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“Oh? So you’ve told her about Sovereign? Given her your real name? Invited her to the club?”

“No... I can’t risk it.”

“Risk what? Someone truly appreciating all the things you do?” Clapping Eric on the shoulder, Justin moved toward the stage when the emcee began the buildup for his set. “If you’re not sure about this woman, take her to The Countertop. My mother will be able to size her up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go shake my moneymaker and earn that wage.” Looking over his shoulder, he grinned. “And you need to make a decision.”

Eric stared after him as he disappeared, ashamed to admit that his friend was right. He had been about to push Cass away before she got too close. Then again, she hadn’t exactly been eager to invite him into her life, either. But had he given her the chance? Had he tried to get to know her? His brother had asked him to trust him; maybe he should give Cass the same chance. Starting with meeting her at Bathtub Gin.

* * *

T
HE CELEBRATION HAD BEEN
a total success, and Cass’s employees were having a great time at the bar. A couple of them had been at the bachelorette party last night. She’d smiled benignly and avoided them.

Lingering in the back of her mind was the knowledge someone had betrayed her to her father. Perusing the crowd as casually as possible, she considered each individual. She trusted everyone here. The idea that any one of them could be a potential traitor made her nauseous. It took what had been a night of celebration and made it one of stressful consideration instead.

And she didn’t need the extra stress, either. This thing with Dalton that should have been simple fun had suddenly turned complicated.

Her confrontation with him this morning had been minor, but it had left her rattled. He’d walked out afterward, but not in a manner she was used to seeing a man leave. He’d been frustrated but happy, irritated but smiling. How was she supposed to compartmentalize such opposing emotions in one person when she couldn’t do it for herself? A deep sigh, laced with frustration and not a little gin, escaped.

She was going to have to call a cab tonight. Drinking hadn’t been on the agenda, but there had been toasts and speeches that ranged from hilarious to heartfelt. The group had worked so hard, and she’d lifted a glass whenever anyone else did because they’d looked to her with their words, seeking validation that Preservations, that
they,
were going to make it.

Both were going to be fine. But those speeches and toasts also meant there would be more cabs than just hers tonight. She’d have to talk to Gwen and make sure she helped coordinate that with the bartenders.

Searching the room for her business partner, she wasn’t surprised to find her locked in a steamy embrace with her fiancé. A second sigh escaped, this one far deeper, as Cass watched just long enough to feel a bit voyeuristic. Heat scaled her neck to scald her cheeks and leave her hotter than the room warranted.

But watching those two hadn’t brought it on. It was the sight of the man who had just stepped inside the bar’s wide double doors that left her reeling, her breath coming short.

Dalton Chase.

She sat silent and still as he cased the room. When their gazes locked and he started her way, her palms began to sweat. Her heartbeat grew wilder, more erratic. Background noises faded away until she was hyperaware of him. Only him.

He stopped at the half-moon table in front of her booth. “Thought I remembered you saying you’d be here.”

One of her employees, a woman who’d been at the bar last night after the bachelorette party, gave her a thumbs-up and winked.

Cass fought not to cringe. She didn’t owe anyone an explanation for what—or whom—she did. But the woman had as much potential as anyone to be her father’s mole. That the employee,
her
employee, could relay a very intimate and potentially career-damaging piece of Cass’s private life to the ruthless David Jameson galled. Glancing between him and the woman, her mouth worked silently, the words she wanted to say as well as those she needed to say clogging her throat

Dalton took a deep breath and hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets. “You don’t seem exactly pleased I showed up.”

Her gaze came back to Dalton in time to register the tightening at the corners of his eyes and mouth, the sting of her rejection apparent. Guilt soured her stomach. Or maybe it was disappointment—in herself.

She shook her head, the best and only way she could manage to communicate at the moment. Grabbing her gin and juice, she took a huge swallow. Alcohol stung her nose and made her eyes water, but she didn’t care. It also cleared her throat.

“I’m just...surprised to see you. I thought you had to work until late,” she wheezed, sounding like an old woman with a three-pack-a-day habit.

