“Order up.”
I ignore the call from the kitchen.
“Miss?” A diner calls from down the bar.
I ignore him too.
Stacey leans over the bar again so that she’s just inches from my face. “I don’t blame you for coming back for more. He tasted so...damn...good,” she whispers slowly.
My chest rises and falls with labored breaths and my ears feel like they’ve filled with water. My brain struggles to process what she just said to me through the waves of fiery heat that are consuming me.
“Liv. Order up!”
“Miss? Can I get a refill?”
The room starts to spin and I have to hold onto the counter so that it doesn’t swallow me whole. In the center of the vortex is Stacey McGillis. I’ve never inflicted physical harm on anyone in my life, but I want to kill Stacey, right here in the middle of the diner.
Seeing as how I’m surrounded by witnesses, I choose a less violent approach. I lean across the counter, causing her to fall back in her seat, and say quietly, “I feel sorry for you, Stacey. You got a taste of a real man and now you’ll spend the rest of your life craving what’s mine.” I press my lips together and smile sweetly at her.
She glares at me, and when I don’t back down, she spins on her stool and leaves. I keep my eyes on her back as she marches out of the diner.
When she’s good and gone, I sneak away from the bar and find the nearest exit. I stumble outside and take a deep breath of the warm summer air, but it’s too thick to calm me down. I’m not one for confrontation, but I couldn’t let Stacey think there was any chance for a reunion with Gabe.
After a few more deep breaths, I head for my car. I need an air-conditioned minute alone to get my thoughts back in order. I stare at the gravel as I stomp across the parking lot, still sick, still shocked, still fuming, until I’m stopped by a wall of...polished brown leather shoes, rolled khakis, and a fitted navy blue sports coat that’s casually open over a white button-down.
Travis?
“Liv.” He puts his hand on my arm.
“Travis?” I look up at him through the blinding midday sun, and he smiles down at me. “What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, shocked.
“Hi to you too.”
“Sorry, but you shouldn’t have come here. You have to go.”
His face falls. “What? No. I just got here. I’m not leaving.”
“Travis, I told you that it’s over. I’m with Gabe now. What else do you want from me?” I know I’m being harsh, but he’s as stubborn—and quite possibly as dense—as a damn ox. And I’m still reeling from my altercation with Stacey. He’s not catching me at my best.
“Liv, please, just hear me out.” He pauses for a moment, then says, “I forgive you, okay?”
“You forgive me? For what?”
“For this other guy,” he says, exasperated.
I have to suppress a shocked laugh. “Travis, I broke up with you. And then I moved on. In that order.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and says, “I know.”
“Good.”
“But I haven’t moved on. And I’m willing to forgive you and give us another chance.”
“I don’t want another chance!” I close my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry that this has been so hard on you, Travis, but it’s over between us. There’s nothing left for me to say.” I glance over my shoulder at the diner. “I have to get back to work now.” I no longer have the mental capacity to worry about what happened with Stacey. I have a much bigger problem out here in the parking lot.
Travis drops his hands and shakes his head. “So you’re a waitress now?”
“Yes.”
He nods, but I can see the disapproval in his eyes.
“I have to get back to my customers, okay? Bye, Travis.” I turn around to walk away, but he grabs my arm.
“Liv, please.”
“No,” I say exasperated, “I don’t love you, Travis. I’m sorry.”
He pulls his dark eyebrows together over his piercing blue eyes. “Well maybe you will, in time.”
I give him a disbelieving look. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“Then how does it work? Explain it to me. Please. Because I don’t understand how you would rather serve food to a bunch of country bumpkins than have a real life in Dallas with me.”
“A real life?”
“I can give you everything you need. I can take care of you.”
“No. You can’t.”
“Liv.”
“I’m sorry, I have to go.” I begin to walk away, but he grabs my arm again.
“Liv, wait.”
“Let go of my arm.”
“Don’t do this. You’re making a mistake.”
I try to twist my arm out of his grip, which only tightens. “Let go of me.”
His face is a mix of frustration and determination.
“Travis, you’re hurting me.”
I hear the scuffling of heavy feet on the gravel.
“Get off her!” Gabe shouts, knocking Travis backward into a parked car.
“Gabe!”
“Are you okay?” he asks, standing between me and Travis.
“I’m fine,” I say, stepping around him. “Travis, are you okay?”
“Travis?” Gabe says, and my chest tightens.
“Is this him?” Travis asks, eyeing Gabe, from his sawdust-covered work boots up to his old, tattered baseball cap.
“Travis, please, just go.”
“This is why you want to stay here and act like a servant to a bunch of rednecks? For him?”
“Travis, you need to get in your car. Now.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“I think it’s time for you to go,” Gabe says, standing two inches from his face.
“I’ll go when I’m good and goddamn ready.”
Oh, here we go.
Gabe closes the last inch of space between them and says, “I said leave. Now.”
“I’ll leave when my fiancée gets in the car and comes with me.”
My heart screeches to a stop.
“Fiancée?” Gabe says, like he’s been hit in the chest. He steps away from Travis and looks at me.
“No.” I shake my head, but I see the doubt in Gabe’s eyes. “I’m not his fiancée,” I say urgently. “I’m not your fiancée,” I say to Travis.
“You were.” He looks at Gabe and says, “She was mine for the last two years.”
Gabe’s chest rises and falls like he’s priming for an explosion.
“That’s right. Just ask her.” Travis pats his chest and says, “I’m the one who took care of her in Raleigh. I gave her everything she wanted. And I made her scream until she forgot about you.”
“Travis!” I shout, swallowing down the sick feeling in my stomach.
Gabe’s fist flies through the air and hits Travis square in the jaw. I duck out of the way as the two of them begin to scuffle back and forth, ignoring my screams for them to stop. Travis charges Gabe, wrapping his arms around his waist, and pushes him back several feet across the gravel. He gets a swing in and pops Gabe across the cheek.