The tension eased from Allison’s shoulders and she gave a wry smile. “I’m a teacher now. I used to work in an upscale salon, but I could hardly see myself in Hollywood.”
“How about Montana?”
Allison’s stomach twisted. The idea actually held appeal and she’d be lying to herself to say she hadn’t been considering the possibility all morning. There was something about this town. Its people. The slower pace of life.
“Lorraine—”
A loud knocking on the front door cut off the confession that had been on the tip of her tongue.
“Now I wonder who that could be.” Lorraine sighed and pulled herself up from the folding chair. “Let me just check real quick.”
“All right. I’ll just start cleaning up in here.”
Once Lorraine had left the room Allison started collecting the bottles of polish and remover they’d bought yesterday. She’d just put them back into a black makeup bag when she heard the commotion.
She set the bag down and hurried into the front room.
Lorraine stood next to an older lady who looked out of breath and completely distressed.
The woman’s gaze turned to her and her jaw dropped. “Is that her?”
“Me?” Allison pressed a hand to her chest and looked behind her. “What?”
“Are you Allison?”
“Last time I checked.” Premonition had her gut clenching.
Relief washed over the new woman’s face and she strode forward and grasped her arm.
“Come on, you’ve got to come with me.”
Lorraine shook her head. “Rosemary, what the hell is going on?”
“Watch the swearing,” Allison reminded her absently.
“Shit. Sorry, I forgot.”
“Yes. Please, what is going on?” Allison pleaded.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” The woman jerked her head toward Lorraine. “My husband just called to tell me that he’s going to have to book your son on kidnapping charges.”
“Kidnapping charges?”
“What?”
Allison and Lorraine both spoke at once.
“But that’s impossible,” Lorraine sputtered. “Who did he kidnap? And what the hell does Allison have to do with it?”
Allison made no attempt to call her on the curse this time. She’d gone numb and swayed unsteadily on her feet.
“Allison. They’re saying he kidnapped Allison.”
“Allison?” Lorraine’s gaze jerked toward her. “That’s ridiculous. Who said such a lie?”
“It’s not a lie,” Allison blurted before she could stop herself. “I mean, it is. But it isn’t. It—shit.” She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. “God, who in the hell called the police?”
“Clint kidnapped you?” Lorraine grabbed the back of the couch, her eyes wide and brimming with accusation. “My son? I don’t believe it.”
“Who called the police?” Allison asked again. Her stomach churning.
This wasn’t good. This so wasn’t good. Who had called could have possibly—?
“Some guy named Ken showed up and said you’d called him. Said you’d told him you were kidnapped.” Rosemary placed her hands on her hips and glanced her over from head to toe.
Lorraine gasped.
“Is it a lie?” Rosemary asked, her gaze still on Allison.
Her mouth opened to deny it but no words came out.
Kenneth. Oh God. That phone call up in the state park. He’d heard her after all. She raced over the conversation in her head that she’d had with him. She hadn’t told him to call the police, but he’d obviously decided to do it on his own.
“What have you done?” Lorraine’s demanded brokenly.
Allison’s gaze moved to Clint’s mom and her stomach dropped. Tears brimmed the other woman’s eyes and her hands shook.
“You called the police on my son?”
“I didn’t,” Allison protested, but knew she sounded ridiculous to her own ears. She hadn’t, but Kenneth had.
“Look, Pete said there’s still time. We need to get down to the station right now.” Rosemary gave Allison a sharp glance. “Unless you’re pressing charges?”
“Of course not,” Allison cried, horrified. Press charges against the man she’d fallen in love with?
Oh God. This had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.
She drew in an unsteady breath. “Look, take me to the station and we’ll get this straightened out.”
Rosemary gave a quick nod. “We can take my car. I’ll call Pete on the way and let him know we’re coming down.”
“I’ll grab my purse and meet you outside,” Lorraine muttered.
