“Oh. But your truck’s here. And your dog, apparently. I didn’t know you’d gotten a dog. When will you be back?”
Chance was downstairs? Of course he was. And he’d want to get upstairs, where he felt safe. “Not for hours. Why are you here, Sandy?”
“I missed you.” Her voice went weak and wobbly, and his annoyance ratcheted up. She’d invaded his town, his sanctuary!
“I want to see you,” she sniffled. “I have another reason for being here, but I need to tell you in person.”
Five-alarm bells clanged. No, she couldn’t be pregnant. During their recent encounter, they’d only had sex a few times, and he’d been extremely careful. At least he’d hadthatmuch sense when it came to her.
“I can’t right now, Sandy,” he said lamely. Could she justgo away?“Why don’t you tell me on the phone?”
“Can I wait for you here and tell you when you get back?”
“No,” he practically shouted. “You’ll be in Charlie’s way.”
“Oh.”
“Sandy,” he gritted out, “why did you come all this way?”
She dropped her voice. “After you told me about your troubles with waitstaff, I decided to take you up on your offer. I quit my waitressing job in Denver to help you. That’s why I’m here, Noah.” She giggled.
Offer? What offer?Oh no, no, no, noooo!
“Sandy, that was … I’m not … My place is closed. I’m not hiringanyone.”
“Yes, but you’ll be back up and running soon, and you’ll need me. In the meantime, we can have sexy times again,” she hissed into the phone.
Oh fuck no!
Time to put on his big-boy pants. “Sandy, that’s just not going to work. I’m afraid you drove all this way for nothing.”
“B-but I’m alreadyhere, and … I don’t want to drive all the way back, Noah. Not today. I can’t. And I gave up my job! Where am I supposed to go?” Her reedy voice was like nails on a chalkboard.
He bit his tongue before he could hurl out, “I don’t give a fuck,” or, “You should have thought of thatbeforeyou drove up here.”
Charlie mumbled something in the background.
“A hotel?” she screeched away from the phone. “Charlie says I should go to a hotel, but I don’t have that kind of money. I thought I could stay with you.” Her flare of indignation at the hotel suggestion fizzled and shifted into a whiny whimper.
Noah propped his elbow on his knee and dropped his forehead in his palm. Shit! He was going to have to straighten her out in person and get her to leave. “You can’t stay with me. We’re under construction, my place is too small … There’s a nice coffee shop down the street. Hang out there until I get back.” Oh, bad idea. He didn’t want Sandy blabbing to Amy. “Or better yet, there’s a motel just outside of town. It’s cheap. Go check yourself in there for tonight so you can rest up for your drive tomorrow. If you don’t have the money, I’ll cover it.”
Oh,thatwouldn’t look suspicious. Luanne sometimes chipped in when they needed extra help at the front desk, and Sandy was bound to tell everyone why she was here, which meantLuannewould tell everyone else. Even without Luanne working the front desk, word would spread like a wildfire under a hot wind.
The morning that had been perfect for the first five seconds was turning into a fucking nightmare.
Charlie came on the phone. “Sorry, bro,” he mumbled. “I was caught off guard.”
“Is she standing right there?”
“No. I’m by the front door, and she’s checking out the … beer taps? Okay, then. Look, I’ll take Chance with me, and she can follow me to the motel.”
“Leave Chance behind. I need my dog.” Wow. Mushy about Haileyandabout Chance, two living beings he didn’t know existed a few weeks ago. His man card was definitely going to get shredded.
“Huh. Weird,” Charlie continued. “Now the chick’s touching the bourbon bottles behind the bar and looking over your stack of glasses. Is she the type to throw shit?”
“I don’t know about throwing shit, but she’s definitely acting stalkerish.” Noah shuddered and once more asked himself why he had run headlong into the same thorny thicket it had taken him months to disentangle himself from before. Why had he evenconsideredtraveling back down that same path loaded with goatheads?
“Hey, maybe Hailey will let you hide out at the Loose Moose. Nah, never mind. She hates your guts, and you hate hers.”
