Leverage

by Janie Crouch

  Again, mentioning that Juliet and Evan had fallen in love after living through an attack by a crazed stalker probably would be an overshare. Love in the Branson family tended to be less than traditional.

  And that was part of the reason Dylan tried to stay as far as possible from it.

  “How about you?” Shelby peeked over her pot pie at him.

  “Married once, a long time ago. But not in the cards for me any longer.” Dylan definitely did not want to talk about that. “You?”

  “Nah. Haven’t found anyone yet I like more than my pets.”

  Dylan laughed. “I don’t blame you. Are you a dog person? Please, not cats.”

  “Both, actually.” Shelby smiled at him and began telling him a story about some trouble one of her dogs had gotten into. Dylan matched that story with one of a dog he once had. Soon they were both laughing so hard they could hardly eat.

  They were still talking about all sorts of things—her job as a programmer, his as a pilot, her cats that tended to act more like dogs—as they finished their meal, ordered some of Sally’s pie and finished that.

  Dylan couldn’t remember feeling this comfortable and attracted, hell, this invested, in a woman in a long time.

  He found himself wishing this was more than just a meeting to pick up some data from his sister-in-law’s friend. That he and Shelby had more time to spend with each other. But glancing out the window, Sawyer realized the storm would be passing soon. He needed to get the codes to Omega.

  The thought of Omega brought all the memories flooding back. All the reasons why Dylan couldn’t—wouldn’t—get involved with another woman.

  Tension began to fill Dylan’s relaxed body as he realized spending too much time with Shelby was not a good idea. Her smile made him think of things that just weren’t in the cards for him. He didn’t have it in his heart to love another woman. Burying Fiona and their unborn child, knowing their deaths were his fault, had killed something inside Dylan. He would be wasting time, both his and any woman in his company, by pretending he had anywhere to go in a relationship.

  Not that Shelby Keelan had said anything about wanting a relationship with him, for heaven’s sake. They were just enjoying a meal together, relaxed conversation. But attraction was fairly crackling between them. Their hands kept touching on the table as they each made some point in a story. He could even feel Shelby’s smaller foot next to his leg under the table.

  She wasn’t being forward, they just had a connection. And Dylan hadn’t tried to keep it in check, like he normally would’ve—not that he’d felt this way about a woman in a long time. Since he’d known he and Shelby would only be together for a couple of hours before she gave him the codes and left, Dylan had deliberately left their natural chemistry unchecked.

  He wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to stop it even if he wanted to.

  But his plan was backfiring. The more he talked to Shelby, the more he wanted to keep talking to her. Her acid wit kept him laughing, her intelligence kept him intrigued, and those freckles...

  Those freckles were going to be his undoing. Even right now it was all he could do not to reach across the table and begin kissing a line from one freckle to the next. Starting with the ones on her nose, over to her cheeks and down to the one big one he could see where her jaw met her neck.

  He’d have to concentrate on that one especially.

  Dylan realized he was inching closer to Shelby across the table and forced himself to lean away, shifting his weight all the way back in the booth, away from her. What the hell was he doing? This was more than mere attraction, it was almost as if Dylan was drawn to Shelby.

  Well, that was unacceptable and Dylan needed to get himself under the control he was so well known for. He couldn’t believe how close he was to asking Shelby out. To asking her to spend more time with him once he returned from Omega. Hell, to seeing if she wanted to wait at his house for the twelve hours it would take him to deliver the codes to Omega then get home, if he made the round trip as fast as possible.

  And that scared the hell out of him.

  Shelby wasn’t the type of woman Dylan could get involved with. She wasn’t a one-night-stand type of girl; that was already obvious. Plus, she was Megan’s friend.

  He’d let things step over the emotional line with Shelby because they only had a couple of hours. Well, a couple of hours were up. It was time to end this attraction right now. While he still could.

  Get the codes. Deliver the codes. Get out.

  Shelby was talking about pets. Finishing an entertaining story about how the mama cat had taken a puppy to raise as her own when the puppy’s mother had died. Shelby’s green eyes had softened while telling it and Dylan had been totally caught up in the story. But now he stopped her, almost abruptly.

  “You know, it looks like this storm is making its way out of the area. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, Shelby. But if you’ll just give me the codes, I’ll be on my way for delivery.”

  It was rude and came out harsher than Dylan intended. He saw confusion wash over Shelby’s face and then self-doubt. Damn it, she was trying to figure out what she had done to initiate Dylan’s borderline rudeness. He hated how Shelby drew back and made herself smaller in the booth seat across from him. The smile that had lit her features for almost their entire conversation died.

  Dylan hated it, but steeled himself against the apology he found on his lips. It was better this way. Cleaner. But the disappointment in Shelby’s eyes actually hurt him. It had been a long time since anything involving a woman had had the power to hurt Dylan. Why should being a jerk to someone he’d only known a couple of hours be able to?

  Even if she was the most engaging and fascinating person he’d met in a long time. And the first person who didn’t make him want to excuse himself as soon as possible so he could get back to his house, alone.