Body tightening, he watched her closely, clearly choosing his words carefully. “I decided to cut out early.”

This was the moment. She’d either make something of what they’d started or blow it all to hell by trying to hide their involvement. Her vision softened. Thoughts of Marcus filled her mind, crowded by her father’s demands and revelations, the two weaving through the memories of the evening until it was a tangled mess of misery and self-loathing. She felt her brows draw together and a frown pull at her lips.

“I’ll go, Cass. No big deal.” He turned for the door, movements robotic, his face a mask of indifference.

“Stay!” she nearly shouted, scrambling from the booth. Several people looked their way. She ignored them. This wasn’t about them. Grabbing his arm and tugging, she forced him to first stop and face her.

Expression still neutral, his eyes were empty. “Stay? Would you like me to also sit, maybe roll over?”

The flat words were razor edged and sliced at her. “That’s not fair,” she managed. “You caught me off guard.”

“I figured a visit from your lover would be a welcome surprise.” His lips thinned and he visibly paled. “But maybe not.” Pulling free of her grasp, he started for the door with more purpose.

“You
are
a welcome surprise.” Her soft words stopped him in his tracks, and she was so damned grateful. The Preservations group had quieted, the only intrusion the muted music from the speakers and the clink of glassware behind the bar. Cass knew all her staff’s eyes were on them. It didn’t matter. Nothing in that moment mattered besides the man she wanted and the hurt she’d caused him. Swallowing hard, Cass did the only thing she could think to do to make it right. “I’m sorry. A surprise visit from—” she hesitated only briefly “—from my lover did catch me off guard, but you know what? I’m glad to see you, Dalton.”

Several voices murmured in the background. She ignored them all. Proclaiming what he was to her, calling him by name, was the best she could offer him.

He turned his head to the side, offering her his profile. “You want to get out of here, Cass?”

“Yeah.”

“Meet me in the parking lot.”

“Give me five minutes.”

“Clock starts now.” He strode to the door and shoved through it, never pausing, never looking around.

Cass strode to her booth, grabbed her belongings and headed for the bar to make arrangements with the bartenders to line up several cab companies. They assured her they’d close the tab within the hour and, with Gwen’s help, start sending people home.

That left her free to do what she needed to do—figure out exactly where Dalton Chase fit in her life.

With a fortifying breath and only slightly gin-hazed mind, she left the bar.

* * *

T
HE UNCHARACTERISTICALLY DRY
air stole the breath from her lungs when she stepped outside. But then strong arms pulled her into a tight embrace and firm lips closed over hers with hot insistence. Clearly the passion between them hadn’t peaked. Tongues dueled and teeth clashed as their mouths warred for an upper hand no one could possibly gain. Wanting him as fiercely as she did meant she wasn’t about to capitulate, to lie back and take his hunger quietly. No, she’d give as well as take in this arena. If last night hadn’t taught him that, he wasn’t as bright as she’d credited him with being.

He tightened his embrace, annihilating any scrap of distance between their bodies. Demanding hands wound through her hair and tugged the pins out until it fell loose down over her shoulders. He pulled her head back, and his green eyes bored into hers, hot and hungry.

“I missed you,” he rasped, his breath condensing on the cold air.

“And here I thought this was you saying goodbye.”

His grin exposed deep dimples. “‘Goodbye’ would be counterproductive to what I have planned for the evening.”

Her brows drew together. “Planned?”

“Unless you’re tied up.” He hesitated. “Not literally, mind you. What I meant was, if you don’t have plans, I’d like to take you out.”

“It’s well after midnight, Dalton.”

“I know. I just...” He let her go and stepped back, running his hands through his hair. “I was trying to think of a way to make the evening a little more...special. Maybe I want to get to know you better.”

“Know me.”

He glanced up, eyes tight. “Yeah.”

“I don’t get it.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets, his shoulders rolling forward. “Not much to ‘get,’ is there?”

“Depends.” She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly chilled.

He shed his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders before she could protest. “Why is it so hard to believe that I’m interested in you outside of the bedroom?”

