Fourteen
It ended up that when Dash had told Norah she wasn’t paying, he meant for anything . She almost started throwing elbows in the phone store when he used his height advantage shamelessly to block her from the counter until he’d handed the clerk his credit card.
“Your phone was destroyed in my apartment,” he said as they left the phone store. The late afternoon sun glared right into their eyes. “It’s covered by my insurance.”
“But it was most likely one of my stalkers who caused the fire,” she argued. “If it weren’t for me, your apartment wouldn’t have burned in the first place. You’d be at your open gym right now, having a normal day of Norah-free bliss.”
He snorted, turning her toward another store in the strip mall with a light hand on her elbow. “There’s no such thing as Norah-free bliss.”
This flustered her enough to silence her until they reached a restaurant. She blinked in surprise, not having expected they’d go out to eat after phone shopping. Her stomach gave a grumble, reminding her she hadn’t eaten all day.
“Fish tacos okay?” he asked, holding open the door for her.
“Sure.” She walked inside. The place was only a third full. Even though they were in Denver and the chances of her seeing someone she knew were low, she still scanned the other patrons. As they approached the counter, she said firmly, “I’m paying.”
He grunted, otherwise not even bothering to respond. Knowing he would use that same size advantage on her again, she sent him a sideways glare. When she saw he was smiling, she was distracted from her annoyance.
“What’s funny?”
He just lifted a shoulder in one of his shrugs. “Nothing. Just happy to be with you.”
Feeling a little like she’d been punched in the stomach—but not necessarily in a bad way—Norah came to an abrupt halt.
Dash stopped too, raising his eyebrows. “What?”
“Nothing.” It wasn’t nothing though. It was far from nothing. It was the first time someone had said that her presence made them happy. She was pretty sure her sisters enjoyed her company most of the time, but none of them had ever come right out and said it before.
The employee at the counter cleared her throat, pulling Norah out of her tumultuous thoughts. She started walking again but then paused. She didn’t want Dash to think she’d just blown off what he’d said like it hadn’t meant anything. It’d meant so much that she couldn’t even start processing it while deciding what kind of fish tacos she wanted. Before she could think of the potential for rejection and humiliation, she reached toward Dash and took his hand. After a moment of stillness during which she almost died several times, his fingers wrapped around hers in a firm grip.
With her face warm and dragon-size butterflies dive-bombing her stomach, she turned to order. It wasn’t until the clerk smiled back at her that Norah realized she had a huge smile on her face.
Yeah, being with Dash makes me happy too.
They held hands while ordering, while Dash handed over his card, and even while she gave him a glare for not letting her pay in order to ease some of the guilt she felt for dragging him into her enormous mess of a life. They continued to hold hands while he easily ignored that glare. It was only when she needed both of her hands to get her fountain drink that they let go of each other.
Norah was beginning to understand why Molly, Cara, and Felicity got so sappy with their respective guys. Kissing and hand-holding and even just staring at him for inordinate amounts of time were surprisingly enjoyable. It often felt like she and Dash were in their own bubble, separate from anyone else. She made a mental promise not to make so much fun of her sisters when they got mushy.
Once they had their drinks, they made their way toward a table in the back by unspoken agreement. Between her stalker and a general distrust of…well, most people, she felt more comfortable being able to see the restaurant. Dash obviously felt the same, since they sat on the same side of the table with their backs to the wall. When the side of his thigh pressed against hers, she appreciated another aspect of sharing a side rather than sitting across from each other.
As she looked around the restaurant, everyone looked very normal and not at all suspicious, but a part of her still had to wonder if she was being watched. Maybe the two college-age guys blowing straw wrappers at each other had been hired by Zach to follow her. Or maybe the woman sitting by the window wasn’t really texting but was actually taking pictures of Norah and Dash. A little of her earlier elation seeped away.
“What’s wrong?” Dash seemed to pick up on her mood change immediately.
“Just being paranoid.” She took a drink, trying not to assign anyone else in the restaurant imaginary ulterior motives.
“The number of enemies you have, it’s probably smart to be paranoid.”
