Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2) (23 page)

Liz pulled away from Carter’s grip and strode right past their table toward the bar. She intended to order something tall, fruity and alcoholic. Carter appeared at her side. She refused to look at him. “How could you?” she hissed.

“How could I what? You were painting yourself like some drop-out with a weird cat thing going on instead of what and who you really are.”

She gave her order to the bartender and then half-turned to him. “Weird cat thing? I’d rather that than have everyone think I’m some uppity saint wannabe. I’ve fought all my life to be something
other
than Brainy Beth Beacon, and just when I get people seeing me as a regular,
normal
person you have to go and screw it up!”

“Screw it...? Now wait a minute… You’re
mad?
”

“Damn straight, I’m mad!” she yelled under her breath. “You couldn’t have made me—”

“Hey, Liz? I’d love to talk to you about that
Homes for All
collaboration you set up. How long are you in town?”

Liz turned and smiled tautly at Dan O’Connell—easier done now that her dress wasn’t flapping in the breeze. “A couple weeks maybe.”

“Think you could fill in as a guest speaker at our next Rotary meeting? We’d love to have you.”

“Oh! That’s… that’s very flattering.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and ignored Carter’s glower. “I suppose I could put something together. Give me a call.” She scribbled her number on a napkin and handed it to Dan. “We’ll see if our schedules mesh out.”

“I’ll let Kat Emerson know. She books our speakers.” Dan smiled as he pocketed the napkin, and Liz felt the full force of his all-American good looks as if she were ten years younger. “Maybe we could get together first, you know, to talk it over, just the two of us? There’s a great new Indian place on South Main.”

“Oh. I’d enjoy that. I love Indian food.”

“I’ll call you.”

“I look forward to it.” Liz paid for her drink as Dan sauntered away.

“Christ, Liz, you think you could at least wait until I was out of the room?”

“What?” Liz spun around to find Carter glaring at her, his green eyes like a stormy sea.

“You just agreed to a date with Dan right in front of me!”

“That wasn’t a date. He just wanted to talk about the thing—”

“Just the two of you? It was a date. Something I thought
we
were on. My mistake.”

“You thought we—? Carter, wait!” Liz found herself scrambling after him as he strode toward the exit. “He caught me by surprise!”

“So your first response was ‘yes’? Funny, every time
I
catch you by surprise you say ‘no.’ Or recommend therapy. I guess I know why now. I’m no Dan O’Connell. Never was. How ironic. Well, enjoy, Liz. I’m out of here.”

“You can’t leave! You’re my ride!”

Carter’s eyes raked her body. “I’m sure you’ll find someone to give you a lift.”

Liz stared at his retreating back and fought against angry tears. She’d tried not to believe tonight was anything other than a fun trip down memory lane, but who was she kidding? She hadn’t bothered worrying about her zipper earlier, because a part of her had imagined the new Liz would be brave enough to ask Carter to do the unzipping. And now he was walking out the door?

“You guys hoping to liven the party up?”

“What?” Liz turned to Dan. It wasn’t fair to blame him, but he
had
caused all this to happen.

“Carter. I saw him leave…”

“We had a disagreement.” Liz blew out a breath and walked back to the bar. Her drink was sitting there with its frilly umbrella like a girl dressed up for a date and left behind. She knew just how it felt.

“Sorry to hear that.” Dan was so close now she could smell his cologne, feel the heat of his body. But rather than appealing, he just felt... hot... next to her.

“What were you arguing about, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Ironically, you,” she muttered against her straw.

“Me?”

“He seemed to think you asked me out on a date.”

“I did ask you out on a date.” Dan’s lips tilted with confident sensuality.

“
Oh.”
Liz could only stare. Daniel J. O’Connell, the heartthrob of Sugar Falls High had asked her out? Why did that not excite her the way she’d always imagined it would?

“For the valedictorian of our class, you’re a bit slow on the uptake aren’t you?” he chuckled.

“I’m only in town a couple of weeks. Why would you want to go on a date?”

“Maybe I like what I see.” Dan’s eyes slid to her chest, and Liz fought the urge to hunch her shoulders. He looked up again. “So tell me, is your brother in town?”

Liz shook her head. “I don’t know. We’re not that close. Why?”

“Just curious. He always enjoyed a good party.” Dan swiped on his cell phone, stared at it a moment then shoved it in his pocket. “Never mind. Say, I’m gonna go mingle. You hanging around here for a while?”

“Seems so.”

“Great. Keep my seat warm.”

Liz gagged on her straw and wondered how the night could get worse.

Just then her phone rang in her clutch. She pulled it out.
Perfect.

“Grant!” She knew her voice was falsely bright, but she wasn’t feeling herself. She took a long draw on her straw and let the ice-cold rum-soaked fruit juices numb her tongue.

“Liz, I...” There was a pause and Liz smiled tautly to some classmates hurrying by on the way to the video presentation. “Where are you?”

“Oh. Right. Funny that. Believe it or not, I’m at my class reunion.” She took another long sip and stopped because she was on the verge of brain freeze. “Long story.”

“I thought you hated high school.”

“Very true. Very true. Yet here I am.” She bobbed her straw in her drink. “I got cornered at the local grocery store by Valerie Stinson, chair of the organizing committee. Couldn’t say ‘no.’”

“Stinson? Isn’t she the snotty bimbo you said hated you for no reason?”

Liz caught sight of the bimbo in question and nodded. “Yup. One and the same.”

“Why didn’t you just blow her off?”

“It’s a small town. People talk. Besides, I didn’t hate everyone.”
Until now,
she thought irritably, remembering her non-ride home.

