When Dalton’s eyes caught hers as he surveyed the room, she quickly turned to Charlie.
“Can you take over for me?”
Charlie hadn’t missed Dalton’s arrival either. “Go. I’ve got this. Jerry can help out if it gets busy.”
The young high school student who’d volunteered to help out in the serving line was greedily drooling over Dalton as if he were a slice of pumpkin pie. T.A. hurried over to him before the girl jumped over the heating table and beat her to him. She had hated fucking cheerleaders in high school, and she still didn’t like them as she grew older.
“Hi!” she greeted him breathlessly, giving him a surprised look. “What are you doing here? Did Sex Piston let Sizzle help cook dinner? I thought you would be back in St. Louis by now.”
He grinned down at her. “I didn’t want to leave before I could thank you for letting me stay last night.”
T.A. could barely concentrate on the words that were coming out of his mouth. He looked damn fine in a tan camel hair coat that came to his thighs, with a dark sweater and slacks to match.
“You could have just called; you didn’t have to go out of your way.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to see you if I’d done that.” Dalton tilted his head to the side. “So, is this why you weren’t there when I woke up this morning?”
“I forgot to tell you last night, and this morning you looked too cute to wake,” she teased. Feeling the large room’s interest on them, she took his arm and guided him into the empty hallway that led to the front door.
He stopped her, placing a gloved hand over hers where it rested on his arm. “I enjoyed last evening more than I have any night in a long time, T.A. I couldn’t leave without letting you know that.”
Miserably, she didn’t flinch at seeing his stark expression. “I’m not going to see you again, am I?”
“Dax and I are hoping to finish filming in the next two weeks, then I’m going to spend some time with Grace and Ice.”
T.A. bit down on a trembling lip. “Where are you going after that?”
“Don’t, T.A. I’ve already told you I’m not ready for another relationship.”
“Yes, you did.” She forced herself to pass a cheerful expression on her face when all she wanted to do was beg him to give her a chance. “You must have loved her very much.”
He didn’t try to hide the wrenching pain her words had raised. “I still do. I always will.”
She nodded. “She wouldn’t have liked me, would she?”
“No.”
His brutal honesty hurt, but the truth always did, which T.A. had found out when she was sixteen. It didn’t matter who delivered it when it wasn’t the truth you wanted to hear.
“I used to look at her in magazines. She was very beautiful. I’m glad you had a happy marriage with her. Those are rare. That you were able to experience that happiness should be something to cherish and remember. Have a safe flight home.”
Reaching upward, she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, letting her lips linger for a glorious second before slowly moving away.
“Good-bye, Dalton.”
Abruptly, she started back to the cafeteria, every footstep putting more distance between them than Dalton already had.
“Good-bye, T.A.”
It was everything she could do to keep walking without turning around to run back to him and give him a kiss that showed him that while his wife might be dead, he was very much alive. Only one thing held her back: the heartache on his face. She would never be able to measure up to Oceane. She had lived most of her life trying to live up to expectations from those she loved. At her age, she had finally come to the conclusion that she was never going to, and she was good with that. The last thing she needed to do was travel down that slippery slope again, no matter how sexy the slope looked.
“You okay?” Charlie asked when she came back to where he was standing.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? It’s Thanksgiving.”
Charlie moved closer, placing a comforting arm over her shoulder.
“He break your heart?”
T.A. leaned against his comforting warmth. “No, don’t you know a bitch doesn’t have a heart?”
17
Dalton opened the back door to his daughter’s and son-in-law’s house. Grace had just left without a word to her husband, and Ice had taken the dogs out, escaping the strained silence that had been left behind in the kitchen.
“What’s going on, Ice?”
“I’ve always liked that you’ve never interfered in my and Grace’s relationship. Don’t ruin it now.”
“I really wish I could, but it’s hard to do that when I see both of you are hurting.”
“I’m not hurt. I’m fucking mad, and Grace knows why. If you’re so interested, ask her.”