Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(93)

Angie squeezed his hand. “Even if it takes time, don’t settle for less than you deserve.” She shrugged sagely. “If we’d stayed together, that’s what we would’ve been doing—settling.”

“I still would’ve gotten the better deal,” he said honestly, stroking her cheek.

“Damn straight. I’m a freakin’ prize,” she preened. “So now stop feeling sorry for your mediocre self and get that girl to marry you so I can stop feeling bad about leaving your ass.”

He laughed and hugged her affectionately. “I’ll do my best.”

Closure—as liberating and eye-opening for hindsight as it was for foresight.

Placing his forehead against Angie’s, he kissed her nose. “Thanks for coming today.”

“Anytime, Luke. You know I’m always—”

Suddenly, a quick motion outside drew Luke’s attention away from Angie.

There was no one there.

There was something on the ground outside his shop, however.

He didn’t know why but he knew he had to see what it was. An uneasy feeling crawled through him. The more his eyes made out the details of the tiny object, the faster he walked.

His eyes hadn’t fooled him. It was a piece of chocolate…a lovingly crafted truffle, carefully decorated and adorned with a tiny gold letter message: I love dreaming with you.

Now half covered in dirt. Abandoned.

Deemed unsalvageable by the woman who’d made it for him.



*



DANI RAN INTO her office and locked the door, taking in deep gulps of air, failing miserably at stopping the useless flow of tears. She ignored the worried, heavy knocks on the door of first Javier and then the lighter ones, probably from Xoey. Ignoring them all, she sank into the big leather chair that had once belonged to her father.

And just cried.

Her nails clawed at the piece of duct tape holding together the biggest rip in the seat’s leather. The chair was so old and worn, she sometimes wondered why she didn’t just get a new one. After all, it was an awful reminder of the worst moment of her dad’s life. And hers. He’d sat in this very chair reading that note from her mom. Dani still remembered the desolate look on his face, the tears that had run without end, the quiet anguished sounds of his heart breaking.

Curling into a ball, she tried to shut herself off from the suffocating pain seeping in.

Until the fierce pounding on the door rattled the walls all around her.

“Dani, open this door!” Luke sounded...furious.

His voice seemed to waver as the seconds ticked away and still she refused to let him in.

“Please, sweetheart,” he said softly, “talk to me. Whatever you think you saw at my shop just plain isn’t.” The heavy sadness she heard made her hand hover over the doorknob.

“Dani, nothing happened that could’ve warranted you doing what you did back there.”

She flung the door open in outrage. “And just what the hell do you think I did to you?!”

He stood there looking as crushingly sad as he sounded, his hands clutching something like it was a Faberge egg. Looking down, she saw cradled in his hands the chocolate she’d left outside his shop after witnessing Luke’s little reunion with his ex-fiancée.

It was almost unrecognizable now, coated with street dust and debris.

“You gave up on us,” he whispered, his voice bleak.

Dani stared at the chocolate in his hands and started crying again.

Luke stepped in quickly and shut the door behind him. “Please don’t, Dani. I swear, what you saw was nothing like what you’re imagining. She’s just—”

“Your ex. The one who left you at the altar.”

“A day before the altar,” he corrected before blinking, confused. “How did you know?”

“You always have the same look on your face when you talk about her.” She took in a shattered breath and shrugged with forced nonchalance. “You two clearly share something special. I’m happy for you. You don’t owe me anything; we were just fooling around, right?”

“I damn well wasn’t,” he practically shouted through gritted teeth. “And if you expect me to believe you’ve been ‘just fooling around’ with me this whole time, you must think I’m even dumber than you thought I was two minutes ago.”

“I-I never thought you were dumb!” she gasped, shocked. “If my dad had wanted a second go with my mom after she left him, I would’ve supported him.” She tried her best to put on a brave smile. “I think it’s great. Love deserves as many chances as—”

He yanked her to him and placed a searing kiss on her lips. “I meant two minutes ago when you thought I’d let you run out of my life. Dani, you should know me better than that.”

She clung to him for a hopeful second before pushing him away. “No! You can’t do this. You can’t still be in love with another woman and be in love with...” She broke off, eyes wide. “That is, if you’re still even...” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I know I’m not the most romantic person in the world, but I have a heart. You’ll end up breaking it. So please...just go.”

“You,” said Luke quietly, stroking her cheek tenderly, “are such a gigantic fraud.”