Susan Mallery - Hot On Her Heels

Dana shrugged. “Good point. I just wish she hadn’t been there.” Or that she could forget seeing Fawn melt into Garth’s arms.

“You can stay here as long as you’d like,” Lexi said.

“Thanks.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Garth about this?”

“And be rational? No, thanks. I like wallowing in uncertainty. It’s a new experience for me.”

“Welcome to the real world.”

“When do I get to go back to the old one?”

Lexi smiled. “I have no idea.”

Later, Lexi went to her office, while Dana wandered through Cruz’s large house, feeling more uncomfortable than she did at Garth’s place. The only bright spot in her otherwise boring afternoon was a wild game of chase the string with C.C. the cat.

At three-fifteen, the doorbell rang. Dana opened it to find Garth standing there.

As always, the sight of him made her whole body go on alert. If only she could look into his dark eyes without imagining them bright with passion. She wanted to be able to look at his arms without seeing them around Fawn.

“You left me,” he said.

Why did he have to say it like that? “I needed to think. Wait a minute. It was just this morning, after you’d gone to work. How did you know?”

He shrugged. “I had a feeling. I went home and you weren’t there.”

“So you called Lexi?”

“No. I knew you’d be here.”

How? When she’d left his condo, she hadn’t known where she would go. She’d driven here without thinking.

She waited for him to ask her why. Or to get angry with her for walking out. Or to blame her for everything that had happened. Instead he stared into her eyes and said, “I’m sorry. Please come home.”

DANA WANTED TO TELL HIM it wasn’t home, that she had a home. A lovely little apartment where she was never confused. But she knew what he meant and what he was asking. As she had no answer, she held the door open a little wider, to let him in, then closed it behind him.

Emotion complicated everything, she thought grimly as she followed him into the large living room. If she wasn’t confused about her feelings, she could make a decision easily. Stay with Garth because right now it wasn’t safe to be on her own. Or move in with Lexi. Or hire a bodyguard and stay at her place. There were multiple solutions…until she started thinking with something other than her brain.

Garth stood in the center of the room, watching her.

She motioned to the sofa, but he shook his head. She shrugged. “This is your party. You should do the talking.”

“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat. “I met Fawn about five years ago. She was dating some European duke or prince or something back then. I can’t remember.”

“I have that problem all the time,” Dana murmured.

He ignored the comment. “I didn’t think that much about her until she called me the next day and invited me to lunch.”

Dana found it difficult to believe any man could be in the same room as Fawn and think about anything else, but stranger things had happened.

“We went out a few times,” he continued. “I liked her well enough. She was a fun date. A violinist, so we went to the symphony a lot. I wasn’t thinking about anything serious until her father came to see me.” He looked at her. “You met him last night.”

The tall, older man who had collected Fawn? Guessing was enough-she didn’t need Garth to confirm the information. “Go on.”

“He wanted Fawn married and I seemed like a good choice. He let me know there would be many advantages to being his son-in-law.”

“Did he mention her problem with other people’s possessions?”

Garth’s expression didn’t change. “No. He didn’t say anything. I thought about what he’d said, then I talked to Fawn about it.”

“How did she feel about Daddy trying to sell her off?”

“She wasn’t surprised. I sensed there was a catch, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. We went away together for a couple of weeks to see if we could consider marriage. When things went well, I proposed.”

“So it was a business arrangement,” she said, wishing she could believe him. It was all just a little too convenient.

“At first,” he said cautiously. “The more I was around Fawn, the more I liked her.”

Why didn’t he just say he was in love with her? That was the significant information. She didn’t want to hear the words, but once she did maybe the ache in her chest would go away.

“A few months later, I found out about her problem. She liked to take things.”

“You mean steal jewelry that didn’t belong to her.”

“Yes.”

“Does it help to make the words pretty?”

His gaze narrowed. “Does it make you feel better to make them ugly?”

She stiffened. “I’m not the one who did anything wrong here. I’m not the one who protected a potential felon.”

“You’re being dramatic,” he said.

“Do you really think the world is a better place because Fawn is free to steal at will?”

