Jill Monroe - Hitting the Mark

“Who says I’m calling him?”

Cassie sighed. “Let me put this in terms you understand. You’re really in a win-win situation. You tell him about your past, he accepts it and you go on to have great sex. You win.”

“What’s the other win?”

“If he can’t get past what happened with your dad, then he’s a jerk and you’re better off without him. You win.”

Danni sat back against the cushion of the couch. “So, is this what it’s like to have grown-up conversations with typical parents?”

“What do you mean?”

“The whole ‘You’re better off without him. There’s other fish in the sea’—all those platitudes come out of people who grew up with a semblance of normalcy. I always wondered who believed that kind of thing.”

Cassie laughed, tucking her blond hair behind her ears. “My parents even told me with a straight face.”

“Yeah? So did you. Okay, I’ll do it. But tomorrow night be prepared for us to trash-talk him because he will care. How can someone who enforces law not think about someone who broke it? Repeatedly.”

“Always the cynic. How can someone who enforces the law not appreciate someone trying to go straight?”

Danni had no answer for that one.

“See? I’m right and you know it. Come on, you can crash here for the night. I’ll drop you off at your apartment in the morning.”

Later than evening, Danni fluffed up the pillow on the couch for the twelfth time. Cassie had gone to bed long ago. She’d called her a cynic. What else was new? Although it wasn’t so much that she was a cynic, but that she lived in the real world.

Men liked relationships with simple, uncomplicated, low-maintenance women.

And Danni was none of those things.

She closed her eyes and stretched, remembering how good it felt to be with him. For a few hours tonight, she had exactly that with Eric. Uncomplicated, low-maintenance, everything was easy.

What P.T. Barnum had said all those years ago was definitely true. There was a sucker born every minute. And right now she was it.

She hadn’t thought she could get suckered anymore. That’s why it bothered her so much now. Because she wanted something. She wanted something, someone, for the first time.

And cynics knew that as soon as you wanted something, that’s the precise moment when lady luck vanished, and you were a goner.

ERIC HIKED UP THE STAIRS two at a time to Danni’s apartment, and knocked. No answer. As he’d expected. He’d already done this once tonight.

A woman running down the street away from him was not the usual reaction to his kisses. What the hell had happened?

He’d really thought they’d hit it off. The conversation always flowed. They’d laughed, and that kiss under the arch…it sizzled.

Eric moved away from her apartment door. He saw no light coming from any of the windows or around the doorframe. Her place looked exactly the way they’d left it earlier tonight. Reaching for his cell phone, he dialed her number again.

“I don’t know what happened to you tonight, Danni, but I wanted to make sure you got home safely. I’m sorry if I said anything that upset you. Bye.”

That would be his last call to her. He could only try so many times. He’d have a strange story to tell his coworkers when they asked how the date went. He’d have to improvise.

CASSIE WAS THE KIND of person who obviously thought mornings were a time of renewal and happiness that ought to be greeted with a spring in her step and a song on her lips. She also apparently thought mornings began at six, when Danni really knew they should begin closer to ten.

If she looked hard enough she might see small birds chirping gleefully around Cassie’s head, reminiscent of Snow White.

Danni pulled the pillow closer. For more than three years while in detention, Danni woke up according to a schedule, to a gong and an abrupt turning on of the lights. The first thing she did after reaching twenty was sleep in.

Cassie, along with her humming, apparently had other ideas.

“Good morning, Sunshine!” Cassie said as she plopped herself down beside Danni on the couch.

“Please, no,” Danni grumbled.

“Get up, I made you coffee. You have a busy day. You have a phone call to make.”

And that’s how Danni found herself four hours later, waiting for Eric. He’d sounded both irritated and relieved when he heard her voice on the phone. When she offered to give him an explanation in person, he reluctantly agreed to meet her.

Reno’s Riverwalk stretched across the downtown area, and wasn’t too far from where Eric worked. She could offer to buy him a hot dog from one of the sidewalk vendors. Wasn’t there a saying about softening up a man through his stomach?

The Riverwalk area was one of her favorite places in Reno. Something about the trees lining the sidewalk and the sound of the water below made her feel calm. After her years in juvie, she appreciated every chance she had to be in wide-open spaces.

Why had she decided to show up early? Every time a shadow crossed her face, she glanced up to see if it were Eric. Every time it wasn’t him, she slumped farther into the chair.

This was a dumb idea. She should have filed this experience under “lost opportunities” and forgotten all about him. Glancing at her watch, she noticed it was ten on the dot. She’d give him five more minutes. No more. No less. She had to study.

A few minutes after ten, Eric walked up to her, appearing tired around the eyes, but oh, so good. The flutters in her stomach returned, and then she remembered that feeling was why she’d sucked up her pride and called him.

Because this was one of the greatest sensations in the world. This mix of anticipation and excitement, with a touch of dread all rolled into one.

Eric appeared very corporate today. Black slacks that hugged his thighs, cotton shirt that only hinted at the muscles of his chest, and a tie. She’d never dated a man with a tie before. And if she didn’t angle her play correctly, she might not ever date this man with a tie again.

She also noticed the badge he wore on a black lanyard around his neck. He hadn’t been wearing it the first time they’d met.

“Hi,” she started. “Would you like to take a walk?” she asked, striving for cheerful.

He nodded, but looked none too permanent.

Danni gave a nervous laugh. She could manage the smooth approach. After all, she’d worked on it with her dad since she was a kid. But one glance at the rigid set of Eric’s features and she figured he wouldn’t be buying smooth. Or any other hustle for that matter.

She’d have to fall back on the truth. Always a last resort.

She led him along the river’s path. The large blooming pots of flowers always made her feel welcome in the past. Maybe bringing Eric here had been a mistake. If things didn’t work out, her memories of this place would be infected. “You’re probably wondering why I ran off like that,” she said, sliding her hands along the metal chain lining the walk.

Eric raised a brow. “Not the reaction I’d expect from a woman I’ve just kissed.”

She dropped the chain and reached for his hand. “Oh, Eric, it’s not you. You’re a great kisser. Totally off the scale. It’s me. I panicked when you suggested we go into the casino.”

She’d hoped he’d have joined more in the conversation right about then. That would have made this whole groveling scenario a lot easier. Instead, he stood there…expectant and sexy. Would now be a good time for the coy hair flip?

No. Give it to him straight. She cleared her throat. “Have you heard of a thief named Daniel Flynn?”

Eric shook his head.

“Well, he’s been out of the game for a while, so he probably hasn’t crossed your radar. He’s my father, and he scammed quite a few casinos.”