Page 29 of True Ruin

She’d nearly choked on her lemonade, which was embarrassing enough without the bright rush of delight blooming in her chest because he was there. (And, of course, Theo had skipped the game entirely.)

But this wasn’t good.

Because happiness was dangerous. A thoughtful man was dangerous. Dirty notes and sexy tattoos and a lean, long body she visited in her dreams were one thing. Her heart catching every time she saw him was another. It was supposed to be about sex. A little madness. A temporary lapse in judgment, emphasis on the wordtemporary.

Nonetheless, by Friday morning, Gabi was starting to think if Dallas didn’t make a move, she was going to climb through his bedroom window. She was trying very hard to play this cool, despite never having played anything cool in her life.

“I’ve got a delivery out back, hon, if you could get it,” Verna Mae murmured, pencil moving across her order pad, her smile tucked low.

“Sure.” Gabi hopped off the stool, throwing a quick glance at the clock above the pie case. She had to pick up Sam in an hour. Today, she’d parked the café truck in the square, and it had done a brisk business. The smell of butter and lemon clung to her sweater, and her hands were chapped from scrubbing counters, floor mats, and every gummy surface. She’d be so happy when the space in the mill was ready. Keeping a dilapidated formerbread truck up and running was starting to suck big-time. She’d been handing out coupons for the Wilder Grounds grand opening, date still to be determined, but looking like no later than February. It couldn’t come too soon.

She slipped through the swinging gate into the narrow back hall, where the restaurant noise dulled and the air smelled faintly of mop water and coffee grounds. The alley door stuck the way it always did. Gabi gave it a hip-check, pushed outside, and had just enough time to register the slice of indigo sky, the stacked milk crates, and the sharp, impossible scent of Dallas’s soap before a hand closed around her wrist.

He pulled her against him, backing her into the brick. His hands came up, cradling her face like he’d meant to be gentle and lost the argument halfway there. She only caught sight of his eyes, a stunning olive green, before he sank into the kiss. Five days of longing and public restraint, part demand, part request, collided in a passionate embrace.

Gabi bounced up on her toes to meet him as she did the frantic math of what they could do, where they couldgo, in the fifty minutes of freedom she had. His tongue played with hers, pulling her in deeper, until she was kissing him back with both hands fisted in his shirt and no respectable plan left.

Dallas was hard against her, and she was groaning, reaching, when he pulled back, pressing his brow to hers. Their breaths came fast in the scant space between them. “I’m sorry, Gab, but I couldn’t wait another second to touch you,” he said, rough, panting. Hands braced on the brick on either side of her head, he leaned over her, into her, hip to hip. “I’ve been thinking about you so much I’m starting to concern myself. I went so far as sharing my desperation with Verna Mae.”

Gabi shouldn’t have found that charming. Sheabsolutelyfound it charming.

Dallas dragged his nose along her neck and into her hair with a sudden inhalation. “You smell good enough to put a man on his knees, and trust me, I’ve been thinking about exactly that. What was today’s sweet?”

“Lemon blueberry scones,” she whispered, his head between her legs now the only working image in her brain. “I’ve finally perfected the recipe.”

He tipped her chin, turning her face into a stray slash of sunlight, his eyes gone soft behind his glasses. “I?—”

A horn blared from the street, abrupt enough to make them both flinch.

“I gotta go. I’m helping Justin hang a painting in the gallery, some big-shot buyer is coming,” Dallas said, glancing over his shoulder. “I told him I needed five minutes to get a notebook I left here this morning. I think he suspects there’s something going on with us.”

Gabi froze, the warmth knocked from her. Then temper rushed in to fill the space. “Are we hiding this? Are you hidingme,Dallas True?”

He rocked back, arms dropping. “No, Sparkle,no. I’m not making a decision that lands on Sam before you’re ready, that’s all.” He sighed and yanked his hand through his hair, which had grown out enough to start showing endearing threads of gray and to cover the now-fading scar on his temple. “This town knows what a person had for breakfast before he’s finished chewing. If my brother suspects, everybody suspects. Then somebody says something in front of Sam, or I don’t know, Theo, which I assume might make co-parenting tricky. And you’ll be left to answer questions after I’m gone.”

“Oh.” She felt foolish. His reasoning was, as usual, backed by compassion. Until the other part landed. He was leaving in six weeks, and he was making sure to remind her. Remind them both. “You didn’t call because the ball’s in my court.”

His gaze glided to her mouth, his breath a calming caress across her cheek. “Consider this me calling.”

She smiled, brushing her knee against his. “An ambush in an alley? That your style?”

“Incomparable, right? I’ve got a ton of ‘em.”

Then his mouth was on hers again, less caution this time. One hand slid to the nape of her neck, holding her there while he kissed her until the brick scraped through her sweater and her toes curled inside her dirty Keds. He dragged his lips to her jaw, then lower, nibbling lightly at the side of her throat.

“When do you have another free night?” he murmured, taking her earlobe between his teeth.

She angled her head to give him access.Fuck, she wanted his hands on her. His dickinher. Which would be the perfect set-up if she didn’t want to know everything about him, too. “I have a weekend, actually.”

He leaned back, a dark brow lifting over the rim of his glasses. “Do tell.”

“The Children’s Center is having a sleepover this weekend. Younger kids, hosted by the teens, with adults there, obviously. Sam begged me not to chaperone.” Gabi laughed, though at the time it had hurt her feelings. A ridiculous amount, considering her son was supposed to want small pieces of his life without her in them. Only, he was growing up fast. Which was good. Healthy. Horrible. What if he had a nightmare, and she wasn’t there? What if he lost Alexander, his favorite teddy? But he was so excited about this adventure, she wouldn’t ruin it with her fears.

And it would give her and Dallas the opportunity to stop stealing minutes in alleys and school choral rooms. For two nights, they could simplybe.

“Up for that?” she asked, nerves dancing in her stomach.

“Can you leave town if I keep you close enough to get back to Sam fast? An hour, tops.”