Chapter 9 Dallas
Chapter Nine
DALLAS
I walked at Audrey's side into the restaurant, wondering if I was stone cold crazy to be here. Thinking back to this morning, I reminded myself yet again Audrey had a crazy effect on me. She held the unique ability to keep me from thinking clearly. I knew why I wanted to be here. I’d taken one look at Matthew and sized him up for the idiot he was.
I could admit I was biased against him from the start.
Before I knew he'd been fucking one of Audrey’s friends behind her back, he'd represented the man who had the one woman I truly wanted.
No matter how hard I’d tried to keep from wanting her, I still wanted her fiercely.
The compromise I'd come to in my mind was if she was in love with another man, and he took good care of her, I would be able to let go of the hold she had on me. The potency of the memory of her that long ago afternoon—hell, it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes with her—would fade.
Or that’s what I’d told myself for the last five years.
She would get married and work would be my life.
Now I knew what Matthew had done, and I hated him for his sheer stupidity.
The shallow arrogance it took for him to show up, chasing after her as if though she was suddenly important to him infuriated me.
I wasn't particularly looking forward to this evening, but I didn't want to let him hurt her again.
That’s not why you’re here. You’re marking your territory. You need to back the fuck off. You know you can't let things go too far with her.
I shook those voices away. Crazy or not, after last night, I wasn't about to let that be all I had with Audrey. I was usually a man with a plan, and I had none right now. None beyond allowing myself more of Audrey.
She stopped by the reception desk in the restaurant.
Despite being in the dead of winter and still lightly snowing outside, Bay Bistro was busy.
Haven’s Bay might empty out in the winter, but Mainers prided themselves on being able to tolerate the hard winters.
There were plenty of locals that stayed here year-round.
Sherry Levesque caught my eye from across the restaurant.
Sherry and her husband owned this place, in addition to the main grocery store and a few other businesses.
You wouldn't know at a glance as they were quite down-to-earth and led a quiet life, but they were damn wealthy. Sherry’s husband Emile had wisely bought up one business after another over the years.
All of them were successful and made money hand over fist during the tourist season of summer.
I gave Sherry a wave and forced myself to let my hand fall off of Audrey's waist. I might be here with her tonight and fully intending to be with her later in more ways than one, but it wouldn't be helpful for Matthew to think we were anything other than old family friends.
Years of being in the FBI had taught me quite clearly there were layers of lies and layers of truth.
In this case, it was the truth that Audrey and I were old family friends.
It was a lie of omission in allowing Matthew to think nothing more.
He didn't need to know I'd been buried balls deep inside of his ex-fiancée last night.
Part of me wanted to needle him with that knowledge.
It would be easy to do. I wouldn't have to say a word.
Yet, I knew Audrey wouldn't appreciate it. No matter what an asshole he’d been to her.
She didn't need to deal with his petty grievances, and he was that kind of man.
It wouldn't matter to him he’d been fucking one of her friends and Audrey had tried to break it off even before she knew that.
If he had any suspicion she and I were together, he would turn it into something about that. Sherry greeted us with a smile.
“Well, fancy seeing you two again,” Sherry said cheerily as she walked quickly to meet us.
Audrey nodded tightly, tucking her hair behind her ears, a habit she'd had since childhood. It was something she did when she was nervous. My heart gave a hard thump, and I had to force my attention to Sherry.
“We're actually here to meet Matthew,” Audrey said.
Sherry's eyes narrowed. “Matthew?”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief that Audrey had called her parents’ today.
She’d kept her conversation short and assured them she was fine before handing the phone over to me when her father wanted to talk with me.
He'd also kept it brief, simply asking if she was okay and asking me to let him know if she wasn't. With Audrey here to meet with Matthew, I knew word would spread once it became known she’d called off the wedding.
“I might as well just tell you,” Audrey blurted out quickly. “I called off the wedding.” Her words came out fast and clipped, two red spots appearing high on her cheeks.
