Page 45 of Hard Rain Coming

Okay. That surprised him. “Yeah?” He handed her the rest of the plates and grabbed a cloth to clean the table. He was more than a little curious. “What is it that you do exactly?”

She popped in a pod and started the dishwasher, then turned to him, a half-smile on her face. Free of makeup, she looked like the girl who’d stolen his heart when he was seventeen. It was crazy, really. Life had left some lines on his face, but she looked as if she’d just stepped out of a memory, with her hair up in a messy bun, skin soft and glowing.

“I give relationship and family advice.” Her chin was up in defiance, as if she expected some kind of blowback. He was more than happy to oblige.

“You give what?”

Vivian lifted her chin higher. “I talk about relationships and family dynamics on a podcast. And I write a column too.” She shrugged. “I know it’s hard to believe considering my own life is a train wreck, but I seem to be able to find the right words and ideas for fixing everyone else’s situation except mine.” She leaned against the counter a few inches from him. “I still can’t believe I get paid for it.” She looked up at him. “Crazy, right?”

“Not crazy,” he replied. “You were always observant. Always ready to ignore your own advice while dishing it out to everyone else. That hasn’t changed.” He watched her closely. “Remember the blizzard?”

A slow burn crept over her features, and she slowly nodded. “A girl doesn’t forget being stranded in a cabin in the middle of a storm like that. All because she needed to see a guy so bad, she was stupid.” Vivian looked away and shook her head. “You made me stupid and crazy.” A pause. “I think you still do.”

“I know the feeling.” Dallas tossed the cloth in his hand. “What’s your life like in Alaska?”

Was she surprised at the question? Her body language was stiff, and she turned away. There was a window over the sink, and she stared out into the dark November night.

“I have a nice home. A condo on the water. It’s full of nice things. I work with nice people, and I have a nice job that”—a hint of smile curved her bottom lip—“pays the bills even though I feel like a fraud.” She turned around and leaned her elbows back onto the counter. “I don’t have any pets or anyone to look after other than myself, so I suppose that’s nice. Easy. I have one friend, Jack, who means the world to me, and he loves me even when I’m not nice. The fact that he’s gay and the only man in my life is telling, I suppose, but what exactly it says, I’m not sure.”

“That’s a hell of a lot of nice.”

“It is.”

“I just never figured you for…”

She pushed away from the counter and moved closer. So close, he could see the lighter shade of blue and gold around her irises and count the freckles that sprinkled across her nose.

“For what? Boring? Unimaginative?”

“You’re neither of those things. You couldn’t be boring if you tried.”

She licked her bottom lip, and damn, now all he could think about was kissing her until she begged him to stop.

“Then what?” she asked carefully. The pulse at her throat beat steady and sure, and her breath caught as she stared up at him. “What is it that you never figured me for?”

Dallas had never been the kind of man to bullshit, and he didn’t see the need to start now. “I never thought you’d settle.”

“Settle?” Her eyebrows shot up, and she made no effort to hide her displeasure. “I didn’t settle. I took what I could get and made the most of it.”

“Not buying it. You’ve settled for the easy way out.”

Her eyes flashed, and she stepped away. When she spoke, her voice shook. “My life has been anything but easy. You of all people should know that.”

He considered her for a few seconds. “I know you had it rough, Viv. But I also know you’ve been running since you left, and that ain’t living.”

“And you are? Living the dream?” she retorted, anger propping up her shoulders. “You’re still here. In this place. Working a ranch that will never be yours.”

He ignored the taunt. He knew what she was doing, because it was what she always did when she felt backed into a corner. Vivian deflected. And insulted. And back in the day, it would have pushed every single button he owned, and they’d have a huge fight. They’d say things they regretted, but they’d never apologize for them. It was why they’d been doomed.

But Dallas wasn’t young and dumb anymore. He was a grown man who’d learned to deal with things in ways other than using a sharp tongue or his fists.

“You always had a fire in your belly. You pushed back. You challenged. God, Viv, you were wild and crazy, and you didn’t take shit from anyone. Not even me.” Would he ever understand this woman? “You drove me crazy.”

“You drove me insane.”

“Guess we’re even.”

Vivian sighed and moved away from him. “I have a good life in Alaska. I don’t worry about money. I have a purpose. A reason to get up every day.”

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