Risky Business

by Melissa Cutler

  “I asked you to not to sleep with him.”

  “I know. I didn’t understand that you and he had something . . . I thought he hated you. He was making your life miserable and I wanted to make him uncomfortable. I knew he’d never say yes to my proposition because he’s not that kind of man, but still. I’m so sorry.”

  “There was no harm done.” She’d keep telling herself that until she believed it.

  Chelsea nodded. “I hoped there wasn’t, which was why I needed you to know.” She opened her arms and hugged Allison tight.

  Allison closed her eyes, girding herself, then hugged Chelsea back. “I’m glad you told me. And I’m really glad nothing happened.”

  “Things are going to be weird between him and me forever.”

  “Were they normal before?”

  Chelsea snorted. “Yeah, right. He thinks I’m a loser. He hates me as much as I thought he hated you.”

  “You’re not a loser, and I bet Theo doesn’t hate you. But even if he does, I don’t. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Will you go to Locks already? Go have fun while I keep an eye on Katie. It’ll help me feel less guilty.”

  Allison stopped in her room to freshen up her hair and makeup, still feeling out of sorts, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. Chelsea was in the shower when Allison emerged from her room, so she grabbed her coat, stuffed a credit card, ID, and cash into her pocket, and headed off across the commons to the beckoning golden glow of the tavern.

  Halfway across the grass, it hit her, why she felt so lousy about what had happened that night between Chelsea, Brandon, and Theo. It wasn’t because Chelsea had betrayed her, because she hadn’t, really.

  What bothered her the most, what kept the knot in her stomach feeling tight and achy was that there was one person left out of Chelsea’s story—Allison. Life was happening around her and she was missing out. She was afraid of cutting loose, afraid she’d forgotten how. Chelsea lived so boldly. So stupidly sometimes, too, but boldly, which is something Allison had never been accused of being—until she’d taken over ownership of Cloud Nine. Even then, no one, not even her, had thought about it as an act of boldness. Just stupidity. Just a cause of future regret. Nobody had thought she could do this job, including her.

  That wasn’t bold. That was meek. That was her sitting in a car while a man took care of her baby’s needs by buying fever medicine and her sister had wild, casual sex with the town playboy. She’d kissed a man that night, too, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what it meant, and whether or not she was ready. It had scared her, so much so that she’d told him as much. That wasn’t living boldly.

  She’d never lived without a plan. Call it a product of nearly drowning, but it was imprinted on her soul that life was as fluid and dangerous as water. That, without a solid plan, you would drown. She grew up believing that the world happened to her, that she was a victim of forces greater than herself.

  What would happen if she took ownership of the forces? If instead of feeling wronged by Lowell, wronged by water and the universe, and feeling like she never stopped playing defense against the forces trying to drown her, she took control of the situation? What if she went after Theo instead of letting Theo happen to her?

  She pivoted in the middle of the grassy commons, shifting her course so that she walked to the edge of the canal—the exact spot where Theo had pulled her overboard on her first night in Destiny Falls.

  It was time to make friends with her demons—her fears, her flaws, and her insecurities. Not that she expected to be totally fine with water, because some notions never let go of a person completely, but she could shake hands with the fear and let it know it didn’t control her anymore.

  What would her life be like if she believed in herself as a business owner? What if she stopped thinking that her deep, lifelong connection to water was akin to suffering? What if she, instead, thought about water as her oldest friend, her constant companion? Her life would be transformed. A wind whipped across the canal and she shivered, imagining the implications.

  It was time to stop resisting the press of life against her, stifling her—drowning her—and let it flow through her. Instead of fighting against the forces trying to overpower her, it was time to rest in the confidence that it couldn’t overpower her unless she let it. And she wasn’t going to let it.

  She was going to do everything possible to be a great business owner and mother. She was going to sign herself and Katie up for water acclimation classes. She was going to let Theo know she wanted him. But not at Locks. It was enough tonight to have decided to pursue him. For now, she’d go have a drink or two, hang out with Marlena, Presley, and Olivia, and live. Really live.

  No more scrambling for footing, wondering why she kept getting a raw deal. This was the life she had, the life she was going to cultivate in whatever direction it decided to go. It was enough footing, enough security, to know she was going to hang on and enjoy the ride. Above all, she knew she was going to be fine. For the first time in a long time, she actually believed it.

  Locks was jumping. She stood just inside the door getting her bearings and looking for her friends. She saw Theo first. He was standing with Will, Liam, and Duke, beers in their hands and Liam gesturing in what looked like a retelling of a play on the ice. Theo raised his eyebrows in a hello, but didn’t gesture for her to join his group, which, despite her vow not to flirt with him publicly tonight, she’d been hoping he would.

  Not seeing Olivia, Presley, or Marlena yet, she walked to the bar near the line of taps where Harper was pouring a beer.

  “You made it. Good. You deserve a little me time.”

  She agreed. “I had to take advantage of Chelsea’s rare night home.”

  “Get you a beer?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  “Make it two.” Theo’s arm slid past her shoulder to rest on the bar.

  Allison smiled again. “Congratulations on the exhibition game. You get to play against the Russians. A Canadian’s dream come true.”