Wanting a distraction from that all-too-painful truth, she asked, “What about you? Is there anyone who has a grudge against you—besides Zach Fridley I mean?” She realized she didn’t know much about Dash’s history. The cops had separated them before questioning, so she hadn’t heard him list off possible suspects. Maybe there was a chance she wasn’t the reason his place had been firebombed the night before.
“Not that I can think of.” He killed her tentative hope with a partial shrug. “I’m not especially likeable, but no one that I know of hates me enough to risk prison time.”
“I think you’re very likeable,” she blurted out, making him smile. Her face warmed as she tried to refocus on the point of their conversation. “I kind of wish you had past Mafia ties or something.”
“What?” He barked out a laugh.
“I feel so guilty ,” she admitted. “Your nice apartment burned, having to close your gym… If you’d never met me, then Zach Fridley wouldn’t know who you are.”
He waved a hand, dismissing the attempt on his life with the casualness someone would give to shooing a fly. “But then I wouldn’t have met you.”
Their food arrived, giving her a chance to recover from that bit of incredible sweetness. By the time she’d eaten three tortilla chips loaded with pico de gallo, she’d regained enough of her composure to speak again.
“Have you always lived in Langston?” It seemed impossible she could’ve stayed unaware of his presence if they’d grown up within miles of each other.
“No. Phoenix.”
“When did you move here?” She’d researched him and his gym when she was looking for a trainer, but she hadn’t looked into him personally. Now she regretted it, feeling weirdly like she wanted to know absolutely everything about him immediately. All she knew was that he’d bought the gym four years ago when the previous owner retired and that he had a stellar reputation as a trainer. When she’d started, that had been sufficient information. Now that seemed not nearly enough to satisfy her curiosity about him.
“College.”
She gave him a look. He wasn’t making this easy for her. Not that she’d expect Dash to be one of those people who spilled his entire history ten minutes after meeting someone, but it’d be nice to have answers longer than one word. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-one.” There was a pause before he asked, “You?”
“Twenty-three.” She was tempted to say that she was almost twenty-four, but that attempt to bump up her age seemed too juvenile.
“Hmm.”
She took a bite, waiting for him to elaborate on that thoughtful sound he’d made, but he stayed quiet, sending her curiosity off the charts. “Is that older or younger than you thought?”
“You look your age, but your brain seems older.”
“Oh.” She took another bite so she’d have time to process that, unsure whether that was a compliment. Did having the brain of a forty-year-old make her less appealing or more? From his enthusiasm when he’d kissed her, she didn’t think it was less. She finally decided to ask. “Is that good?”
“Yeah.” There was no hesitation before he answered. “The way your brain works is really interesting.”
She smiled, thinking back to her first impressions of Dash. “I think your face is really interesting.”
He paused, staring at her.
She watched him back, not sure what he was waiting for, so she just remained quiet.
“Is that good?” he finally asked.
“Oh yes.” Her face heated. She couldn’t help it. “I like…interesting.”
One side of his mouth slowly curled up into a smile. “Me too.”
***
It wasn’t until they pulled up behind Molly’s weed-mobile that Norah remembered she hadn’t mentioned the following night. “Um…remember Laken Albee?”
“No.”
“She came into the diner while we were eating last Sunday?”
“Right. Her.” His lip curled slightly, and Norah had to bite back a smile. She’d never seen a straight male have that particular reaction to Laken before, and it was kind of a treat coming from Dash.
“She really wants me to go to Dutch’s with her tomorrow night.”
“I don’t trust her.” Dash’s growl was back.
“Me neither.” She reached over to pat him reassuringly but lost her nerve halfway, so she ended up patting the air between them. “I know she has an ulterior motive in trying to ‘reconnect’ with me. I just want to know what it is.”
“I could get her to tell me,” he offered, making her choke on a laugh.
“No torture.” She felt like she was talking to one of her sisters.
“Then you wouldn’t have to go out with her.”
“Are you sure you don’t have Mafia roots?”
“Pretty sure.” He shrugged. “I could ask my great-aunt though.”
She laughed, tickled by the thought of this surly beast of a man having a sweet little auntie who’d been involved in organized crime.
His answering smile came and went quickly. “I’m going with you tomorrow.”
She blinked. That had been easier than expected. “I was hoping you would.”
“What time?”
“Nine.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven. We’ll get food first.”
