Waking Hearts (3 page)

“Ollie…”

She ached. She wanted to slip her arms around his waist and lean into him. Press her face into his chest until he settled down and hugged her back. Make him laugh and smile and erase the awful wall that had risen between them. Allie could feel her heartbeat pick up as she leaned closer.

Without a word, Ollie grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from his jaw, looking back toward the bar as he said, “We need to get back inside. Talk to Caleb and make sure that punk doesn’t cause any problems.”

Humiliation colored her cheeks red as she dropped her hands. “Right. Sorry. It’s still busy. I’ll go back inside and get back to work. Why don’t you run to Ted’s house and have her look at your cheek? Caleb can help at the bar. Dani’s station has cooled off, so she can help on the floor. We’ll take care of it.”

He gave her a brittle laugh. “Organizing the world again, Allison?”

Ollie was the only one who called her Allison anymore. Not since her mom died. And he hadn’t done it in months.

She forced a smile past the burn of embarrassment and the memory of his jaw under her fingertips.

“Well, you know me. That’s what I do. Can’t turn off the mom after fifteen years, you know?”

“I guess not.”

Damn men with their damn inscrutable expressions. Allie tried not to run back into the bar. She headed straight for the women’s restroom and leaned against the door, pressing her hands to hot cheeks.

Get a grip, you idiot. Oliver Campbell is not for you.

Chapter Two

“YOU’RE AN IDIOT.” TEODORA “TED” VASQUEZ slapped a bandage onto his cheek and shoved him out of the chair. “I’m tempted to tell Tía Maria how big an idiot you really are, but even I’m not that mean.”

The last thing Ollie needed was his cousin tattling on him to his grandmother like they were still ten years old. He glared at Alex McCann, Ted’s husband, across the room. “A little help here?”

“Sorry, man. I think you’re being an idiot too.”

Ollie shook his head and tried to banish the memory of Allie’s soft hands on his chest. Her fingers brushing his jaw. With the bear riding him, pumped full of adrenaline and still pissed at that sorry little puke of an investment banker, he’d been seconds away from taking what he’d wanted for years.

Years
.

“How long are you going to wait?” Alex was talking again.

Ted was muttering under her breath in Spanish. She was family, but damn, the woman could be annoying as hell sometimes. She was best friends with the coy little fox, but Ollie knew she was also trustworthy.

“She’s not even divorced yet.”

“She filed six months ago,” Alex said.

“But it’s not final.”

“’Cause she can’t find the bastard!” Ted yelled. “You really think if Joe comes waltzing back into town she’s gonna give him the time of day?”

“No.” He paused. “I don’t know. They have four kids and fifteen years together. She’s not the kind of woman who just dismisses that.”

Ted froze. “I’m going to forget you said that so I don’t have to give you a matching bruise on your right cheek. After everything she’s found out about him? The drugs. The debt he piled up and left her with. Added to that the way he completely abandoned his kids? She’s done with him. Trust me. Done.”

“Even if she is definitely done with Joe, I have no interest in being her rebound.”

Ted froze and across the room Alex visibly winced.

“What did you just say?”

“Rebound.” He didn’t back down from her glare. “What do you think? She’s going to want to settle down with some asshole a year after her deadbeat husband left her? Yeah, I’m seeing that working out great.”

“So you’re an asshole now?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Yes, it is,” Ted said, ice dripping from her words. “You said ‘settle down with some asshole,’ implying that one, you’re an asshole, and two, she’d settle down with one again. I’m not talking about the bullshit you hear at your bar, Ollie. I’m not talking about some theoretical relationship between two people who just met. I’m talking about
you
. You and Allie. Two people who should have been together from the beginning if you hadn’t dragged your ass in high school and let Joe I’m-a-lazy-ass-who-can’t-be-bothered-to-take-care-of-my-family Russell sweep in and convince her he’d give her the moon and stars!”

Alex bit his lip, clearly trying not to laugh. “That’s a long nickname, baby.”

Ted shot a glare at her husband and turned back to Ollie, shaking her head. “You have no idea.”

“No idea about what?”

“How bad it was.”

Ollie could swear his heart stopped beating for a second. “How bad was it?”

“You have your secrets. She has hers. You want to know? You want to get real with her? You ask Allie, not me.”

Ollie stopped talking. It was what he usually did when he didn’t want to discuss feelings with his cousin, of all people. His cousin, who seemed determined to drive him crazy.

He had a plan. He’d waited for Allie Smith for twenty years, and he could wait a little longer if it meant she came to him with a whole heart.

Ollie couldn’t handle being a way station for her. He wasn’t being dramatic. He just knew that he’d break if she tried him on and discarded him because she wasn’t ready. He’d held his peace for fifteen years, and once he had her, he wouldn’t be able to let go.

“Tell me something,
Oso
.” Ted used his childhood nickname, but it did little to soften her words. “So what if she does end up having a rebound relationship, huh? You think you’re going to be able to handle seeing her go out with another guy under your nose? And what if it turns serious? What happens then?”

Gut-churning rage in his stomach. Ollie stood without thinking, his hands clenched at his sides. His eyes narrowed at Ted when she sighed.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

IT was just his luck that Tracey had called Allie in to work early on Friday afternoon. Just his luck he’d have to watch her bustling around his bar in her skinny blue jeans and fitted black T-shirt, her apron tied at the waist and the bow perched at the top of her ass. Four kids had added to her figure since high school, but not in any way Ollie would complain about.

When she’d been younger, she’d been so tiny his awkward teenage self had nightmares about finally getting up the guts to make a move, only to end up breaking something. Fifteen years had made her no less attractive but a little more substantial. The bear in him approved.

