Wicked Burn(74)

Meg said it was too hot to cook, so Tim invited Niall and her to an Italian restaurant in El Paso that Friday evening. It had been the hottest day of the summer so far, and the evening didn’t appear to be cooling things off much. Niall came downstairs at their agreed-upon time for departure, and met Tim and Meg in the kitchen.

“What?” she asked Meg, her eyes widening in slight alarm when Meg unsuccessfully suppressed laughter at her appearance and Tim’s blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

“We’re not going to the The Ritz, Niall. It’s a little mom-and-pop place in El Paso,” Meg chuckled.

“Well, that’s what I thought,” Niall replied, looking perplexed.

“You’re wearing a dress, high heels, and pearls!” Meg supplied the obvious since Niall didn’t seem to see it.

She looked down, confused that her clothing would be the source for Tim and Meg’s amusement. “I’m wearing a cotton sundress and a pair of sandals. It’s scorching outside.”

“What about your hair?” Tim teased as he made some swirling motions around his head to signify her upswept hairdo. Meg snorted at his masculine fumbling.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake . . . there. Are you happy?” she asked with mock disgust as she pulled out the single clip that held up her hair and tossed it into her purse. It was one of the most informal of hairstyles, as Meg very well knew! Only a man would think it was fancy because it was up on her head. “A sundress is just as casual as a pair of jeans,” she reminded Meg as they headed out the back door. “And I only wore the pearls because . . .”

She stopped abruptly mid-sentence. Niall hadn’t worn her pearls since coming to the farm. But maybe her melancholy over missing Vic made her reach for them tonight. He’d always told her how much he liked it when she wore her pearls. And of course there had been that one time . . .

The charged memory of Vic looking up at her with hot eyes and a slow smile as he held up her pearls swamped her awareness.

Good. Because I’m going to make you come again with these.

She closed her eyes tightly. A strange, trembling sensation began to vibrate in her chest. It took her a moment to recognize it as the first stages of panic.

What was she going to do if she couldn’t get Vic back?

“Niall, are you okay?” Meg asked, her grin wavering.

“We were only kidding,” Tim assured her quickly. “You’d put us hicks to shame if you were wearing a burlap sack.”

Niall opened her eyes slowly and realized that they’d paused on the gravel driveway. “Of course I’m all right,” she said a little too quickly. “Come on, I’ll drive,” she offered, knowing she needed something to focus on besides Vic Savian or his glaring absence from her life.

After dinner she caught a glimpse of why Vic hadn’t immediately returned to the farm that night.

It was knowledge she could, quite frankly, have done without.

The three of them strolled to the car following their dinner, all of them seemingly content and relaxed, coming from the air-conditioned restaurant with good meals in their bellies.

What Niall saw when they approached her car was enough to practically force the pasta that had been resting so peacefully in her stomach onto the pavement. Tim paused when he saw how still and pale she’d gone when she reached the driver’s door. He looked at the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant, where Niall stared fixedly.

“Come on, Niall. I’ll drive,” Tim said softly as he took the car keys from her suddenly numb fingers.

She startled from the trance that held her while she watched Vic kissing a redheaded woman in the parking lot of a place called the El Paso Lounge. The woman’s arms snaked up around his neck. She gripped his too-long hair in a greedy gesture before she ran her fingers through its length. The manner in which Vic leaned over the woman and held their bodies so close made the act look like one of consumption as much as an embrace.

SEVENTEEN

Right before Tim opened the back door, Vic lifted his head from his feeding frenzy on the redhead’s mouth. The next thing Niall knew, Tim was pushing her into the backseat. Niall stared unseeingly at the driver’s headrest in front of her as Tim yanked her seat belt over her and fastened it. After they were on the road for thirty seconds, Meg twisted around to look at her from the front seat.

“Niall?”

“Hmmm? Oh, yeah, fine . . .” She trailed off dazedly.

Meg cast a doubtful glance at Tim, but then an irritated expression came over her handsome features. Niall was in a state of shock at that moment, but that was nothing to what she experienced when Meg next spoke.

“I thought you came down here to get Vic back!”

“I did.”

“Well, when are you going to start doing it?” Meg asked with obvious frustration.

“Honey . . .” Tim began in a conciliatory manner, only to stop when his wife gave him a blazing look that reminded Niall of Vic.

“She’s been here a month, Tim. And she folds up into defensive mode whenever Vic is around.” Meg transferred her attention to a stunned Niall in the backseat. “Vic is a virile man, Niall. He has needs—”

“Oh, and I don’t?” Niall challenged, her anger breaking through her shock.

Meg gave an exaggerated shrug. “I don’t know. Do you? I haven’t seen any evidence of it.”