Allison hesitated, knowing she ought to try and explain this to Clint’s mom.
“Lorraine, I—”
“Not now, Allison.” Clint’s mother lifted her hand to cut her off, her mouth tight as she avoided looking at her.
Allison fell back, walking slower as Rosemary and Lorraine hurried out the door. A knot lodged in her throat and her stomach felt like she’d just eaten a dozen bricks.
“By the way, Lorraine,” Rosemary commented as they climbed into the sedan. “I love your nails.”
Lorraine responded with a quiet harrumph and Allison’s nausea doubled. She fastened her seatbelt and closed her eyes. Whatever happened next wasn’t going to be pretty.
“I don’t understand why you haven’t been arrested yet,” Ken grumbled, pacing the small room.
Clint’s jaw clenched and he had the urge to get up from the wall he leaned against, walk over to his old friend and deck him again. When had Ken become such a prick?
But hell, he’d avoided getting read his rights this long, why push his luck.
Pete hung up the phone, ending the call he’d answered a minute ago and glanced up at them.
“My wife is bringing your mom and Allison down to the station,” Pete said, kicking his legs up on the desk. “And it looks like Allison’s not pressing charges. Though of course I’ll have to confirm it with her when she arrives.”
Clint’s head snapped up. She wasn’t pressing charges? Easy there, it doesn’t change the fact that she turned you in in the first place.
“Not pressing charges?” Ken snapped. “I don’t believe it. You fucking nature freaks have brainwashed her.”
“Watch it there, son,” Pete warned, his eyes narrowed. “Or you may find yourself the one getting charged.”
Ken’s eyes rounded, but fortunately he kept silent.
The women arrived a few minutes later. Rosemary came in first, followed by his mother, who looked pale and concerned, and then Allison walked in.
Allie’s body was rigid with tension and her chin was high as she entered the office. Her gaze landed on him for not even a second, before sweeping to Ken.
“Kenneth? What in the—?”
“Allison.” Ken rushed across the room and pulled her into his arms. “Hon, are you okay? When you called me and told me what had happened I flew out as soon as I could.”
Jealously and anger stabbed deep in Clint’s gut and his jaw hardened. And there it was, plain and simple, the proof that she’d betrayed him.
Allison snorted. “Ken, when I called—”
“Excuse me, Ms. Donaldson?” Pete cleared his throat.
“What?” She glanced back, annoyance clear on her face.
“I need to verify whether or not you’ll be pressing charges against Clint here.”
Her gaze widened. “No. I’m not pressing charges. I never meant…”
“Am I free to go?” Clint interrupted, keeping his tone flat, trying to hide any trace of emotion.
The last thing he wanted was for Allison to see how much of a mind fuck this all was to him.
“Uh,” Pete hesitated, before nodding. “I guess so, Clint. I’ll just need to talk to Ms. Donaldson a bit longer, but if she’s not pressing charges, then you’re free to go.”
“Clint?” Allison’s voice cracked through the room as he made his way to
ward the door. He ignored her and kept striding outside.
“Clint, wait.” She followed him out, her feet crunching in the dirt parking lot.
He drew in a ragged breath and turned to face her.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Let me just finish up in here and then we’ll talk.”
“Sorry, kitten.” He forced a brief, somewhat callous smile. “That boat’s sailed.”
“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened, uncertainty flickered in her gaze. “I thought you wanted to…I can explain—”
“Just answer me this. Did you call Ken?”
He watched the guilt flicker in her eyes and her mouth opened and shut a few times. Finally she nodded.
“Yes. I did. But that was—”
“You know, Allie.” He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head, looking past her shoulder and at the mountains off in the distance. “You were trying real hard to break up Ken’s wedding.”
“Maybe I was, but it wasn’t—”
“And congratulations. You finally did it. Ken called it off for you.”
The sudden silence drew his gaze back to her face. Her jaw had dropped and the shock on her face was blatant.