  He didn’t grin at her joke, which got her wondering why he was so serious when he should be elated. “It’s going to be good for this town, good for the guys,” he said.

  “It’s good for you, too.” In the games she’d watched, she’d witnessed the way he threw himself into the game, heart and soul, one hundred percent. Anyone could see how much he loved to play. He was probably loathe to be in the spotlight, which the exhibition game would thrust him into, but maybe when he heard the cheers of the crowds and got busy whupping on the Russian team, he’d realize it was okay to be exalted sometimes.

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  She nudged him affectionately with her elbow. “It’s okay to be happy, you know.”

  “Is Katie with Chelsea?” She couldn’t decide if his question held a note of judgment or if her imagination was filling that part in.

  “My sister has her flaws, but she’s a good person and a great aunt to Katie.” She’d been defending Chelsea, insisting that there was more to her than her terrible choices, since they were kids, and she imagined she’d need to for the rest of their lives.

  It couldn’t have been easy being the Lexingtons’ youngest child after Allison’s near drowning. Chelsea had been four years old to Allison’s seven. Though Allison didn’t have a memory of how their parents had treated any of the siblings during the difficult weeks that followed, because she was so young and sick with health complications from the accident, but if the way they’d doted on and hovered over Allison until the day she got married was any indication, then it was no wonder Chelsea acted out to get attention.

  “I didn’t say she wasn’t.”

  “She thinks you hate her.” She hesitated, then decided she hated the feeling of leaving things unspoken and added, “Especially after what happened in Walmart.”

  He sighed. “She told you. I wasn’t
going to because it didn’t matter. It was nothing, but it pisses me off that she’s making your life more complicated. She’s a user.”

  “Thanks to her, I’m here right now, aren’t I? Otherwise I’d be home listening to Katie sleep through the monitor and watching you all celebrate from a distance.”

  “There are other babysitters in this town.”

  “True, and I’m sure I’ll need them because Chelsea never stays in one place for long. I’ll miss her, though. I like it when she stays with me. We all need someone to count on, and she counts on me.”

  “Who do you count on?”

  Good question. One that made her throat tighten with longing and melancholy. Herself, was probably the best answer. After Katie’s birth, Janie and Grant had been there for her as much as their own busy lives allowed; her parents had hovered, anxious and overbearing, wanting to help but not knowing how; and now Harper and her new friends had the potential of being people she could count on, though their friendships were too new to know yet.

  Harper appeared across the bar and set two full pints in front of them. “Sorry it took so long, guys. I had to change the keg.”

  Allison attempted to slide a twenty across the bar, but Theo waved Harper’s hand away. “On my tab.”

  “Thank you,” Allison said.

  Theo handed her a beer, then held up his own in a toast, his eyes glimmering with the strangest look. Hard, searching, almost fatalistic in its intensity. Like they were raising a glass to the end of the world.

  “To the exhibition game,” she said.

  “To having people we can count on.”

  The mix of signals coming from him threw her off-balance. Was he being sarcastic? He didn’t want anyone to count on him or think of him as heroic in any way. He bristled at being praised or thanked, and had made sure she understood that she was not to count on him. He’d been friendly to her at the game, so what was his deal tonight?

  She clinked glasses with him, but before she’d brought her beer to her lips for a drink or was able to get a better read on his underlying emotions, he’d turned his back on her and returned to the group he’d been talking to when she’d arrived.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Allison stood at the bar, overthinking everything, as usual. It was the opposite of what she’d vowed to do only a few minutes earlier on her way to Locks. Not a great start to her reboot.

  Most likely, Theo’s odd behavior was because he was having as much trouble reconciling their kisses with their usual prickly relationship as she was. He’d bought her a drink, offered a cryptic toast, then scrammed. It could be that leaving her alone was his way of respecting her wishes since she’d told him she wasn’t ready for the way he made her feel. That would be gentlemanly.

  She wrinkled her nose, not into the whole Theo-as-a-gentleman visual she was conjuring. She much preferred him as a bad-tempered, alphahole Frenchman, even if, as such, he wreaked havoc on her heart. She’d have to get him alone soon to let him know she’d changed her mind about being ready because she was more than ready for him. She swept a look over her shoulder at him, only to find him looking right back at her.

  Well, then. She flashed him a smile and waved. His dark eyes radiated intensity, and he didn’t smile back, as if he’d been privy to her inner thoughts about how she liked him best. So she did the only thing she could think to. She winked, then fought against an outward laugh at the speed with which he wrenched his gaze away.

  She drank another sip of beer. This was going to be interesting. Totally inappropriate, given their work dynamic, but interesting, and she couldn’t resist adding another shot of interesting to her new life, especially if it took the form of the sexiest man she’d ever had the pleasure of kissing.

  Smiling to herself, she walked through the crowd until she found Presley, Marlena, and Olivia—ninety-nine percent sure she felt Theo’s eyes on her the whole time.

  Her friends were already in the throes of tipsy merriment when Allison joined them. Marlena was in the middle of a story about a client—who shall remain unnamed—who used only hints and euphemisms while trying to get her to give him a happy ending to his massage.

