Page 58 of Hard Rain Coming
The business suit didn’t match the rest of her, but who was he to judge?
She smiled at him, a slow, practiced kind of thing, and slid onto the stool beside him. She ordered a white wine and leaned closer.
“I’m on a three-hour layover. Where are you headed?”
He didn’t answer, but turned back to the game.
She took a sip from her wineglass. “So, you like to hang out in bars at the airport for fun?”
Annoyed, he glanced at her. “I’m not the guy you want to make small talk with.”
“Maybe it’s not small talk I’m after.” When he didn’t respond, she shrugged and murmured. “Someone’s got a situation brewing.” She pushed her wineglass forward to give herself more room and rested her elbows on the bar, linking her hands together so she could rest her chin on top. “I’m a good listener if that means anything.”
Pissed that his space had been invaded, he all but growled. “Look, lady, I’m not in the mood for your bullshit or conversation. If you’re a sex worker, I’m not looking, and I sure as hell ain’t paying. No offense.” He sounded like a sarcastic asshole, but didn’t care.
“Honey, you don’t look like the kind of man who’s ever paid for it.” Her smile widened. “Which is good, because I’m not offering. You’re obviously having some woman issues, and since we have all this time to kill, I thought I could be of some help, is all.”
“I don’t need help.” He frowned and stared up at the television screen. What a crock of shit that was.
“That look on your face tells me different.” She reached for her wine again. “Let me guess. There’s a woman out there who means a lot to you, but you’ve never had the balls to let her know, or something’s happened.” She gave him a wicked side-eye. “Or both. Now you’re behind the eight ball and running to catch up.” She paused. “How am I doing so far?”
He glanced her way once more, but said nothing. She shrugged. “You’re a loner. It’s written all over you. And loners don’t know how to deal with emotions.”
“Yeah, well, she’s a loner too.”
“Shoot.” The lady frowned. “Then you are in what I like to call a conundrum. That makes things more difficult. Usually, two people who are the same deal with things in a similar manner. And I’m going to go out on a limb and guess the two of you haven’t dealt with things in a healthy way.” She winked. “On account of the loner thing.”
“You might be right about that.”
“What’s changed?”
Shit, was he really going to unload on a total stranger? Dallas sat a bit straighter and considered his answer. But it was simple, really.
“We have.”
“Change is good. It signals a maturity and a willingness to admit mistakes.”
Dallas finished his mug and signaled for another. He looked at the woman. “You ready for another?”
“If you’re buying.”
He had the bartender bring her another wine.
“This woman,” she said, running her crimson-tipped fingers along the edge of her wineglass. “Does she know you’re coming for her?”
“No,” he admitted. “At least, I don’t think so.” He supposed Jack could have given her a heads-up, something he hadn’t thought of.
“A word of advice?”
“Why stop now?” he replied with a half grin.
“It must be a fierce woman to capture the heart of a man like you. I’m picturing someone who runs deep and hot. If she doesn’t know you’re coming, her first reaction might be to push back. You need to get ahead of it. Let her know you’re on your way so she has time to prepare. Time to deal with whatever it is that’s keeping you two apart.”
He considered that and realized this woman was probably right. But there was a problem.
“I’ve called her cell, but she’s not picking up, and she hasn’t read any of my text messages.”
Her eyes softened. “Then you’ve done all you can do.” She held up her glass. “I wish you well. It’s a good man who can admit he’s done a woman wrong. And an even better one willing to fix it.”