Page 61 of Crossing Paths
That made his mouth crook up in a smile. “I can drive, and you’re not paying.”
Fourteen
It ended up that when Dash had told Norah she wasn’t paying, he meant foranything. She almost started throwing elbows in the phone store when he used his height advantage shamelessly to block her from the counter until he’d handed the clerk his credit card.
“Your phone was destroyed in my apartment,” he said as they left the phone store. The late afternoon sun glared right into their eyes. “It’s covered by my insurance.”
“But it was most likely one of my stalkers who caused the fire,” she argued. “If it weren’t for me, your apartment wouldn’t have burned in the first place. You’d be at your open gym right now, having a normal day of Norah-free bliss.”
He snorted, turning her toward another store in the strip mall with a light hand on her elbow. “There’s no such thing as Norah-free bliss.”
This flustered her enough to silence her until they reached a restaurant. She blinked in surprise, not having expected they’dgo out to eat after phone shopping. Her stomach gave a grumble, reminding her she hadn’t eaten all day.
“Fish tacos okay?” he asked, holding open the door for her.
“Sure.” She walked inside. The place was only a third full. Even though they were in Denver and the chances of her seeing someone she knew were low, she still scanned the other patrons. As they approached the counter, she said firmly, “I’m paying.”
He grunted, otherwise not even bothering to respond. Knowing he would use that same size advantage on her again, she sent him a sideways glare. When she saw he was smiling, she was distracted from her annoyance.
“What’s funny?”
He just lifted a shoulder in one of his shrugs. “Nothing. Just happy to be with you.”
Feeling a little like she’d been punched in the stomach—but not necessarily in a bad way—Norah came to an abrupt halt.
Dash stopped too, raising his eyebrows. “What?”
“Nothing.” It wasn’tnothingthough. It was far from nothing. It was the first time someone had said that her presence made them happy. She was pretty sure her sisters enjoyed her company most of the time, but none of them had ever come right out and said it before.
The employee at the counter cleared her throat, pulling Norah out of her tumultuous thoughts. She started walking again but then paused. She didn’t want Dash to think she’d just blown off what he’d said like it hadn’t meant anything. It’d meant so much that she couldn’t even start processing it whiledeciding what kind of fish tacos she wanted. Before she could think of the potential for rejection and humiliation, she reached toward Dash and took his hand. After a moment of stillness during which she almost died several times, his fingers wrapped around hers in a firm grip.
With her face warm and dragon-size butterflies dive-bombing her stomach, she turned to order. It wasn’t until the clerk smiled back at her that Norah realized she had a huge smile on her face.
Yeah, being with Dash makes me happy too.
They held hands while ordering, while Dash handed over his card, and even while she gave him a glare for not letting her pay in order to ease some of the guilt she felt for dragging him into her enormous mess of a life. They continued to hold hands while he easily ignored that glare. It was only when she needed both of her hands to get her fountain drink that they let go of each other.
Norah was beginning to understand why Molly, Cara, and Felicity got so sappy with their respective guys. Kissing and hand-holding and even just staring at him for inordinate amounts of time were surprisingly enjoyable. It often felt like she and Dash were in their own bubble, separate from anyone else. She made a mental promise not to make so much fun of her sisters when they got mushy.
Once they had their drinks, they made their way toward a table in the back by unspoken agreement. Between her stalker and a general distrust of…well, most people, she felt more comfortable being able to see the restaurant. Dash obviously feltthe same, since they sat on the same side of the table with their backs to the wall. When the side of his thigh pressed against hers, she appreciated another aspect of sharing a side rather than sitting across from each other.
As she looked around the restaurant, everyone looked very normal and not at all suspicious, but a part of her still had to wonder if she was being watched. Maybe the two college-age guys blowing straw wrappers at each other had been hired by Zach to follow her. Or maybe the woman sitting by the window wasn’t really texting but was actually taking pictures of Norah and Dash. A little of her earlier elation seeped away.
“What’s wrong?” Dash seemed to pick up on her mood change immediately.
“Just being paranoid.” She took a drink, trying not to assign anyone else in the restaurant imaginary ulterior motives.
“The number of enemies you have, it’s probably smart to be paranoid.”
Wanting a distraction from that all-too-painful truth, she asked, “What about you? Is there anyone who has a grudge against you—besides Zach Fridley I mean?” She realized she didn’t know much about Dash’s history. The cops had separated them before questioning, so she hadn’t heard him list off possible suspects. Maybe there was a chance shewasn’tthe reason his place had been firebombed the night before.
“Not that I can think of.” He killed her tentative hope with a partial shrug. “I’m not especially likeable, but no one that I know of hates me enough to risk prison time.”
“I think you’re very likeable,” she blurted out, making himsmile. Her face warmed as she tried to refocus on the point of their conversation. “I kind of wish you had past Mafia ties or something.”
“What?” He barked out a laugh.
“I feel soguilty,” she admitted. “Your nice apartment burned, having to close your gym… If you’d never met me, then Zach Fridley wouldn’t know who you are.”
