you did to her.”
My stomach tightened. She voiced all my insecurities about my relationship with Dallas. I shook my head. Who cared what she thought? Dallas and I were good together. Hopefully, I could get a few days out of this before Becca would find out. And the only way she would find out was if Angelica told her.
I forgot about Paris.
I hadn’t meant to sit with him, but the rest of the tables were full. He pounced on me the minute I sat down. His voice carried. He probably thought he needed to speak loud so I could hear him. Or he just wanted everyone to know.
“So, how was your little date yesterday?”
“It was nice, thanks.” I kept my voice low, hoping he’d take a hint. He didn’t.
“Just nice? You guys took the big boat, which pretty much translates into sex. Dallas wouldn’t say anything after he got home, but I thought you’d be more open.”
He laughed and I blushed.
“We did not have sex.”
“Calm down, I’m not judging.”
Grant’s voice rang out over our heads.
“Enough with Savannah’s sex life back there.” He winked at me like that was funny or something. It wasn’t.
Exasperated, I said, “I did not have sex with him.”
“With who?” Deanna asked, swiveling around from the table behind us, where she sat with Angelica and Becca. All three of them stared at me.
I clenched my fists under the table, took a deep breath, and answered. “Dallas.”
Paris interjected. “But you did spend all day alone on a boat with him yesterday. What did you do, if you didn’t have sex?”
I turned back to him.
“That’s none of your business.”
Grant began talking about ride operations and Paris finally shut up. Furious with him and his big mouth, I didn’t hear a word that was said in the morning meeting. Then Angelica had the nerve to make me open Cyclops with him.
“Why are you so upset?” he asked as we hauled the water cooler back to the control booth. My shirt was already drenched with sweat. The chlorine wafting over from the waterpark smelled heavenly.
“I’m a very private person. I don’t like my life broadcasted like that in front of everyone. Plus, Becca has a massive crush on Dallas. So now I’m going to have to deal with her. Why couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut?”
He squinted at me. “Becca likes Dallas?”
I nodded and began the opening routine. I worked two rotations on controls, then moved to exit loader when Paris headed over to the Demon Drop. I hadn’t said much to him and he’d been strangely quiet too. Maybe he realized I really was ticked. After that, Angelica came to send me to lunch.
“Who’s going to lunch with me?” I asked, hoping that it wasn’t Paris.
She looked down at her shoes. “Becca. She’s waiting for you.”
“I didn’t think she’d be speaking to me at the moment.”
“She wants the deets, and to have a few words with you. You should listen to her, she’s the one who should be with Dallas, not you.” Did Angelica realize what her words were doing to me? Probably.
“Thanks for throwing me to the wolves.”
She didn’t respond as I grabbed my water bottle and stormed down the concrete path.
Becca looked murderous. This was definitely worse than Paris.
We walked in silence through the park, both of us pausing to pick up a few pieces of trash on the way. Neither one of us wanted to end up on the wall of shame.
The cafeteria was packed. Everyone wanted to get out of the heat. It was the kind of day that even I considered staying inside, but I had a better chance of avoiding Becca if I went outside. I got cheese fries and a cheeseburger, and Becca got a salad. I hurried out to eat at my rock, hoping that either Julia or Dallas had lunch right now.
They didn’t. To make matters worse, Becca followed me.
She didn’t say much as we ate, but I could see her hands were shaking. Then she finally spoke.
“How dare you.”
I rolled my eyes, which was probably not the best move. She was acting like she actually had a chance.
“How dare I what?” I asked, playing dumb. This was ridiculous.
She stabbed at her salad.
“Dallas…I…ugh…” She continued stabbing and not looking at me.
I took out an apple and ignored her. If this got any worse, I’d go finish eating in Grant’s office.
Finally she slammed the salad down on the rock and turned to look at me. “He was mine.” Her eyes narrowed and her lips were tight. Anger didn’t look good on her.
I popped a chocolate in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “Not anymore,” I said and scrambled off the rock.
In front of the cafeteria, a few feet from where all the smokers sat, I turned and saw that Becca was following me. Her hands were still shaking as she clutched the bowl of half-eaten salad. A few pieces of lettuce fell out. The smell of vinegar and oil wafted up from the bowl. Gag.
“If you hadn’t shown up, I’d be the one with stories this morning.”
My next move wasn’t my best one, and yeah, I lied, but it slipped out before I could help myself. “I’m not the one with stories this morning, Dallas is. I may be a little cocky about this, but he’s not going to be looking at another girl for a looong time.”
Her face turned a funny shade of magenta, and before I knew it her salad was all over my head. She stormed away.
What was it with people and food here? I brushed the lettuce out of my hair and went into the bathroom. I’d be late, but I didn’t care.
At least my short hair was good for something. I stuck my head in the sink and rinsed out the vinegar and oil. I didn’t have salad bits stuck in my hair anymore, but the smell still lingered.
