Page 64 of The Fixer

“I might say the same to you, young buck. I need to get to the pantry, and you’s in my way. We have a business to run here, or maybe you forgot.” A wiry man with glasses looked Joy over from head to foot. He grimaced, but she couldn’t tell if it was for her or if it was his permanent expression. “Howdy, girlie. You’re Helene’s other daughter, aintcha?”

“Um, yes. I’m Joy Holiday.” She held out her hand.

He shook it, covering it with his other hand in a sweet gesture. “The pretty one, I’d say. No disrespect to the other one.”

Charlie snorted. “Joy, meet Dewey Dobbs, our smooth man about town.”

“I had your Irish stew the other day,” Joy gushed, all nervous excitement. “It was wonderful!”

Dewey’s grimace grew wider. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Dixie—who else? “Well, my land, I didn’t expect y’all to carry itthisfar.”

“Would you stop that?” Charlie barked.

Dixie batted not-so-innocent eyes at him. “Stop what?”

“Sneaking up on people.”

“I don’t sneak. I hear things. And from what I washearing, you two were looking to star in your own porno.”

Charlie, who somehow still had one hand on Joy’s hip, flashed Dixie a wicked smile. “That was an act. We wanted to make it look good in case a certain someone came back.”

“Well, you made it lookmightygood.”

Joy agreed inside. It had felt mighty good too.

Dixie fanned herself and looked at Dewey. “You got a few minutes to meet me out back, sugar?” She wiggled her painted-on brows at him.

“Not if this muttonhead here doesn’t get out of my way.” Dewey pointed an accusing finger at Charlie. To Joy, he said, “Not you, girlie.”

Joy curled her lips over her teeth to hold in a smile. “Thank you, sir.”

Dixie flapped a hand at Charlie. “Well, you heard the man! Get out of his way.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Charlie stepped aside, pulling Joy with him. “Have at it, old man.”

The “old man” opened the door and propelled his wife outside into a parking lot behind the tavern.

Joy jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Are those two …”

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Charlie took a few steps back. One hand smoothed the back of his head, and he shoved the other one into his front pocket. She told herself not to dip her gaze to see if what she’d felt pressed against her mere moments before was as big as it felt and if it was in the same … stiff state. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Regret was etched in his handsome features, and her ego battened down its hatches.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t think that was all you.”

“Maybe not, but I started it, and that was wrong. In fact, it was a big mistake.”

Ouch! Big mistake? Just when I was thinking it was the hottest kiss of my life … It’s okay, ego. You’ll pick yourself up again one day.

Joy had been right about one thing, though—shewasCharlie’s cover. Gee, didn’t she feel special?

“My, you do have your fair share of women problems. It must be hard to be you. Your life is extremely complicated.”

“I didn’t ask foranyof them,” he groused. He was almost sympathetic, twisting in the wind the way he was. “And now I have this little problem with credibility with a woman we need on our side.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together.

She canted her head. “Oh, right. What’s Bea going to think when Becky tells her you were kissing someone else in the back hallway who isn’t Neve? She’ll assume you’re stepping out on Neve. That’s not a good look.”

“She’ll think I’m a two-timing son of a bitch who can’t keep it in his pants.” He paused to scratch his chin. “Except I never told her Neve and I had anything going on. She simply assumed. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing because now she’ll assume I’m withyou, and I really am playing every field in every town. Why would she want her niece with a guy like that?”

“Right. Because if you’re going to step out on Neve withme, you’d probably step out on me with someone else, which makes you a total douche.”

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