“Ken called off his wedding?” she whispered. “But…”
“Don’t pretend that’s not what you wanted the whole time.”
“I didn’t,” she protested. “I mean, yes I didn’t want him to marry Ashley, but—”
“Honestly, Allison, I can’t really blame you for calling the police. I was an idiot for taking you in the first place. It’s just…I’ve been wanting you for a helluva long time. And when this Ken thing came up I saw it not only as a way to take you out of the equation, but get you out of my system.” That part was true. “And it worked.” There was the lie.
She continued to stare at him, her face pale now.
“It worked?” she repeated after a moment. “What do you mean by that?”
He gave a harsh laugh, and because he was weak, reached out to run a finger down the soft curve of her jaw one last time.
“It worked,” he forced out as casually as he could. “We fucked. It was good. And now we go back to life as normal.”
She reared back and slapped his hand away, her body trembling visibly.
“Allison.” The door to the station swung open and Ken stood in the doorway. “Come back in here, hon. Let’s just get this crap over with so we can get out of this town and back to reality.”
“Go back to reality, Allison,” Clint taunted, each word cut out a little of his heart. “It’s safer there.”
“Fuck you.”
“You sure didn’t stick to that non-swearing goal for long, did you?” he mocked and shook his head. “Thanks for not pressing charges, kitten. I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, you’ll be lucky if I don’t change my mind,” she whispered raggedly.
Before he could do something stupid, like beg her to ditch Ken and consider giving up everything to be with him, he turned on his heel and strode across the parking lot.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t have his car, if he were lucky the three-mile walk home might make his feet hurt. Better than his heart.
“So how are you holding up?” Leah glanced away from the road for a second. “I mean, really.”
Allison drew in an unsteady breath and turned to look out at downtown Seattle which they were passing by.
God, talk about the question of the hour. Or week. Make that five weeks, since that’s how long it had been since she’d left Montana. Had left Clint.
Her stomach twisted and that recurring lump in her throat once again made an appearance.
“I’m…” Why keep lying? “Fucking awful.”
“Oh, gosh, Allison.” Leah sighed. “Well at least you’re honest. I wish there was something I could do.”
“It’s not your problem.” She stared at the buildings of the city thrusting up into the gray skyline.
“But it is. It is my fault, Allison.” Leah groaned. “I made a bad choice that day you called me. If I had told him to bring you home, or threatened to call the police—”
“If you had done either of those things I wouldn’t have had that brief, but absolutely wonderful experience with Clint.” Her eyes blurred with tears as she remembered his last words to her. We fucked. It was good. And now we go back to life as normal.
“Don’t blame yourself for what happened, Leah. I screwed everything up the minute I called Ken.”
Her stomach churned and she fought another wave of nausea. She pressed her hand against her belly and closed her eyes.
“You look pale, sweetie. Why don’t we grab some breakfast.”
“I don’t want to eat.” Allison shook her head. “The very idea makes me wanna ralph.”
“Well how about coffee?”
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to take care of me. You’ve already done enough. Really, I’ll be all right.” Her lips twisted downward. “As they say, nobody ever died from a broken heart.”
“Hmm.” Leah shook her head. “Let’s stop at Ooo La Latté, say hi to Madison, that’ll cheer you up.”
Leah swerved across three lanes of traffic and exited the freeway.
“What happened with Ken?” Leah asked. “Did he really think you wanted him back?”
Allison snorted and gave her first honest laugh in days. “Yeah. He did. Crazy.”
“And he called off his wedding?”
“Yeah. But apparently he did that before I called him. I guess he found Ashley in bed with the FedEx guy.” Allison sighed. “Did I call it or what? Apparently both of them are monogamously challenged.”
“Yeah, I’ve always thought he was a bit of a dick.” Leah giggled and turned into the parking lot of Ooo La Latté.
“Ken’s always been a bit of a playboy. I always thought he had a good heart under it all, but lately, I don’t know, he’s gotten worse. He’s become a bit of a jerk, sadly.”