After work, I found Dallas and Julia in Grant’s office. The office wasn’t that big and with the four of us it was nearly bursting at the seams.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Dallas said as he pulled me into his lap. He wrinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”
“I had a run in with a vinegar and oil salad.”
He leaned closer and sniffed again. “But it’s coming from your hair.”
I sighed. “I know. The salad landed on my head.”
Julia giggled.
“I don’t really want to talk about it. What’s everyone doing in here?” I asked.
“My dad didn’t get to meet you yesterday and Ma wants to spend more time with you. Tomorrow evening they are going to have a barbeque and they wanted me to invite Grant.” He squeezed me a little tighter and I resisted the urge to kiss him. I peeked at Grant, who was studying the papers in front of him. Then I looked back at Dallas.
I decided to tease him a little.
“What if I have plans?”
“Your work schedule said you were off. I assumed you’d spend your off time with me.” He batted his eyes at me and I laughed.
“You think your mom will sign a few of my books?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Your mom writes books?” Julia asked. I leaned around so I could see her.
“His mother is none other than the Alexandria Champagne. Have you read any of her stuff?”
“Ho
ly smokes. I’ve read every single one of her books.”
Dallas and Grant exchanged wary looks.
“Me too. Dallas, I’m only coming tomorrow if Julia can come as well.”
“She was the next person I was going to ask. Paris said he wouldn’t show up unless I brought ‘that hot blonde.’”
Julia’s face fell. “I’m off, but I’ve got A.J.”
“Bring him with. Dad’s crazy about little kids. I’ll get him to put up the blow-up waterslide. A.J. will love it.”
All of us looked at Grant. He continued scrawling on some papers.
“You in?” I finally asked.
He shrugged and didn’t look up. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”
I looked at Julia. She tried to hide it, but I could see her smiling. She met my eyes and I nodded.
“Grant, can we give Julia a ride?”
He looked up at her and she flushed a deep pink. I doubted he even noticed. Men.
“Sure. We’ll pick you up at five. Now, I need all of you to get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”
I finished my shift at four on the dot. Dallas met me at our rock.
“I guess I’ll see you at my house?”
“Um, I forgot my books at home, any chance I can have you take me over there? We could just meet Grant and Julia at your place.”
He smiled and nodded. I did forget my books on purpose, but that wasn’t for his benefit, it was for Julia’s. Dallas was just an added bonus.
I hopped off the rock. “Give me fifteen minutes to change and talk to Grant.”
Grant took a little more coaxing to pick up Julia on his own.
“Won’t she think it’s weird if I pick her up without you?” He creased his eyebrows together. Total Dad look. It took me off guard.
“I’ve already texted her and she’s fine with it. Besides, you get along better with her than you do with me.”
I’d never seen him so insecure.
“Yes, at work. I’ve no idea what to say to her outside of Haunted Valley.”
“Talk about work. Or A.J. Or her school. Or books, movies, television shows. I’m sure you have something in common.”
“Why don’t I get your books and you and Dallas pick her up?”
“A.J.’s car seat won’t fit in Dallas’s car. You’ll be fine. I gotta go, I don’t want to be late. See you in a few.”
I left his office before he could argue any more. Dallas caught me as I careened out the door.
He held my hand while we walked to his car. “You’re awfully quiet, are you nervous about meeting my dad?”
I didn’t realize that I’d been spacey.
“No, sorry, just thinking about Julia. Aside from us, I don’t think she has much of a social life and I feel bad for her.”
“Yeah, it’s gotta be hard. You think she’ll be okay this afternoon?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Paris. He can’t help himself around beautiful girls.”
I laughed.
“I don’t think Paris is really her type.”
He shrugged. “You’ve never seen him try to play a woman. He’s good. Should be, he learned from the best.”
I climbed into the passenger seat, closed my eyes, and inhaled. The car smelled of spice and boy. Of Dallas. His sweet lips met mine and I squeaked in surprise. My eyes flashed open and Dallas smiled at me. I wove my hands into his hair and pulled him back. He didn’t hesitate and came right back for a lingering kiss.
“I don’t know how we are supposed to work together when every time I see you I want to do that.”
I grinned.
“The wait makes it sweeter.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled.
We arrived at his house before Julia and Grant, in spite of the fact that we had to stop to pick up the books. We also may have gotten a little distracted on the living room couch. I was lucky I remembered the books at all.
Paris met us at the door.
“What the hell? Where’s Julia?”
“On her way. She’s riding with Grant.”
He tugged on his pink shirt.
“How do I look?”
I smirked. “Dashing as usual, pink really works on you. Why are you so worried?”
“You’ve seen her. She’s even hotter than you.” He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me. “No offense.”
I crossed my arms in front of me. “She’s a mom. You know that, right?”
He checked out his reflection in the mirror next to the front door.
“That’s even better. I’m not looking for a relationship. Just sex.”