“I’ve never had a one-night stand that stuck around afterward, Dalton.” The admission stung and Cass turned away.

“Have you had that many?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Good.” Strong arms pulled her in tight, and Cass snuggled in. He breathed deep and kissed the top of her head. “Have you ever been to The Countertop?”

“I’m not exactly sure what that is.”

“It’s a restaurant. We did your diner for breakfast. I thought we’d do mine for a midnight snack. They make killer pie. Then we can go back to my place and watch a movie.”

“A...movie.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. It can either be a romantic comedy with a dirty ending or a dirty movie with a dirty ending. Your choice.”

Laughter bubbled out of her, effervescent and light, and she tipped her face up to his. “You’ve obviously got sex on the brain, Mr. Chase.” Something dark passed through his eyes so quickly she wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it in the semi-lit parking lot. She rested her hand on his cheek. “You okay?”

He wrapped his hand around her wrist and lifted her hand to kiss her palm. “I’ve got
you
on the brain, Ms. Wheeler. As I said, I want to spend time with you. I’d like to start by buying you a slice of pie before pretending the most innocent thought in my head is snuggling on the sofa. Then? I want to wake up to you again. This isn’t a one-night stand anymore.”

Her heart tipped even further, dangerously close to crossing the lines that separated lust from like and like from...whatever was on the other side.

* * *

T
HE NOISE LEVEL
in the diner was low at one in the morning. Silverware clinked on plates. Voices of third-shift workers rumbled low against the backdrop of country music playing over the jukebox. The sizzle of frying bacon made Eric’s mouth water—almost as much as the woman at his side did. Almost, but not quite.

Eric handed her into a booth and slipped in across from her. For a split second, he’d considered sliding in beside her so he could continue touching her, but he’d held out. He didn’t want to smother her.

She glanced around, curious. “How’d you find this place?”

“A good friend’s mom works here. I’ve been coming since I was a teenager and sneaking meals at his house whenever I could.” He shook his head and smiled. “She never turned me away.”

“Why would she?”

Memories of hard times and slim pickings crept up on him. He’d been so lost after his parents died, wandering and reckless and more than a little out of control. Justin’s mom, Darcy, had invited him to dinner and given him a home, disrupting his downward spiral with grace and compassion interspersed with tough love. She hadn’t missed a beat since. He dropped by the house to visit her as much as to see Justin, who still lived there. No matter how tight things had been, she’d always welcomed him in, even when her family had been forced to ration what little they’d had.

“Dalton?”

Emotion clogged his throat and made it hard to breathe, harder to swallow. He coughed and shook his head. “Just a second.” Trying not to scramble from the booth, he rose and went to the counter. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Darcy herself walked around the corner.

Her face lit with genuine happiness. “Er—”

“Dalton,” he said, low and urgent. “Just for tonight, Darcy. Please.”

Eyes narrowing, she looked over her shoulder at the woman he’d left in the booth. “Is there a good reason you’re not telling your date your name? Your
first
name?”

He tugged at his collar. “She met me as Dalton, and I don’t want to...” He needed tonight to figure out if he could fully trust Cass, if he could share his other life, his
whole
life, with her. The conversation where he told her who he was would have to be handled with care. Having Darcy blurt out his first name to Cass wasn’t the intro he was hoping for.

Darcy’s shrewd gaze made him feel as if she saw right through him, and that didn’t sit well.

“You
are
going to tell her the truth?” Darcy’s question hovered far too close to a demand. “No one deserves to be lied to—” she raised both brows “—Dalton.”

He hunched his shoulders. “I haven’t been anyone other than who I am.”

“If that were true, sweetheart, you wouldn’t need to
lie
about who you really are.” She patted his face and pulled out her order pad. “You want to order now, or should I come to the table?”

“Come meet her.”

Darcy tilted her head, considering him. “She must be something.”

“She is.”

“Okay, then.”

Affection swamped him. He leaned over the counter and bussed Darcy’s cheek, earning him a surprised laugh and swat with her order pad. “You’re cheeky tonight.”