When she’d been married and the torment of her had been a constant ache in his gut, he’d dated. He’d dated plenty. But not anyone who would remind him of Allie. Tall, slim girls with dark hair and barely there smiles. No blondes. No short, curvy temptations. Dating anyone who even resembled her was completely off-limits.

She was filling out the specials board, her back to him, that little bow taunting him. “Ollie, did we get everything in the delivery this morning?”

He tore his eyes away from her ass and back to the newspaper. “Yeah.”

“You want to put the Firestone DBA back on special then? That was selling really well last weekend.”

“Sure.”

“Or do you want me to try a different ale and leave the DBA at regular price?”

“Whatever you think.”

She shot him a tight smile and put the Firestone back on special before she quickly filled out the rest of the board with the regular weekend deals.

Her instincts were good, and he probably should have given her better feedback, but he was trying not to stare at her. Or glare. He couldn’t
not
notice her, but he knew he’d been acting like a Neanderthal. He didn’t want to be such a bastard, but he couldn’t find his balance with her anymore.

When Allie had been married, it hadn’t been an issue. She was off-limits. Not even a possibility on the horizon. Because she wasn’t that kind of woman, and he wasn’t that kind of man. Because of that, he’d been able to be her friend, cherish her and her kids, and ignore the slowly degenerating asshole she’d hooked herself to when she was sixteen.

But now…

“What if she does end up having a rebound relationship, huh? You think you’re going to be able to handle seeing her go out with another guy under your nose?”

Ollie knew the answer to that. He’d go insane. But he also didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t think of a way to broach the topic without coming across as a presumptuous asshole.

Morning, Allison. I’ve been in love with you for about twenty years now. Would you like to go out for coffee? Or maybe just marry me and put me out of my misery?

Hey, Allie. I know you’re still in the middle of a divorce, but how about coming over for dinner? Bring the kids. Feel free to have them pick out rooms while they’re here.

Allie was frowning as she looked out the window. “Ollie?”

“Yeah?” he growled. Yes, growled. His grandmother would have slapped the back of his head if she’d heard him.

“Caleb is coming up the road.”

Well, shit. It would be just his luck if that little asswipe from the night before decided to file charges that Caleb couldn’t ignore. To be fair, the surveillance camera would have picked up that the banker swung first. Unfortunately, it would also pick up that Ollie busted his ribs more than was strictly necessary.

He folded the paper and put it under the bar, surprised that Caleb hadn’t called. They’d been friends for two years now. Ollie was godfather to Jena and Caleb’s little girl. If anyone had made a complaint, Caleb would have called, which left Ollie wondering why the chief of police was really coming up the road at four in the afternoon on a Friday.

He heard Jim bang the kitchen door and start the prep for dinner, heard him and Tracey chatting and flirting. Nearly twenty years and the two of them were still nuts about each other.

Yeah, he was jealous.

Allie was refilling napkins and glancing at the door with a small frown on her face. Worried, probably. Worried for him.

He wanted to pick her up, cart her to his office, and kiss the frown off her little mouth. He wanted to carry her back to his house, gather her kids up, and fold them into the close-knit Campbell clan so she’d never have to worry about anything again.

He knew she
could
handle all the shit life had thrown at her. It just pissed him off that she
had
to.

Caleb pushed the door open, and a quick wash of heat entered the bar before he could shut the door.

“Hey, Caleb!” Allie said. “Get you a water? A Coke?”

Caleb wiped his forehead, his face carefully blank. “Iced tea?”

She smiled. “Tracey’s making some in back. I’ll see if it’s ready.”

Allie slipped to the back, and Caleb’s face shot to Ollie’s, thinly veiled anxiety written on his face.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

Caleb glanced from Ollie to the hallway where Allison had disappeared, and Ollie’s stomach dropped.

“Joe?”

Caleb nodded just as Allie came back with a tall glass of iced tea.

“Just ready,” she said with a smile. “So how’s everything going with you today?”

“Allie,” Caleb started, “why don’t you sit at the bar with me?”

Her smile fell. Ollie watched as the color drained from her face, and he wanted to roar. Wanted to throw Caleb out of the bar. Instead, he lifted up the pass and went to stand behind her as she and Caleb sat down. He put his arm on the bar beside her and waited.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice wooden.

“I… Have you heard from Joe since the last time I asked you?”

She shook her head.

“Are you sure? Not even a call that hung up? Kevin’s got a cell phone now, right?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “But he’d tell me if his dad called.”

“You’re sure?”

“Caleb,” she said. “Just tell me what this is about.”

Caleb put his hand over Allie’s and Ollie knew. It was bad.

“Yesterday a rancher out near Twentynine Palms found a body on his property.”

Damn you, Joe Russell.

Ollie put a hand on her shoulder and left it there.

“It had… been there for a while. There wasn’t much left, but there was a pawn ticket in the pocket and they traced it back to a shop in Indio. It was for an antique Bowie knife, and the name on the ticket was Joe Russell.”

Allie tore her hand from Caleb’s and covered her face. Without a word, Ollie turned her on the stool and pulled her into his arms, wrapping her up as her shoulders began to shake with inaudible sobs. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed, her cries still silent, her tears running down his neck.

Caleb had gone to the back, and he could hear Tracey, Jim, and the chief talking quietly. Then Tracey’s quiet gasp and Jim’s concerned rumble of a voice.

Ollie held on to her until her shoulders stopped shaking. He didn’t say anything until she pulled away and wiped her cheeks.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he said, leaving one hand on her shoulder. “You hear me? You’re gonna make it through this.”