  She genuinely liked these women and would forever be grateful to Harper for taking her under her wing. As though conjured by her thoughts, Harper pushed through the crowd and joined them, a half-full tray in her hand. She held one of the beers out to Allison.

  She’d barely been aware of finishing her last one sometime during Marlena’s story. “This must be someone else’s. I haven’t ordered another one yet.”

  Harper’s eyes lit up. “It’s from Theo.”

  Already warmed up and in a cheeky mood from their discussion of happy endings, Olivia, Marlena, and Presley looked positively dazzled at that revelation. Allison couldn’t blame them. She was a bit dazzled herself.

  “Let me pay for this,” she said. She had a hunch that Theo was old-fashioned when it came to that sort of thing.

  Harper cringed. “He wouldn’t like that.”

  “That’s the point. In fact,” Allison angled away from Theo’s line of sight and whipped out her credit card, “I’m going to pay his whole tab.”

  Slipping the credit card into a pocket on her apron, Harper chuckled. “He’s going to be so pissed at us.”

  “He’ll get over it,” Allison said.

  Harper nodded, looking proud of Allison. “I like that he doesn’t intimidate you anymore.”

  He still did, but now he made her feel the good kind of nerves. The waiting by the phone because your boyfriend’s going to call you after your parents go to sleep butterflies.

  “I’ll be right back with the receipt for you to sign.” She started to turn, but then Allison had a lightbulb moment.

  “Wait a sec. I think the ladies and I need some shots before you ring up the tab. Something girly.”

  Harper tapped her pen on the side of her tray. “Have you ever heard of a pink marshmallow shot?” At Allison’s head shake, she added, “You’ll love it. Four shots coming up.”

  “Send one each to Theo and the guys, too. But don’t do it until his tab’s paid. And don’t tell him the tab’s paid until he does the shot. That way he can’t send it back.”

  Everyone laughed at that. Allison sipped her beer. She’d never sent a man a drink before. There was no way she could afford the bill she’d racked up, but she felt carefree and light, surrounded by her new friends in her new town, flirting with her new . . . whatever Theo was.

  “You are diabolical, did you know that?” Harper said.

  “I’ve never been accused of that before, but I like it.” Drinking did make her mischievous. She’d learned that the hard way, and often. Lowell had hated the way she acted when she drank. Like he was shamed by it. It got to the point where she wouldn’t drink in front of him, he was such a righteous ass about her drunk personality.

  Harper retreated behind the bar. Presley, Olivia, and Marlena grinned at her, catlike, ready for gossip.

  “So you and Theo are getting along now?” Presley said.

  “Let’s wait and see after Harper brings him that pink marshmallow shot.”

  Marlena said, “There are rumors whispered about him, you know. He’s practically a legend.”

  “How so?”

  Marlena eyes twinkled. “Some say he has a lover in every canal town from here to Lake Superior.”

  Oh, please. “Every town? That would be like twenty lovers.”

  “That’s the rumor,” Olivia said. “No one’s been able to confirm it. He leaves town all the time. When tourists rent Cloud Nine boats, they often drop them off at the end of the week a hundred miles or so away. Theo meets the boats and drives them back to the landing. That’s how the rumor got started. People seeing Cloud Nine boats docked in towns along the canal, or his motorcycle parked in front of hotels, with Theo nowhere to be found.”


  Presley slung an arm across Allison’s shoulders. “He doesn’t go for Destiny Falls girls. I had a crush on him for years and nothing. Same story for a lot of my friends. He’s never brought a girl around, period, and he’s lived in Destiny Falls a long time. A prime specimen like him, he has to be getting it somewhere.”

  It was totally sexist to assume a man couldn’t stand living without sex for more than a brief period of time, like he’d explode from the pressure of his unspent semen or something. Whatever. She took a gulp of beer as the frustration she’d felt after Chelsea’s confession came back to haunt her. Like life was rushing past her again, leaving her behind.

  Maybe Theo was getting laid every time he took off on his bike or brought back a rental boat. So what? She had no claim on him. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted a claim on him.

  Wait. There she went, back in that same old fearful, passive mindset. She was only fooling herself, because the truth was, she did want him. She wanted to lay claim to Theo Lacroix, and all those canal town bitches could just step back from her man.

  She downed the last of her beer, knowing that her wayward thoughts were Drunk Allison coming out to play. She wasn’t even drunk proper yet, just tipsy, but Drunk Allison was flexible like that.

  She set the empty pint on the table with a flourish, and it was good timing because Harper appeared with a tray of ten pink shots and the bill.

  Allison signed off on it, refusing to acknowledge the total, even as she scribbled a huge tip onto the paper. She asked Harper to keep her credit card on file in case she wanted to start a new tab. With that settled, Harper took the tray of six remaining shots to Theo’s group.

  Olivia said. “Oh, man. This is going to be good.”

  Harper handed a shot to each of the men, all of whom were laughing hysterically. She then pointed to Allison’s group and everyone but Theo held up their shots in a “cheers” gesture.

  Allison smiled brightly at Theo, who was looking at her like she was insane. Under his scrutiny, she kicked the shot back. It went down smooth and tasted like more.