I very nearly slapped him. I liked Paris. A lot. He was funny and mostly endearing, but the thought of him just using Julia disgusted me. Dallas tugged on my hand. “Come on, I need to go talk to my dad.”
We left Paris preening in front of the mirror. As a parting shot, I said, “The pink makes you look like a girl. Just FYI.” I’d talk to Julia before he got his hooks too deep into her. She had a pretty good head on her shoulders though, so hopefully I wouldn’t have to do much to tip her off.
Dallas pulled me outside where we found his father next to a bounce house. He looked like Dallas, just older.
“Dad, I’d like you to meet Savannah. Savannah, this is my dad, Jerry.”
I shook his hand.
“It’s nice to finally meet the girl that Dallas won’t stop talking about. Neither will Paris, for that matter.” He laughed.
Dallas grimaced.
I smiled and looked over the yard. A bounce house, a blow-up waterslide, and three other blow-up toys that I couldn’t identify.
Jerry pointed toward all the toys. “Do you think it’s enough? I’ve got a few more in the basement, but they are designed for older kids.”
“Dad, you know there is only one little boy coming, right? All you needed was the waterslide.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want him to get bored.”
“Did you even remember to start the grill?”
He nodded. “You and Paris are cooking. I’ve got a little boy to entertain. What’s his name again?”
Dallas sighed. “A.J.” Then he turned to me. “Dad’s crazy about kids. They would’ve had ten, but Ma had complications after Paris and couldn’t have any more. They tried adoption once but the birth mother backed out at the last minute and Ma said she couldn’t take the emotional stress of it again.”
Jerry interrupted him. “That means that you and Paris better have a dozen each. I plan on spending my retirement years surrounded by grandkids.”
Dallas looked like he was about to say something when we heard a squeal. I turned to see Julia, Grant, and Paris coming out of the house. A.J. was fighting to get out of Grant’s arms. Grant finally put him down and the boy made a beeline for the bounce house. Jerry was already running after him.
“Sorry we’re late, we got lost,” Julia said with a big smile. She looked over at the bounce house as Jerry lifted A.J. inside. “You sure he won’t get hurt?”
Dallas answered. “You won’t have to worry about him until you leave. Dad won’t let him out of his sight. He’s even making me cook.”
Julia looked over at the bounce house again. “If you say so. But I’m just going to make sure it’s okay.” She went to check on A.J.
“What happened?” I asked Grant. “Your directions were pretty clear.”
He blushed. “Julia talks a lot. I kept missing turns because we were in the middle of a conversation, then we had to backtrack to find the right roads.”
I laughed. “Remind me to download a GPS app for you. It will yell at you if you miss a turn.”
A few minutes later, Alexandria appeared carrying a plate full of steaks. She handed it to Dallas.
“These won’t cook themselves. Go on, all of you boys. Do whatever it is you men do on the grill. Ladies, follow me.”
We followed. Julia grabbed my arm and leaned toward my ear.
“Thank you,” she squealed and nearly bu
rst my eardrum. I couldn’t figure out if she was thanking me for Grant or Alexandria.
“No problem. Did you have fun?”
Her face went pink.
“I’ve had a thing for your uncle since the day he hired me, but I’d never really spent any time with him. The ride was so fun. I’d never seen Grant laugh like that.” Alexandria interrupted us. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’m going to grab the fruit.”
We sat down and Julia changed the subject. “Do you think she’ll sign our books?”
“Of course I will.” Alexandria appeared in the doorway. “I didn’t know you were fans.”
“We’ve both read all of your books.”
She sat down.
“I’m flattered. Which one is your favorite?”
I thought for a second, then rattled off three titles. “I can’t pick a favorite.”
“You know, Bikinis and Roses was based on Dallas’s high school years. That was when he still told me about his dates.”
“No way. The main character was a total player and slept with a different girl every night. I would’ve thought Paris before Dallas.”
Alexandria raised her eyebrows and I saw where Dallas got that look.
“Where do you think Paris learned it? He idolized Dallas during that time. Still does, it’s just not as obvious.”
“Dallas and I went out for weeks before he so much as kissed me on the cheek. He’s never struck me as a player.”
Julia snatched a few grapes from an overflowing bowl. “Yeah, I’ve never seen him try to go for any girl except Savannah. In fact, most of the time he was trying to hide from them. For a while I thought he might be gay,” she said.
“He had a bad run in with a young lady a few years ago and that changed things.”
My ears perked up.
“Okay, Master Storyteller, I wanna hear that one.”
She frowned. “That is one story I’m forbidden to tell. You’ll have to ask him.” My stomach tightened. I didn’t realize that Dallas had a past. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, the fact that he starred in Bikinis and Roses bothered me. The guy in that story was a big jerk and was nothing like the Dallas I knew. The only reason I liked the book was because he changed in the end. But that was fiction, things like that don’t happen in real life.
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