  All of which was just more proof he needed to get away from her as soon as possible.

  Dylan could recognize the crookedness of his own logic though he didn’t plan to do anything about it. He couldn’t do anything about it. All he could do was just get away from Shelby before things went any further.

  Shelby’s brows were furrowed. “Um, I don’t understand.” Her tone was uncertain.

  Dylan rubbed a hand down his face. Damn it, he was making a mess of this. “I think you should just go ahead and give me the codes. Then you can head on back home, or whatever, and I’ll take off as soon as I have a chance. All I need is a break in the storms and I’ll be fine.”

  Shelby frowned and shook her head. “But I can’t.”

  “You can’t leave Falls Run tonight? Well, there’s a motel down the street. I’m sure it’s not full.” Dylan almost offered to walk her over there, but that was a terrible plan.

  Get the codes. Get out.

  “No, I mean I can’t give you the codes.”

  “You don’t understand, Shelby. It’s okay. Megan knows I will deliver them straight to her at Omega. She should’ve told you I could be trusted, but we can call her so you can talk to her about it yourself. You’ll just need to give me the drive, or disk or whatever the codes are on.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I can’t give you the codes because they’re in my head. I’m what you’re supposed to deliver to Omega Sector.”

  Chapter Four

  You would think she’d just told him she had a nuclear device in her back pocket the way he was acting. Shelby watched from the booth as Dylan went over to pay Sally at the register for their meal.

  Shelby tried to think through their conversation to figure out what had happened, where it had gone wrong. Shelby certainly wouldn’t be surprised to figure out it was something she had said. It always tended to be something she’d said.

  But things had been going so well with Dylan tonight. Laughing
and talking with him had been easy. Not full of those awkward pauses that tended to populate Shelby’s conversations. Especially ones with really hot guys.

  Not that she tended to have too many of those.

  Everything seemed to be going great, and then Shelby had watched as Dylan Branson just shut down right in front of her eyes. The light flirting, the laughing, the lack of awkward pauses they had enjoyed the whole evening—totally gone in a split second. The emotional temperature in the room had dropped twenty degrees in just a moment.

  Generally, Shelby was always looking for a way to get out of conversations, to find a way to return to her natural solo state. But with Dylan she hadn’t felt the need to withdraw. They both seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Enjoying each other. So, yeah, his abrupt termination of everything hurt. More than Shelby expected.

  Not that she’d been expecting Dylan to ask her to go steady or anything, but they’d been having a good time and then: pow! Right in the middle of a sentence he was suddenly finished with her.

  See, this was why Shelby avoided people whenever possible.

  And then when she told Dylan she had to go with him on the flight? She thought his eyes might bug out of his head.

  She hadn’t been sure how to respond. When it became clear Dylan wasn’t going to elaborate, Shelby had tried to explain. “I have to go. The codes are in my head.”

  “Well, then write them down or something.”

  Write them down?

  “Do you think Megan and I are idiots?” Shelby asked. “If I could just write them down, do you think I would be here with you right now?”

  Dylan had shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  Shelby had struggled to keep her temper under control. How could this even be the same man she had been talking to so comfortably just ten minutes before? “Well, I wouldn’t. If I was able, I would have already used that newfangled thing called the internet to send the codes to Omega. I have to go.”

  Dylan shook his head. “How big can the codes be if they’re in your head?”

  Shelby had just sat back and glared at him. “Big.”

  At that, he stood up, took the bill the waitress had brought a few minutes before and gone over to pay. The restaurant looked to be closing up soon.

  Shelby didn’t want to explain to him about her photographic memory of anything having to do with numbers. Fifteen minutes ago she wouldn’t have minded talking about it, almost had mentioned it when they were discussing her job. But that was when she was talking to good Dylan rather than jerk-face Dylan, who had somehow taken his place. She really wasn’t interested in telling him much of anything now.

  Maybe Shelby should mention to Megan that schizophrenia might run in her husband’s family.

  When Dylan didn’t immediately return, Shelby looked over at him. Through the window she could see he had stepped outside. He was on the phone now, obviously not happy with whomever he was talking to. Shelby hoped it wasn’t Megan.

  Shelby also wished she knew what she had done to turn Dylan so hard and cold. Besides just existing and needing a ride. Which was why she was even here. Although that obviously hadn’t been explained to Dylan.

  Shelby finished her tea as she watched Dylan talking on the phone outside. Another storm had come up and lightning played through the night sky. Shelby didn’t think they could take off in all this anyway. Maybe she should drive or look into taking a commercial flight. She could live through being surrounded by all the people at an airport and on an airplane if she had to.

  Plus, how much worse could it be than being in an airplane with someone who seemed annoyed by her very existence?

  Shelby got up and headed toward the door. She would just go her separate way from Dylan Branson. And hope when she met Megan’s husband, Sawyer, that he didn’t have the same temperament as his brother.

