AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ignoring the question, he opened the door to the kitchen and let Dana walk in ahead of him. Asher wasn’t around so Levi assumed he was in his room. Levi had tried to convince his brother to come to the open house but he’d said he didn’t feel up to it yet. Levi resisted the urge to push him. Asher had to do things in his own time. And since he began caring for Maggie and her puppies, he’d come out of his shell a lot. Even more so since he’d decided to start his nonprofit organization uniting veterans and shelter dogs.
In this case, though, Levi was glad Asher wasn’t around.
He and Dana went up to his bedroom. The moment the door shut behind them, Dana said, “All right. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Shoe’s on the other foot.” He took his keys, wallet and other items out of his pockets and set them on the dresser top.
“What does that mean?”
He paced away from her then turned to face her. “When were you going to tell me?”
Her forehead wrinkled and she looked confused. “Tell you what?”
“When you’re leaving.”
“Leaving where? I don’t understand.”
Enough of the innocent act. “Just say it, Dana. When do you plan to move out?”
“Move out? You mean from here? I just moved in. Why in the hell would I move out?”
“The new job is in Houston. And you can cut the confused act.”
“The new…” Her brow cleared. “You must be talking about Billy Ward. How did you know he offered me a job?”
“He told me. Not that he knew I was the person whose house he wanted to see.”
“Did he tell you I took the job?”
“No. He didn’t have to.”
“What does that mean?” she snapped.
“It sounded like your dream job. I figured you took it.” He shrugged and added, “After all, you did it before.”
She stared at him and he could see her getting madder and madder. “You,” she said in a deadly quiet voice, “are a fool.”
Levi started to get an inkling that he might have misread the situation. Nevertheless, he plowed on. “I’m a fool because I confronted you before you decided to tell me?”
“You’re not only a fool. You’re an ass as well.” She walked up to him and poked her finger into his chest. “I turned down the job offer.” She twisted her finger, still poking his chest. “Which you’d have known if you’d waited five minutes for me to tell you instead of jumping to the wrong conclusion and attacking me about it.” She punctuated her last four words jabbing her finger hard into his chest at each one.
“If I was wrong—”
“If you were wrong? That tears it.” She walked over to the dresser, picked up a tray and heaved it at him.
“Hey! You almost hit—Damn, Dana!” He ducked as his keys came sailing at him, his wallet following right after. “Calm down.”
She yanked open the bedroom door, stalked out and slammed it behind her. Thank God he hadn’t had his fingers in the door.
He went after her, saying, “Dana, wait. Where are you going?”
Already at the bottom of the stairs she turned and shouted, “Away from you.”
Shit. Damn. Fuck. Obviously, he’d been wrong. Even he, the fool and the ass, could figure that out. “Don’t go. We should talk about this.” She’d picked up her purse from the counter and strode to the door. He tried to halt her, putting his hand on her arm just before she reached the back door.
She turned and glared at him. He could see tears glistening in her eyes but they didn’t spill. He didn’t make the mistake of thinking she was simply upset. No, Dana was furious.
“I don’t want to talk to you. In fact, I don’t even want to see you. Now let go of me.”
