Wendy reached for another handful of peanuts. “Yeah, but you don’t think they’ll be a little more chatty about you with a new face at the table?”
“Not if I warn my mother ahead of time.”
They both chuckled, and then Trudie said, “Like she’s going to listen to you.”
“She will. Otherwise she knows I won’t be showing up for any more—” Dallas hooked two sets of fingers in the air “—quote ‘family dinners.’”
“Ah, blackmail,” Wendy said, nodding. “Good move.”
Trudie frowned, clearly not buying the plan. “What about your father or brother? Or even Dakota, for that matter?”
“Dakota will be totally cool. Mother will take care of Cody and my father.”
“I still think it’s risky.” Wendy signaled the waitress for another club soda. “But, of course, I vote you just tell him. If he doesn’t like it, screw him. You don’t need that. You guys want another one?”
They both nodded, and Wendy took care of it with a few hand signals to the waitress.
“I don’t know,” Trudie said. “I just don’t think she should be hasty. Once he knows her better, he may be more forgiving.”
“Oh, jeez,” Wendy said loudly enough to earn her a couple of glares. “Like Dallas needs forgiveness. How would you like it if some guy told you he didn’t want you working at a department store?”
“That’s not what I meant. You always choose to take everything I say wrong.” Trudie got that huffy look on her face that meant the silent treatment wasn’t far be hind. Which also meant it was time to call it a night.
Dallas sighed. “I think Trudie was talking about me playing a mind game with him. The whole mystery thing.”
“Exactly.” Trudie sat back, her arms folded across her chest.
“Whatever.” Wendy fished the lime out of her drink and popped it into her mouth.
Dallas winced. She liked the flavor of lime, but the actual fruit? Eew. “So, what’s happening with you, Trudie? Your boss has to love that display window. It re ally is something.”
Trudie’s entire expression changed. “They think I’m a genius.”
“You are. Wendy, you should go by and see the window. Totally awesome.”
The conversation went in a neutral direction and everyone seemed to relax. Pretty typical girls’ night out for them, actually. Dallas didn’t know why she insisted on throwing Wendy and Trudie together. They were so different. But both dear friends, and maybe she was more like Dakota than she cared to admit.
Dallas liked harmony, the scales perfectly balanced. It was the Libra in her. That’s why she couldn’t grasp why she’d set herself up as she had. Saturday could be disastrous. And totally avoidable. It wasn’t too late to back out. She had to really think about this. As if she hadn’t wrung herself out worrying already.
She took a deep breath, trying to stay focused on the conversation. But something kept niggling at her, something too horrible to admit. There was possibly another reason she wanted to take Eric to dinner at her parents’.
His meeting them, seeing the beautiful white Victorian in which she’d grown up, would legitimize her. Prove she was more than a construction worker. That she was his kind of woman. And no matter how much she rejected the possibility, it sat heavily in her stomach, eating at her, making her sick. Because if it were true, that would make her a snob just like them.
ERIC OPENED THE DOOR TO HIS apartment, his eyes lighting with appreciation. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She hadn’t even made it over the threshold before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She sighed. “Maybe we should stay here.”
“Tempting.” He smiled and leaned back to look at her. “But I don’t want to disappoint your parents. That wouldn’t put us off to a very good start.”
She stifled a nervous laugh. Start? Tonight could be the finish. “You really don’t have to wear a tie, you know.”
He stepped back and studied the obscenely expensive red silk blouse she’d received as a Christmas present from her parents but would never have spent the money on herself. With it she wore casual cream-colored slacks and taupe flats.
“Okay.” He loosened the conservative gray tie and then pulled it off. “Better?”
“You don’t even have to wear a sports jacket.”
He looked doubtful. “What will your father and brother be wearing?”
She laughed. “You sound like a twelve-year-old girl.”
“What?” One eyebrow went up. “A twelve-year-old girl, huh?”
She backed up. “Yep.”
“Better take it back.”
“Or else?”
He grabbed her, and she came up against his chest, laughing, struggling for a breath. She tilted her head back, anticipating his kiss, but he only touched the corner of her mouth lightly with the tip of his tongue.
“Hey.” She raised herself on her tiptoes.
A cocky grin curved his lips. “Hey, what?”
“You don’t want to play this game with me,” she said sweetly. “You’ll lose.”
“What game?” He grunted when she rubbed against his fly and then quickly retreated. “You’re a cruel woman.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Not even going to deny it, huh?”
“Nope.” She smiled and rubbed up against him again. He was hard already.
His eyes closed briefly and he moaned. “You’re damn lucky the car is going to be here in ten minutes.”
“I don’t know why you hired one. We could have taken the train.”
“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t let me pick you up at your apartment.”
She stiffened and stepped around him to smooth her hair. Her blouse had come loose in the back, and she took her time tucking it in.
“Dallas, I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I figured that going to your parents’ meant the mystery stuff was over.”
“I was already in the neighborhood.” She shrugged, finding it difficult to meet his eyes while she was lying. “It just seemed easier to meet you here. You still have time to change if you want to wear something more comfortable.”
He hesitated, staring at her as if deciding whether to push the issue. Finally he said, “Such as?”
“Jeans, if you want.”
“Jeans?”
“Sure.”
He cast a skeptical glance at her slacks. “I’ll pass on the jeans, but I will lose the jacket.”
“That works. Here.” She slipped around him to help take off his jacket, and he caught her wrist.
“Anxious to undress me?”
“Always.” She smiled, freeing herself so she could stow the jacket on the couch without wrinkling it.
Eric followed her. “The hell with the driver. He can wait.”
She put up a restraining hand. “Down boy. Seriously. We need to get through this dinner first.”
His gaze narrowed. “That doesn’t sound encouraging. Is there something I should know about tonight?”
“Nothing, really.” Dallas sighed, wondering how much to say without spooking him. She’d already had a talk with her mother, warning her that playing old tapes would not be welcome. If the conversation went in the direction of her job or personal life, Dallas would promptly leave. “My parents can be a bit trying, though.”
“Trying,” he repeated warily.
“A couple of pains in the ass, actually.” She smiled. “But don’t worry. They’ll be on their best behavior with you.”
He frowned, looking worried, and she was sorry she’d said anything. “Define pains,” he said.
She took his hand and squeezed it. “You’ll probably find them quite charming. It’s me. We haven’t always seen eye to eye on things. And I haven’t been what you call a dutiful daughter.”
“Ah, I get it.” He seemed to relax. “Will I like your brother and sister?”
“Dakota will charm your socks off. Cody will talk business and about the stock market until your eyes glaze over. They’re both lawyers.”
“What about your parents?”
“Dad’s a judge and Mother is a biology professor.”
“Whoa.” Eric looked more than a little surprised. “Well-educated family.”
“Yep.” And then there was her, the black sheep of the family. The thorn in the otherwise perfect rose.
“You should be proud of them.”
“I am.”
He smiled, disbelief flickering in his eyes, but he wisely kept his own counsel.
The thing was she really was proud of them. They’d all made enormous contributions to society. Well, her father and Dakota particularly. Her sister tirelessly worked pro bono cases on behalf of battered women, and her father had been responsible for groundbreaking legislation protecting abused children.
Her mother and Cody were more mercenary and strived to make the society columns. Social status was important, and they didn’t stray from their ivory towers. But they were basically good people and did their jobs well. Dallas had no problem with their choices in life. None of her business, really. She just wished they stayed out of hers.
She sighed. “I know I’ve given you the wrong impression. I love my family.” She shrugged. “We’re just different. It’s hard to explain.”