Missed you this weekend. Can I see you tonight?
It was already nine-thirty, and I didn’t know what to think of the conflicted feelings I had for Luke. But I was scared and didn’t want to go back inside my empty house alone again. The idea to call Lorea and have her come over had briefly crossed my mind, but she knew me too well. She would know something was up and quiz me until she found out. I decided to be impulsive.
Can you come over right now? I’m just getting back from a run. Would love to see you.
My phone pinged with his answer.
Be there in 5.
Dallas responded so fast it made me smile. Good. We should get to my condo about the same time, and he could go inside with me. If there were any bad guys, hopefully Dallas could save me.
I pulled into my parking space and grabbed my stuff out of the back just as Dallas pulled in beside me. He jumped out of his Hyundai Accent with a big grin. I smiled back—I was happy to see him. So there, Jenna. I ignored the niggling thought that I was only happy because I was scared spitless to go in my own house.
He put his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts and tipped his head toward me. “Adri, you continue to amaze me. You run yourself ragged planning weddings, and then you run some more.”
“I know. It seems crazy, but it’s my stress relief.” And tonight I’d had a certain bag of diamonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars I needed to hide in a cemetery. No stress there.
Dallas touched my shoulder as we approached my front door. “You’re my stress relief.”
I looked over my shoulder at him and lifted one eyebrow. “I don’t know. Lately, I’m emanating stress, so you’d better watch out.”
Breathing through my fear and relying on Dallas’s presence helped me as I unlocked my door and walked inside. There weren’t any notes on the side table, and my house seemed just as I left it. The wedding ring quilt hanging in my front room was folded neatly so the gaping hole near the signature block was hidden from view. The erratic beating of my heart struggled to return to normal. I dropped my stuff on the table and filled a glass with water, guzzled it, and then refilled it. “Would you like anything to drink?”
“I’m good. This is a nice place,” Dallas said, and I was reminded that this was the first time he’d been inside my house. “Everything is so clean.”
“My mother taught me well. And I’m a little obsessive—I make sure my house is ‘spring clean’ because once summer hits, I don’t have time for anything but wedding plans.” I tried not to think of my garage, because it definitely wasn’t up to my standard. It was full of boxes and every scrap I had brought from my days working weddings in San Francisco. Parking outside now wasn’t a problem, but in a few short months, the weather would turn cold and the garage would have to be cleared out. Scraping windshields was an activity that just didn’t suit me.
“I like it.” Dallas stepped closer and stared at me with those alluring green eyes. He put his arms around me and pulled me in to his chest. “I missed you.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. The back of my ponytail felt sweaty. A quick shower would have been nice, but Dallas didn’t seem to mind my running gear. “I missed you too. Thanks for coming over. Sorry I’ve been so stressed.”
He leaned toward me, and his lips caressed mine softly, cutting off my rambling apology.
I kissed him back, eager for his closeness, and wrapped my arms around his neck. His face was clean-shaven, and I could smell his minty aftershave. He put his hand on the small of my back and brought me closer, deepening the kiss. My fingers brushed the coarse hair at the nape of his neck, and I felt my pulse quicken. His kiss was gentle, yet insistent, and when I finally pulled away, I could see a fire in his eyes that made me wonder if Dallas was finally getting over his shyness. He leaned in for another light kiss and then held me close.
We stood there for a moment until the mantel clock chimed ten. I sensed that Dallas wanted to keep kissing me, but I didn’t want to get carried away.
“Do you want to watch something? I know it’s kind of boring, but I need to sort through some fabric swatches and see if I can find one that will work as an accent for Natalie and Brock’s wedding. I’m trying to re-create the binder that was stolen.”
“I’d love to.” Dallas clasped my hand and followed me to the living room, just off my kitchen. “It’s pretty impressive that you’re doing a wedding for such a famous person.”
“Yeah, Lady Luck decided to shine on me for once.” Lorea was my Lady Luck because she and Natalie had been friends since childhood, and Lorea had started working for me just two weeks before Natalie got engaged.
“Why do you say that?”
I grabbed the binder of fabric swatches and settled on the couch next to Dallas. “Oh, it’s just been a particularly difficult year, and then to have those wedding gowns stolen . . .”
“Do the police have any suspects?”
“No, and things don’t look good for finding Sylvia’s gown.”
“I keep trying to think of something I could do to help.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve done enough to get myself in trouble.” I laughed when Dallas lifted a brow. I definitely was not going to tell him about the diamonds. “I searched through the trash around my shop, and one of the cops wasn’t too happy when I called to tell him I found some of the wedding pages that had been
