Risky Business (20 page)

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.

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.

Meeting his gaze again, she gave him her best
I dare you
look.

He eyeballed the shot's pinky goodness, scowling, then he surprised her by holding the glass up, exclaimed what sounded like “Viva les Nordiques,” and shot it back. The others followed suit.

Harper was still standing near them, as per Allison's orders. She reclaimed Theo's attention by holding something out for him. His credit card, Allison realized. Harper gestured to Allison again, presumably along with an explanation that she'd paid for the drinks.

The other guys exploded with laughter that made all the other conversations in the joint pause while people craned their necks to see what was going on. Theo's face reddened. His jaw grew tight. He tried to hand the card back to Harper, and Allison imagined he was telling her to void the transaction so he could pay. Harper shook her head.

“Oh, snap. He's pissed at you now,” Olivia said in a sing-songy voice.

The ladies huddled close to Allison for moral support as Theo marched in her direction while waving a receipt, his friends in tow.

“
Pas drôle
.” He smacked his forehead, his expression turning downright livid. “That wasn't funny.”

She smiled sweetly. “It's a little funny.”

“You don't get to do that, paying my tab.”

She ran her index finger down his chest, bumping over the curve of his pec muscle. “I already did.”

Splaying her hand over that same curve, she looked past him, to Harper. “We need another round of pink marshmallows, please. On my tab.”

Theo clamped a hand over her wrist, then held his credit card out to Harper. There was a fire in his eyes, frustrated but affectionate. And really turned on. Her breath caught. “She's right,” he said to Harper without taking his eyes off Allison. “We need another round.”

Harper took his card. “I'll be right back.”

Allison sent her a
what the hell?
look. “Coward.”

“I'm an equal opportunity kind of gal. I'm happy to take both your money.”

The warmth of her first shot was creeping up Allison's body. It didn't hurt that Theo was all up in her personal space. Even his hand on her wrist revved her engine. Damn, he was strong and big. She could smell that aftershave that turned her to putty. If she wanted to, she was close enough to stick her tongue out and lick the stubble on his jaw.

“Don't you ever shave?”

“All the time. The hair has the nerve to keep growing back.”

She tipped her chin up and looked into his eyes. If she wasn't careful, she'd kiss him right there in front of everyone, and even if it'd feel great and go along with her new plan to live boldly, she didn't like the idea of all their friends being in their private business.

“Let's find a table,” she said. “I think I'd like to sit down now.”

If they were all at a table, as a group, then she couldn't get so close to him like this, where she could block out the others and pretend it was just the two of them in their own world, chests brushing each other, his hands strong and sure on her skin, with her wrapped up in the scent of him.

Yeah, a table was the ticket.

The hand he had on her wrist slid up her forearm to brace her elbow, steadying. “Are you sure you're good for another shot?”

His words were quietly spoken, for her ears only, and his tone was one of caring, as though he'd interpreted her request to sit down to mean she was too drunk to stand, which was far from the case. She loved that he could turn off his annoyance at her like that. He was so easy to tease, so outwardly grouchy and distant, but he kept his true, heroic self right below the surface. He didn't want anyone to know about it, but she saw him clearly enough.

He found two small tables that Brandon pushed together while Presley and Olivia gathered chairs. Allison chose a seat between Will and Marlena. Liam wandered away.

“Is your brother okay?” she asked Olivia.

“Yeah. He's just not into people. Sitting at a table is too much of a commitment.”

The way she said it made Allison think there was some important detail she was leaving out of that explanation, but Drunk Allison decided she didn't give a flying leap. “I guess that means we'll have one too many shots. Maybe Harper can join us.”

***

Theo took a seat directly across the table from Allison, the better to make sure he didn't throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of the tavern and directly to his bedroom. He could only imagine how long it would take the two of them to live down that maneuver. Besides, he was having too much fun watching her let loose, as though the booze had kicked her usual personality into overdrive. He'd never met a woman who could pull off being both obnoxious and endearingly sexy so well.

When their shots arrived, they brought an instant smile to his face. He couldn't recall the last time he'd consumed a pink drink, and never anything with the word
marshmallow
in the title.

“This is like drinking liquid cotton candy,” he said.

“I know, delicious,” Allison said.

Brandon initiated a toast and after everyone clinked glasses and sloshed pink liquor on the table, they all kicked their drinks back.

He liked himself like this, having decided to stop fighting Allison's ownership of Cloud Nine and his feelings for her. He hadn't realized what an energy drain it'd been to resist her or worry about the hit to his honor it would have been to sue her, not to mention worrying about the effect a lawsuit would have had on her. He still hated being Allison's employee, but he'd have to find another way around that. For now, he had enough to think about with getting her up to snuff with the business and preparing for the exhibition game.

Being the savvy businesswoman that Harper was, she appeared tableside as soon as their shot glasses were empty. “Another round?”

“Not for me,” Theo said. “I'll have a rum, neat. Allison?”

She leaned over the table, strumming her fingers like she was trying to think deeply on the matter. “What was in that shot, vodka?”