Page 66 of Wine & Dine

27

The Chase

[Dolores]

“What the hell is going on?” I bellow in stunned surprise as I stand inside my diner. Inside what used to be my diner. Inside my ripped apart diner. The booths are gone. The checkered tile floor torn apart. The ceiling dangles with wires. Griffin Duncan stills with a power tool in his hand.

“Dolores?” He questions like he doesn’t recognize me. Griffin Duncan and his brothers own a construction company. Their other brother, Kent, owns the local hardware store. Somehow, they are distance cousins, and it reminds me of the connection to Ivy Everly. I shake my head. I don’t have time to think about the past twenty-four hours. I took a midnight flight to Atlanta and hardly slept on the plane. Once I got home, I removed my dress and changed into my old, familiar clothing which feels scratchy and uncomfortable against my skin compared to what I wore in LA. I glare back at the burly man with a thick beard before me. If we weren’t distantly related, I might be attracted to him, but that’s what gets small-town people those backward ass reputations about inbreeding.

“What do you think?” he asks cheerfully, almost with pride, taking in my demolished diner.

“I think I want a fucking explanation.” The tone of my voice lets Griffin know I have no idea what is going on. My nerves are shot. My emotions frayed. I’m exhausted. His face falls.

“Denton wanted to surprise you,” he says sheepishly, nervous eyes darting everywhere they can but to look at me.

“And what does Denton know about a diner?”

Silence falls between us.

“Exactly.”

I’m lifting my phone to call said brother when russet locks and patchy facial hair catches my attention. Rusty Miller never could grow a full beard or develop the sexy scruff popular nowadays. He has tufts of stubble here and there, blending with acne scars. Because of those marks, he isn’t able to grow hair on his jaw. The hair on his head, however, is thick, and wild, giving him his nickname. Russell is his real name.

“Rusty?” I swallow as I take in his appearance, shocked to see him working an honest job. He’s a member of Devil’s Edge, the local MC where James Harrington is now second in command. Rusty mainly works for them, or so I thought. I’ve never asked what he did for the MC, as he’d never tell me anyway. But working with Griffin seems on the up-and-up despite the fact my brother hasn’t informed me he’s destroying my diner.

“Dolores?” His voice rings in question like Griffin’s, as if the man I’ve slept with for ten years doesn’t know me. Then I remember my hair. My fingers swipe over the smoothness. It took a while to wash out all the spray, and my scalp still aches in parts from the hairpins from the previous night’s updo. I ignore the pain in my head and my heart.

I shouldn’t have run away.

“You look different,” Rusty says, still taking in my hair and then roaming my body. I shiver under his appraisal and not in a good way. I can’t believe I slept with this man. I can’t believe I gave ten years of my life to him while holding my emotions in check and ignoring his carousing with others. I have no emotion for him. “You look older.”

My breath hitches, and my gut clenches like I’ve been socked. I shouldn’t care what he thinks. I don’t care, actually. His opinion of me no longer matters. I shudder with irritation, and then I feel it.

A presence behind me.

My eyes close.

I must be imagining him.

“She looks fucking stunning,” an angry, rough male voice speaks.

“Who the fuck are you?” Rusty asks, dropping the electrical circuit tester in his hand and stalking closer to me.

“None of your business,” Garrett states, and then his hand presses against my lower back. Rusty’s eyes fall to the motion, and I want to lean into Garrett. I want to melt against him and beg him to forgive me, but I’m too awed and extra raw at finding my diner in shambles.

Griffin steps in front of Rusty, holding him back with a large paw on his chest. “No trouble,” Griffin warns Rusty, and then he glances over his shoulder at me. “I’ll give Denton a call and let him know we’re on hold.” There’s a question in his voice, and I look around the room.

On hold? We are long past holding on this mess.

As Griffin lifts his phone, he forces Rusty—who isn’t taking his eyes off me—backward. They disappear into what I assume is still my kitchen, but anything is possible at this point. Still aware of Garret behind me, I spin for him. Without thinking, my arms wrap around his neck, and I hold him to me.

“I was so worried. How could you leave me like that?” he mutters into my neck, squeezing me like he never wants to let me go. I melt into this body, relishing the feel of it against mine. It has only been a few hours, but I missed him. I shouldn’t have run.

The comment stops my thoughts, and I lean back, pushing him arm’s length away from me.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I called Denton.”