“Allison…have you tried to talk to Clint?”
Every muscle in Allison’s body went rigid. Talk to Clint? Right. If only it were that easy. If only that could possibly solve the issue. Tears pricked again behind her eyes but she blinked them away.
“Clint made it pretty clear what kind of relationship we had,” she said quietly. “There’s really nothing more to talk about.”
“I don’t know, Allison. I really don’t.”
“Look, please, I can’t talk about this right now.” Her voice cracked. “I just can’t.”
“Okay. All right.” Leah lifted her hands in surrender and nodded. “Let’s go inside and get some coffee.”
Allison followed Leah inside and tried to force a small smile on her face. They were regulars here, and she didn’t want to get Maddie—the owner of the shop—asking what the hell was wrong with her.
“Allie. Leah.” Madison called out in greeting from behind the espresso counter. “How are you?”
“Doing great,” Leah replied and cast Allison a quick look. “We both are.”
“Right,” Allison replied with as much energy as she could muster. “Everything’s great.”
Madison’s gaze narrowed with suspicion as she stared at Allison, and Allison swore beneath her breath. So much for faking it.
“You don’t look so hot, Allie. Are you feeling okay?” Madison asked, wiping the counter down with a rag.
“Just fighting a bug. I’m fine.” She shifted her gaze and nodded. “Really.”
“Hmm. I’m not buying it, but I’ll stop pushing.” Madison tossed the rag into the sink behind her and sighed. “What can I get you ladies, your usual? Nonfat mocha and an Americano?”
The idea of an Americano had Allison’s stomach rolling and she pressed her palm against it.
“Actually, Maddie, I’ll just do a tea today. Chamomile if you’ve got it.”
Madison nodded slowly. “We’ve got it. Sure, no problem. Nonfat mocha for you, Leah?”
“Sounds perfect. Thanks, Maddie. Hey, how’s th
at little girl of yours?”
“Turned eight months last week,” Madison grinned as she went to make their drinks. “Crawling all over the place.”
Eight months? Allison bit back a sigh. It seemed like just yesterday Madison announced she was pregnant. God, time flew. Seeing the glow of happiness on the shop owner’s face sent a pang of jealousy through Allison’s gut.
Everyone seemed happy. Everyone had found the love of their lives and seemed to live happily ever after. Everyone but me. No, the man she loved wanted nothing to do with her anymore.
Feeling the sting of tears in her eyes, she bit back a curse at her weakness and cleared her throat.
“I’m not feeling well,” she muttered to Leah. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just go sit down on one of the couches.”
Leah nodded, her brows drawn together in concern. “Of course. Go sit down.”
Allison walked over to a big leather couch and sank down, lowering her head into her hands. She should have never let Leah talk her into going out this morning.
All she’d wanted was to stay in bed and cry—then cry some more. But then she’d done that just about every morning since she’d left Montana, so she could kind of understand Leah’s determination to get her out of bed.
“Here’s your tea.”
Allison hurried to brush away a lone tear, but she didn’t delude herself into thinking Leah hadn’t seen it.
She lifted her head and gave a wan smile, taking the tea from her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And Maddie insisted on giving you a muffin. She says you’re too skinny. Nibble on it. You need something in your stomach.”
“You guys are such tyrants,” Allison grumbled but took the muffin as well.
“Only when we need to be.” Leah grinned, then cleared her throat. “Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”
“My phone?” Allison reached into her purse for her cell. “What happened to yours?”
“I left it on my bedside table. Can you believe it?”
Allison set her phone in Leah’s palm and took a sip of tea. She watched as her friend disappeared outside and sighed.
With the tea warming her belly now, she closed her eyes briefly. She’d always assumed she’d be a city girl for life…until Montana had started to look mighty appealing.
Seducing Allie: Seattle Steam, Book 3 Page 19