“What do you care what people think? You’re only there for a few days.”

Good point.

“Anyway,” Grant continued, “I sent you a few more files to run some numbers on. You think you could handle it for me?”

“Sure,” Liz agreed absently, wishing, yet again, she were smart like Bailey who routinely blew these events off. Oh, well. A shame Mandy hadn’t come back. It would have been fun to catch up with her. Or Eileen.

Liz sighed and realized belatedly Grant was still talking. “The end of the week is fine. I sent everything I have so far...”

“I’m sorry,” Liz interrupted, “poor connection. Are you passing off this project entirely?”

“It shouldn’t take more than a day or two—”

“But, Grant, I have work to do
here
! What’s the rush?  I didn’t think they needed this until June.”

“Ethan wants it done before… before the end of the month.”

Liz stared into the distance and shook her head. Was no one reasonable anymore?

“You know what?” Grant said. “Never mind. It’s clear you’re busy. I’m sorry I asked. I had hoped you’d be willing to help—”

Liz rubbed her temples. “I am. I am. I…” She let out a cleansing breath. “When I get home, I’ll look it over and see what I can do, okay? I’ve just had a less than fun evening so far. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“Sure. We’ll talk later.” There was a pause. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“I hope your evening improves.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

Liz tucked her phone back in her clutch and sucked on her straw as she watched the video presentation from the bar. It was the predictable collage of “candid” snapshots from senior year set to an unpleasant medley of all the songs she associated with awkward high school dances.

Shoving her half-finished cocktail aside, she stood up. Even if she had to walk the whole way, she promised herself sulkily, she was going home.

Five self-sorry steps from the bar, Dan reappeared at her side.

“Leaving? How about I give you a ride?”

“Oh, I couldn’t trouble—”

“Really. No trouble. Turns out I need to head out myself.”

Liz let out a breath. “Thank you. I could use a ride.” She started toward the rear door.

“Oh, I’m not out back.” Dan took her elbow and propelled her toward the side exit. Only then did she notice he looked somewhat peculiar.

“Dan?” She paused, lightly touching the sleeve of his jacket. “Are you feeling okay? You look a bit flushed.”

“Me? I’m fine. Just a little hot in there. I could use some air is all. But I am in a bit of a hurry.”

“Sure. Of course.” Liz pushed open the door.

“
Stop! Police!
Put your hands in the air where we can see them!”

“Ohmigod!”
Liz squeaked as an officer rushed forward. “What’s going—
Dan?”
She gaped as an officer pulled at the corner of what appeared to be a plastic baggy of confectioner’s sugar hanging out of Dan’s coat pocket. “What—?”

“Your purse, Miss?” A second officer held a hand out for Liz’s clutch.

“My purse?”

“May I see your purse, please?” Liz stared wide-eyed as the other officer handcuffed Dan and began to read him his Miranda Rights.

“Oh, really, there’s nothing...”

Liz noticed a small crowd gathering behind two flashing squad cars as the officer took her clutch from her fingers. He looked familiar and she tried to recall where she’d seen him before, but then she remembered what was inside her clutch.

“No!” she cried, lunging for the bag.
“Please don’t!”

And, with sickening awareness, as if it all had become slow motion, Liz watched her bra slide from her purse and hang merrily from the officer’s fingertips as the flash of a camera burst before her eyes.

Trish was right. Reunions
were
hell.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
____________________

“W
HAT’S GOING ON HERE?”

Carter cut through the sea of murmuring, gawking bystanders as they took pictures of the commotion with their cell phones. He strode toward Liz, his sole thought that he was to blame for this. He shouldn’t have left her. He should have at least gotten her home. Now she was standing there like a deer caught in the headlights, and it was all because he’d impulsively stalked out and gotten half-way home before he was calm enough to recognize he’d overreacted.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stay where you—”

“
Jeff!”
Carter bellowed over the shoulder of the young officer holding him at bay. “Jeff! What the hell’s going on?”

Jeff Dayton closed the rear door of the squad car and strode over. “Later, Carter. We’re in the middle of an arrest.”

“You’re arresting Liz? For what?”

“I didn’t do anything! I swear!” Liz asserted to the nearest officer. She was shaking, he noted, and her face was unusually pale with two high spots of color on her cheeks. “Dan was walking me out. I don’t even know what was in that baggy. It wasn’t drugs was it? Was it drugs?”

“Liz, stop talking,” Carter advised as calmly as he could over the excited chatter of the crowd.

“
Sir
,” the kid cop warned him.

“What?” Liz asked, craning her neck to see Carter.

More people had crowded out of the hall to see what was going on, including an agitated blonde in a red dress.

“
Dan!
” Valerie yelled, screeching over the crowd and practically body-slamming Jeff Dayton in her attempt to scream at her ex-husband. “Dan!” she yelled, pounding on the squad car window. “How could you? How could you be so
stupid?!
”

“Ma’am!” Jeff barked. “Hands off the squad car!”

Valerie glared at Jeff and returned to bellowing through the window.

“Stop talking until we get this all straightened out,” Carter repeated over the din.

Liz blinked. “Am I in trouble?” she asked, her voice uneven. “I didn’t do—”

“Ma’am, in the car, please,” the young officer said.

Carter’s fists clenched at his sides as he watched Liz slide into the second squad car. Her eyes sought his helplessly.

“We’ll work it out there. I’ll meet you at the station,” he promised as the officer closed the door.

“Do you know who that woman is?” someone asked at his elbow.

Carter watched the cruiser with Liz pull away. “Yeah. Liz Beacon.”