“Would it be better with her in jail?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t but it would be really nice if every now and then people were reminded there are consequences for their actions. Maybe the world can’t be improved, but maybe Fawn would take her problem a lot more seriously if she suffered a little instead of heading off to another five-star luxury rehab facility.”

He flushed slightly.

“So that’s it,” she said, telling herself not to be surprised. “Fawn will be readmitted to whatever program has already failed to help her.”

He nodded.

“Is that why you ended the engagement?” she asked.

“What makes you think I ended it?”

Because Fawn had walked into his arms with the certainty of a woman who knows she was going to be welcomed. And if she’d dumped him, she wouldn’t have been sure. Garth wasn’t the type to forgive and forget.

“Am I wrong?” she asked.

“No,” he said, looking away. “I found out about her stealing and I finally knew why her father was so anxious to marry her off. While I believe Fawn cared about me, I think she cared a lot more about finding someone to take care of her. She wasn’t big on taking responsibility.”

Dana wanted to say that she still wasn’t but that seemed like a cheap shot.

“I broke the engagement and she went away. I haven’t seen her since.”

Dana had so many other questions. Like did he still love Fawn? If she’d been cured would he want to be with her now? Did he have any regrets? Did he want another chance with her?

“So she’s the one who got away,” she said, hoping her voice sounded light and casual.

“That’s making it more than it was.”

“You weren’t sorry to see her.”

“No, but I wasn’t happy, either. I’m sorry she’s still having problems. She probably will all her life. It’s why she had to give up playing professionally. She couldn’t go on tour and not steal. Apparently the compulsion hasn’t gone away.” He stared at her. “If I’d known we would run into her, I would have said something. Warned you.”

“Why? Don’t you have ex-girlfriends at most of the parties you go to? There are dozens and dozens of them out there.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

She tried to smile and wasn’t sure she succeeded. “Come on, Garth. I looked you up on the Internet. You’ve done more than your share of dating in the past dozen or so years. Models, actresses, women who come from money. I will say you don’t have a physical type. I guess that keeps things interesting.”

He looked more wary than annoyed. “I’m a single guy. Dating is allowed.”

“You’re right.” She moved around so the sofa was between them. “I really appreciate you coming here and explaining all this. Now I know who Fawn is and what she means to you-”

“She doesn’t mean anything.”

“Whatever.”

“You’re pissed.”

Actually, she wasn’t, which was too bad. Pissed would feel really good right about now. Pissed would give her energy and maybe stop the ache she felt inside. The pain was general, rather than specific, and as she didn’t know what had caused it, she didn’t know how to make it stop. She just knew the longer she talked to Garth, the worse she felt. It was as if…As if…

As if she was devastated that he’d wanted to marry Fawn because she was so different from her. A man who had been in love with Fawn could never love Dana. Never marry her.

The thought slammed into her. If she hadn’t already been leaning against the back of the sofa, she might have fallen over in shock. What a ridiculous idea. She didn’t want to marry Garth and she certainly didn’t care what he thought about her. She was with him because of her personal safety and maybe because the sex was good. But she wasn’t interested in him as anything other than a guy in her bed. He didn’t matter to her. He wasn’t…

“Dana? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just fine. What were we talking about?”

“You being pissed.”

“I’m not. Everything is great. Thanks for telling me about Fawn. I appreciate knowing the story. She’s, um, very pretty. Don’t you think she’s pretty?”

He stared at her as if she’d grown another head. “Do you feel okay?”

“Uh-huh.” She bobbed her head as she spoke. “Anything else or do you have to go?”

Please let him have to leave, she thought. The faster he was out of here, the quicker she could bang her head against a wall and knock some sense into herself. There was no way on this planet or any other that she was so damn stupid that she had fallen for a man like Garth Duncan. Not like him, she reminded herself. Him exactly.

“You haven’t said if you’re coming back with me.”

His place. That’s what this was all about. Keeping her safe from Jed because he felt responsible for what was happening. She’d agreed because it made sense and she didn’t want her friends to worry. And maybe because she’d wanted to.