Leaving Annalise (Katie & Annalise Book 2) Read Free

came to say?”
    “How’d you know where I was?”
    “I’m a professional investigator.”
    He was, but he didn’t look like it right now in his khaki cargo shorts, red Texas Surf Camp t-shirt, and thong sandals.
    “So Emily told you.” Emily, Nick, and I had made a formidable litigation team—paralegal, investigator, and attorney—back at Hailey & Hart in Dallas.
    “I had to buy her a very expensive lunch at Del Frisco’s first.”
    I stared at the ground, thinking. Could I forgive him? I wasn’t sure yet. Could I listen? I couldn’t exactly say no when he’d come halfway around the world—and I didn’t want to. Sweat was dripping down my chest to my stomach, following a trail I had imagined his tongue making many times.
    Stop it, I told myself.
    “OK, I’ll listen. At lunch tomorrow.”
    Nick’s lips compressed into a line. The front doors to the theater swung open and people started exiting around us. I got a steady stream of congratulations and atta-girls, which I responded to with nods and hand lifts.
    “Katie?”
    Bart’s voice brought me to attention and I swiveled my head toward him. Bart. My not-yet-ex-boyfriend. He wasn’t alone, either. An unfamiliar too-cool forty-something guy in skinny jeans and dark sunglasses leaned in and said something to him. The man’s dark head was a contrast to Bart’s light one, and Bart’s de rigueur outfit of plaid shorts, collared shirt, and brown boat shoes completed the inverse image. Bart nodded and I lip-read his reply: “Everything is fine. I’ll talk to you later.” The hipster headed toward the parking lot with a blonde Amazon encased in spandex right behind him.
    Bart shouted to me over the tops of people’s heads. “I didn’t know you’d stepped out. Are we still on for dinner?”
    And then he noticed Nick. Bart’s brow furrowed as Nick locked eyes with him and didn’t flinch. It had the potential to go bad in a hurry. I took two giant steps toward Bart and grabbed his arm like it was a life preserver, hoping he couldn’t feel the tremors racking my body.
    “Absolutely. If you’re up for it, with what happened to Tarah and all.” I pressed my paper-dry lips against a thin sheen of sweat on his cheek.
    “I am.” Bart exhaled audibly and swiveled his head toward Nick for an introduction, but I gave him a push toward the parking lot. He stopped on the way to greet a covey of customers, ever the sociable restaurateur.
    Hurry, Bart, I thought. Before I lose my willpower.
    I looked over my shoulder and Nick straightened up from his slouch against the wall, silent and unhappy, which served him right. Sort of.
    “Tomorrow, then,” he said.
    I nodded.
    Bart returned his attention to me and took my arm. As we couple-walked off to my truck, I could feel the heat of Nick’s eyes on us.
    “Tomorrow what?” Bart asked.
    “Lunch,” I said, hoping brevity would do the trick.
    “Who is he?”
    I scrambled for a good lie and couldn’t find one, so I stalled until I came up with a bad partial truth and delivered it casually. “He’s an investigator I knew in the states, down here on a case. We ran into each other after the pageant. It’ll be nice to catch up with an old friend.”
    Our feet crunched the gravel as we moved beyond the lights around the theater into the dark parking lot. Bart pulled me closer to him, weaving even more than I was in my heels. He was bulkier than Nick. The thick blond hair on his arms rubbed against my skin and the heat of his body, the nearness of him, suddenly was too much. He smelled like rum.
    Dammit. He knew I’d given up alcohol, that I couldn’t drink, that I mustn’t drink. The endless wine-tasting parties with his high-living clientele were hard enough for me. He’d promised not to drink around me anymore.
    More sweat, this time beading my upper lip. My pre-pageant sushi lunch no longer sat well in my stomach, and in a wave of certainty, I knew I needed away from him that very second. For