Page 81 of Red Hot Harmony

No. He begged.

“I need you to go, Dante,” I insisted. “I need you to leave so I can have a moment of peace to figure everything out.”

He shifted to face me, his eyes boring into mine. “I don’t want you to deal with this alone. I’m here.”

“I know.” I nodded. “But I’m still upset and you should be with Malik. I understand you had no control over this, but that doesn’t erase what happened at my parents’. So I really, really need you to give me some time.”

He was quiet for a few heartbeats, his chest expanding as he sucked in air through his teeth. “Okay. I’ll go, but this”—his hand motioned between us, pointing out the obvious space—“is temporary. I’m not giving up.”

“I don’t believe you would.”

He stood up, righted his clothes, raked a hand through his hair, then asked my permission to use the bathroom.

It was awkward and tense, and I wasn’t certain anymore why I wanted him out of my house when he made me so happy, even when I was miserable.

Ten minutes later, Dante was walking through the front door and onto the porch. I followed him, watched him get into his Camaro, watched the car rumble down the street and disappear into the ash-filled smoke that spread through the neighborhood.

The air was acrid and the sky was reddish-gray.

I was back in the kitchen making coffee when my house phone rang.

“Yes?”

“Honey!” My mother sounded panicked. “Are you packing?”

“Why aren’t you calling my cell?”

“Because it goes straight to voicemail,” she said grimly. I also caught a flicker of reprimand in her voice. “The fire is spreading south and they’re evacuating Santa Rosa. It’s mandatory.”

“Mother, that’s on the other side of the freeway. I don’t think fire will jump over.”

“But it doesn’t hurt to pack.”

For once, I decided not to fight her. I simply didn’t have it in me today after everything that had happened with Dante and Ally. “Sure.”

“Honey?” Her tone changed, softened somehow. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry that he didn’t turn out to be the one.”

But he is.

The idea struck me out of the blue and I needed a moment to process it, to understand why my mind produced that particular thought even after I’d been stood up. It was as though I’d been rewired by him.

“Don’t be,” I finally said, staring out the window at the ominous clouds of smoke stretching up to the sky. I figured telling my mother that the man she already hated had spent the night in my bed wasn’t the right thing to do. “I better go. I still have to pick up Ally.”

“Is she not home?”

“She stayed with Harper.”

“Who’s at the boutique then? Renn won’t be there until after lunch.”

I almost laughed. After all the champagne, tequila, and wine Renn had consumed yesterday at the party, she wouldn’t be able to string together two words, let alone work with clients. “Amun’s going to open.”

“You need to stay on top of it, Camille. Call me right away if we have to evacuate. Those dresses cost a lot of money.”

“I know that. I’ll keep an eye on the news, but I honestly don't think we’ll have to.”

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