“Leave him alone,” Dex whispered when he followed her stare. “My poor cousin has to handle Riley his own way. Trust me. She dislikes him enough as it is. He doesn’t need you heaping onto his troubles.”
“Hey.”
“For me?” He gripped her hand under the table, reminding her of how he’d been there when she’d needed him.
“Fine. But just for you.”
He grinned. “I owe you. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
She couldn’t wait.
An hour later, as everyone readied to leave, Maya finished in the bathroom and had just entered the hallway when she came abreast of Anson.
She walked toward him, expecting him to move, but he stood rooted in the middle of the hallway. “I can go through you or around you. Your choice.”
He didn’t react, except to say, “Dex likes you.”
“Um, okay.”
“And I like him. Break his heart, and you’ll answer to me.”
Fascinating. He sounded threatening, yet he had little inflection in his voice, which had the odd effect of making his warning seem even more real. “Big deal.”
Then Anson smiled, and she wanted to take a step back at the predatory gleam in his eyes. “It will be. I know how to hit where it hurts.” A deliberate pause. “Math has always been my strong suit. Hurt my cousin, you’ll be crying all the way to the poorhouse.” He stepped around her and closeted himself in the bathroom.
Huh.For the first time, Maya felt a certain respect for Anson. He might be an ass, but he loved Dex. His devotion to his cousin was an admirable quality. Maybe not enough to wipe out his overbearing arrogance, but still.
She rejoined the others in the living room and decided not to mention Anson’s warning to Dex. She was a big girl. She could handle it. Besides, what were the oddsshe’dbe the one breakinghisheart?
Chapter Twelve
Maya frowned, thinking about her boyfriend going AWOL. Thursday night, when he’d said he’d make things up to her, she’d envisioned a night of honey, edible undies and a full-body massage.
Instead, she’d gotten nothing but a smile, a hug and the promise of a sex-filled weekend. Then the bastard had left her to help Anson with arealhouse emergency. That had been two days ago.
This afternoon, staring at the weekend crowd buzzing around the Sisters Art Festival, she felt nothing but frustrated as she sat under her canopy, bundled in a jacket, hat and gloves, while art lovers touched and studied her pottery. The twelve-by-twelve-foot tent housed her shelves and tables full of her art while she sat toward the back with more boxes of her wares.
She’d already sold one load of her vases. Her practical crockery seemed to be selling out as well, and she’d need to replenish after just half a day at the festival. But she refused to be happy about her sales. Blasted Dex had her addicted to his touch. An evening without him left her dissatisfied. Two never-ending sexless nights had been nothing short of hell.
“Hey. How much for this crap? I could use it to store flour,” Riley asked with a large grin, holding up a vase with a copper luster.
“For you, four hundred. For the nice people trying to get around you, seventy-five.”
Riley moved out of the way and joined Maya in the back, but before they could talk, Maya had to ring up two vases, a set of mugs and four bowls. The rush passed, and Maya turned to see Riley sitting in her chair. “Make yourself comfy.”
“I have.” Riley stretched out. “Ah, this feels good.”
“What? Sitting?”
“Not seeing you-know-who for a whole day. It’s like he’s always there whenever I turn around anymore.”
Maya would have felt bad for the guy, except that the few times they’d actually talked, she left wanting to smack the man. At Ann’s house, he’d threatened her not to break his cousin’s heart.
So yeah, she respected his loyalty. The way he looked down on everyone? Not so much.
Hard to imagine that he and Dex were related.
“Moping again, huh? Missing Dex?” Riley mocked.