  Shelby opened the door. Dylan’s back was to her as he spoke on the phone. “Yeah, I get it. She’s needed, too. All I’m saying is that this should’ve been made more clear to me, Burgamy.” Dylan turned around, looking at Shelby while listening to the other person on the phone. “Yes, crystal.”

  Dylan disconnected the call without saying anything further. Good to know he was gruff with everybody, not just Shelby. They stood for a moment, not saying anything. Lightning flashed around them again.

  “Look, I’m not sure what exactly happened here.” Shelby gestured toward the inside of the restaurant. “But obviously there was some sort of misunderstanding. You weren’t expecting me or whatever. And that’s fine. I’m just going to make other travel arrangements.”

  Dylan rubbed his eyes wearily. “No, that’s not going to work. DC is too far to drive.”

  “I can see about a commercial flight.”

  “By the time you got to an airport big enough, that would take nearly as long as driving. Listen, I’m sorry I was abrupt before. I just didn’t have all the information.” Dylan shrugged. “I can fly you to DC. But since this storm seems to have stalled out right on top of us, it’s going to be a few hours. Probably three or four.”

  Four hours? Shelby looked at her watch. It was after 10:00 p.m. She didn’t relish the idea of sitting in her car for that long, but surely Sally’s diner was going to close soon. Shrugging, Shelby turned toward her car.

  Dylan touched her arm. “Look, the airfield is out near my house. Why don’t you just come stay at my place, get a few hours of sleep, then we’ll be ready to go when this series of storms passes.”

  Shelby moved away from his touch. “Uh, no, thank you.”

  “Why?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Shelby’s voice was pretty loud. A couple leaving the closing diner looked over at Shelby and Dylan. Dylan waved, but Shelby ignored them.

  “No, I’m not kidding you. It’s a logical solution.”

  “Why would I stay with someone who out of the blue started treating me like I have the bubonic plague? No, thanks, I’ll just stay here.”

  “You can’t stay here. The restaurant is closing.” Dylan’s voice had raised to a yell, probably to compensate for the thunder overhead. Unfortunately, the teenage waitress came outside just in time to hear his shout, but not the thunder. She stared at Dylan and Shelby with wide eyes.

  “Is everything okay, Mr. Dylan?”

  “It’s fine, Jennifer,” Dylan told the girl. “Be careful driving home in this mess.”

  Jennifer kept watching them as she walked to her car. Looked as if Dylan’s yell was the most excitement she had seen in a while.

  But the fact that Dylan knew Jennifer’s name reassured Shelby a bit, as did the fact that the girl was so shocked by how he was acting. Obviously, Dylan didn’t normally stand around the parking lot yelling at women.

  “Sally is closing up for the night. You can’t go back in there.”

  “Fine. I’ll just hang out in my car. Text me when you think it’s safe to take off and I’ll meet you at the airport.”

  Shelby heard Dylan’s sigh. “It’s not an airport, more like an airfield.” A few drops of rain started to fall. It wouldn’t be long until the thunderous clouds produced rainstorms again.

  “Don’t stay in your car,” he continued. “There’s a motel a couple of blocks down the road. Stay there at least. Not out in this storm.”

  He was right. Shelby didn’t mind paying for a room she’d only spend a few hours in. Especially if it meant she wouldn’t have to talk to any other people unnecessarily.

  Or have to stay with a man who had made up his mind to dislike her for no apparent reason.

  Shelby left the shelter of the overhang near the diner’s front entrance to cross to where her car was parked. “Okay, fine.” She gave him her phone number. “Just text me or whatever when you’re ready.”

  The rain was really starting to come down now. “I’ll fol
low you in my truck. Just to make sure everything’s okay.”

  That was the exact opposite of what Shelby expected. She said nothing, just pulled up the collar of her jacket for protection from the rain. She thought she heard Dylan say something else to her, but she just wanted to make it across the street to her car. She understood why they had built the restaurant on one side of the road and the parking lot on the other—the diner had amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They wouldn’t want to use any of that prime real estate on parking.

  But having to cross the street in the rain made Shelby wish they had put the parking closer.

  She heard someone yell, but figured it was someone from the restaurant saying goodbye to Dylan. If he was trying to get her attention, he could just wait until they got to the motel. She wasn’t having a conversation out in the cold rain.

  Shelby heard the squealing of tires as she reached the other side of the road. She looked up to see a car barreling toward her so fast she couldn’t even figure out what to do.

  Her world tilted as a weight hit her from her right and she went flying sideways through the air. A split second later, the car sped through where Shelby had just been standing, not even slowing down. It sprayed water from puddles, soaking Shelby from head to foot.

  From where she lay on the ground, Shelby sucked in deep breaths, trying to get her bearings. She’d been hit, right? But not by the car. She turned her head to the side and saw Dylan lying on the ground with her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes. Are you? What in the world just happened?” Her limbs were tangled with Dylan’s.

  “That car almost hit you. I saw it speeding down the road and yelled, but you didn’t hear me.”

  That wasn’t totally true. Shelby had heard him, she just hadn’t wanted to stop in the rain.