“Um…okay?” Somehow, an unpleasant few hours trying to figure out why an old acquaintance was being so persistently friendly had turned into an official date…not that she minded at all.
He leaned over the center console and kissed her firmly before getting out of the SUV. The kiss was so unexpected and intense and fast, it took a few seconds for her to come down off her Dash-inspired cloud. By that time, he’d rounded the hood and was opening her door for her.
Even without seeing it, she knew her scowl was unconvincing. “One of these days,” she told him as she took his proffered hand and stepped out of the SUV, “I’m not going to fall for that trick.”
He gave her his full-fledged smile, and it dazed her just as much as his kiss had. Keeping hold of her hand, he led her to the driver’s side of Molly’s car. When Dash didn’t immediately move to open her door, she glanced at him, surprised by the un-Dash-like hesitation. He was glaring across the road at a nondescript sedan. When Norah followed his gaze, she saw Detective Mill was in the driver’s seat, watching them.
“Wonder if he’s been here all afternoon,” she said under her breath as she reached for the door handle. The detective’s stare made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and she wanted to be out of his view. Before her fingers touched the handle, Dash’s big hand made it there first. Without looking away from Mill, he opened the door and ushered Norah into the car.
“What’s his deal with you?” he muttered, glancing at her as if to make sure she was in before closing the door with a solid thump. His scowl had returned, and his muscles vibrated with an annoyed energy that Norah didn’t think she should find as attractive as she did. She started the car and rolled down the window so she could answer.
“His partner was dirty, and we were part of the reason he was arrested.” Norah condensed the long, scary event into one sentence. If she mentioned that his arrest had been preceded by her wearing a belt full of explosives and Molly and John being shot at as they dodged booby traps, she had a feeling Dash would never let her out of his sight again. That wouldn’t be bad , but she was sure he had insurance claims to file and all sorts of other things to do that didn’t involve babysitting her.
“There’s more to that story.” It was like he could read her mind.
“Yes,” she admitted. “You’re not the only one who can answer truthfully while leaving a lot of important things out.” She smiled at him to show she wasn’t really annoyed. In fact, she was looking forward to doing some research on him. There was nothing she liked better than solving an interesting mystery.
He smirked at her before leaning in for a final kiss. “Stay safe. Text me if you need me.”
The different definitions of needing him bounced through her mind, and she knew she was blushing yet again. All she could manage was a flustered nod and one of her trademark awkward waves before rolling up the window. As soon as he stepped away from the car, she pulled forward, wanting to get away from Detective Mill’s watchful gaze almost as much as she didn’t want to leave Dash.
Tomorrow night , she reminded herself, unable to hold back a smile. Who would have thought she’d be smiling about spending time with Laken Albee, but the woman didn’t seem to matter much anymore—not when Dash would be with Norah.
An unfamiliar beep made her jump. As soon as she was out of sight of Detective Mill, she pulled over and checked her new phone. It was just a spam text, and she deleted it. She started to put her phone down but then hesitated.
“Just do it, you chicken,” she scolded herself before pulling up Chloe’s contact info.
Hi. This is Norah. She was tempted to add a smiley face, but Devon Leifsen had ruined them for her. Before she could reconsider, she quickly sent the text, her heart thumping as if she’d done something terrifying. Putting her phone in the cupholder, she moved to put Molly’s car back in drive when she heard the beep of an incoming text.
Her stomach was jittery but settled instantly as she read it and laughed. Norah!!! Finally!!!
Norah barely had three letters entered before a second text from Chloe showed up.
Can you sing?
Um…not like you can, but I’m okay. Why?
You and me. Chico’s. Tomorrow. Open mic night!!!
Her stomach instantly clamped down again before she remembered her plans at Dutch’s. Can’t. Have a date.
Poo. Next week?
I’d rather stab myself in the face repeatedly than sing in front of strangers.
Chloe sent a line of laughing emojis before giving in. Fine. We’ll be spectators then.
Next week. No singing.
Promise.
Norah doubted that, since Chloe followed it up with a devil emoji. Norah tried to frown but didn’t quite manage it. She’d somehow found herself a boyfriend and a friend and a burgeoning social life. Her smile broke free as she headed toward home.