Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)

CLOSE TO ONE that afternoon, Sam headed for city hall. The mayor had asked him to join the business economic development council. He’d resisted, she’d insisted and here he was—going to his first meeting. He’d given himself extra time for the walk. He wanted to stop by Brew-haha and get a coffee. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the most interesting meeting he’d attended this week.

But even as he mentally complained, he found himself looking forward to finding out what they had in mind. There were a lot of ways a community could support local business. Score’s customer base was outside of the area, but most of the other companies were tied to the geography. He figured they could learn from one another.

He stood at the corner, across from Brew-haha. As he waited for the light to change, he looked in the windows of the coffee place. Most of the chairs were filled and there was a line. Some of the—

He retraced his visual steps and saw Simone sitting at a table with Dellina. Dellina spoke and Simone laughed. He saw the tape recorder between them.

Something hot and sharp hit him in the gut. Betrayal, he supposed. Given the circumstances, he almost couldn’t blame Dellina. Simone could be charming when she wanted and there was no way Dellina would guess what she really was. But she had to know how he would feel about her talking about him. About them.

The light changed, but Sam ignored it. He turned and walked back the way he’d come. There was more than one way to get to city hall.

* * *

“I’M PRETTY SURE I did this right,” Dellina said as she pulled folders out of her tote. “I followed your instructions, which I know will make you happy.”

She paused, waiting for Sam to make a comment. But although he nodded, he didn’t seem that engaged in their conversation. He almost seemed...remote. As if he were holding himself apart, somehow. Which was really strange.

She’d brought the final invoice to the Score offices, as he’d requested. She’d also dragged along all the supporting invoices so they could go over them together. Now that she understood what she’d been doing wrong, she was pretty sure she could get the numbers to do their thing, but she appreciated Sam looking everything over for her—just in case.

Still, something wasn’t right, she thought. She abandoned her tote and sat on the chair opposite his.

“Sam? What’s going on?”

He looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not yourself. Is something wrong? Or is this a bad time? We can reschedule the meeting.”

His dark gaze was steady as he studied her face. While she had no idea of the topic, she could practically see the wheels turning in his brain.

“What?” she demanded. “There’s something.”

“I saw you talking to Simone.”

It took a second for the name to sink in. Because she didn’t know any Simones. Only she’d met one today.

“Your ex? Yes. She wanted to have coffee.” Dellina relaxed. “She’s, um, interesting. She wants to do an updated version of her book and wanted me to help.” She shook her head. “Can you believe it? As if I would give up any information. I told her that. I explained there was no way anyone in town would help her and that she was wasting her time.”

Sam’s wary expression never changed. “She was laughing.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I can be funny on occasion. Not that I’m ready for the stand-up circuit, but still.” A knot formed in her stomach. “Sam, I didn’t say anything about you. I wouldn’t do that. Not only do I understand and respect your need for privacy, but I agree with you for a lot of reasons. She’s out for what she can get for herself, the rest of the world be damned. I’m telling the truth about this. You have to know that.”

She waited, hoping he would relax a little, but he didn’t.

She searched for the right words, only there weren’t any. She’d told him the truth. Now it was up to him to figure out if he believed her or not.

Love blended with fear and neither was especially comfortable. The logical side of her brain reminded her that without faith in each other, they were doomed. They could be doomed for a lot of other reasons, too, but this was a deal breaker.

She loved him, and because of that love, he had the power to hurt her emotionally. She didn’t think he would be cruel on purpose, but he was determined and fairly rigid.

“Okay, then,” she murmured, and began collecting her folders.

“You don’t have to go,” he told her.

“Yeah, I do. You don’t believe me. After everything we’ve been through, you still think I could be the kind of person who would betray you to your ex-wife.”

She shoved the folders back into the tote and started for the door.

“Dellina, wait.”

She turned, trying not to hope.

His expression hadn’t changed, she thought. He wasn’t moved by her words. Or, very possibly, by her.

“I want to help you with your invoices.”

Words that cut to the bone. Or in her case, the heart. “Thanks, but I’ll take my chances on getting them right myself.”

She hesitated. She loved him. Despite this illustration of his biggest flaw, her feelings were unchanged. At some point she was going to have to suck it up and tell him, then accept the consequences. Just not today, she thought grimly. There had been enough emotional body blows already.