Audrey wasn't one to worry too much about what people thought, but I knew she was a private person. Sherry’s gaze softened.
“What the hell did he do to you, hon?”
Audrey shrugged. “It doesn't matter. It's for the best anyway. He showed up at the house today. I agreed to meet him here, just to make it clear it's over once and for all.”
Sherry's eyes flicked to me. “Well, I'm glad Dallas is with you. Now that you've told me the wedding’s off, I'll tell you what I think. He was never good enough for you. I’d hoped for the best for you, but I’m relieved to hear it’s over,” Sherry said bluntly.
Audrey’s eyes widened slightly and then she took a breath and let it out with a sigh, her shoulders relaxing. I fought the urge to touch her again.
“Well, you were right,” she said softly.
Sherry gave her a little smile and then stepped around the reception desk to give her a quick hug.
“You'll be fine. You'll find the right man, and it will be everything you wanted.” As she stepped away, she gestured to the back of the restaurant.
“Anyway, he's already here. He acted like you two were still together by the way,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
She looked to me again. “Don't let him be an asshole to her.”
I chuckled. “Absolutely not, Sherry.”
Sherry took the extra step of walking us over to the table and introducing us to the waiter whom she gestured to follow as we walked across the restaurant.
I knew she was doing it just to make a point to Matthew.
Namely that Audrey meant a lot to her and that she had people here who cared about her.
My chest tightened a little at the controlled expression that fell over Audrey's face when she looked at Matthew.
I wanted her to be angry. Hell, I wanted to haul off and punch the guy myself, but it would be more satisfying to have her let loose on him.
Yet, what I wanted and what Audrey wanted might be quite different.
It made me sad to think back to what she'd said yesterday about him—that she'd known all along she didn't quite love him and thought it was the best she was going to get.
I felt a pang realizing I might be partially responsible for that state.
Sherry stepped away from the table, while the waiter moved to fill the water glasses.
Audrey slipped into the furthest chair from Matthew, which left me sitting across from him.
She angled herself slightly closer towards my chair.
I could tell by the look on his face he’d expected her to sit across from him.
Fuck that. She chose to sit where she wanted.
“I didn't expect you to bring anyone,” Matthew said. “I was hoping we could talk privately.”
Audrey met his gaze, her chin lifting slightly and anger flashing in the depths of her eyes. “You forfeited that right,” she said calmly, her tone perfectly polite.
Matthew cocked his head to the side. “Forfeited what right?”
“The right to a private conversation. If you wanted a private conversation with me, perhaps you shouldn't have been fucking Alyssa,” she said, every word enunciated clearly.
I bit back a laugh. Okay, so this was how it was going to go. Worked for me. I leaned back into my chair. The waiter’s eyes darted amongst us.
Audrey remained calm and measured. She looked up to the waiter and asked, “Can we go ahead and order some wine please?”
The waiter didn't miss a beat. He pulled out a small tablet and flipped it open, quickly reeling off a few wine choices. Audrey selected a bottle and pointedly noted she would be sharing it with me and then looked to Matthew.
“Were you planning to order anything for yourself?”
Matthew's face was red, and his eyes dark. Amusement turned to anger inside of me as I looked over at him. He had absolutely no right to be angry with her about anything. The fact she’d even agreed to have dinner with him was more than he deserved.
He ordered a beer and stayed quiet until the waiter departed from our table. He then looked to me.
“Do you mind? I really need to speak privately with my fiancée.”
Audrey's hand curled around my arm, which was resting on the table.
“Dallas isn’t going anywhere,” she stated clearly.
“I asked him to be here, and I’d like him to stay.
Please stop referring to me as your fiancée.
I am not your fiancée, nor will I ever be again.
Our engagement is over, and the wedding is off.
That is final. The only reason I agreed to meet you for dinner was to make that perfectly clear. ”
I beat back the urge to haul her into my lap and kiss her.