If We Never Met (Whisper Lake #5) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,29

see Dante again."

"Got it. But it may not be that simple or clear-cut."

"Why not?"

"There's another reason I came by. I was just at the inn, and Lizzie said she's been trying to reach you, but you haven't been picking up your phone."

"I don't usually check my phone when I'm working. Is something wrong?"

"A reporter came by the inn, looking for Dante."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"He asked Lizzie if she could identify the mystery woman in a photo he'd taken." Hannah took out her phone and set it on the counter between them. "This is the picture and the article that's running online today."

She stared down at a photo of Dante and herself leaving Micky's the first night they'd met. They were facing each other. He was smiling, and she was laughing as he handed her the bag of fish tacos. But the headline spun the simple interaction into something much more dramatic. "Dante DeAngelis Scores a Beautiful Brunette During Rehab."

"I can't believe this," she muttered. "He handed me a bag of tacos outside the restaurant. It was nothing. I never even saw the photographer take the picture. He must have gotten it before he jumped out of the van. That's why Dante bolted so fast. He said he wanted to keep me out of any photos."

"He wasn't very successful. And that wasn't the only time the photographer caught you together." Hannah swiped the screen to reveal another photo of them sitting together in the glass-walled atrium at the rehab center.

She was shocked. "I ran into Dante when I went to see Mark Langley, my mother's friend. I had a meeting with Langley, not Dante. He just happened to be in the building when I arrived, so I said hello." She paused. "I wonder if Dante has seen these."

"Lizzie said she texted him, but he's been at the rehab center all day. What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. I'm sure it will blow over quickly."

"Maybe not that quickly. It's not just Dante who's famous; it's his girlfriend."

"Really? She's famous, too?" She hadn't asked Dante anything about his girlfriend.

"You don't know who he's dating?"

"I didn't ask him about her. I didn't really want to know."

Hannah picked up her phone and flipped through it. "It's Nikki Voltari, the supermodel. They started dating in February."

"Nikki Voltari?" she echoed. "I met her years ago when I was in New York. She was about seventeen then. She met with the designer I was working for. She was stunningly pretty, blonde, tan, thin, with incredible hazel eyes."

"She's still all that." Hannah turned her phone around once more. "This was taken of them at a red-carpet event in LA last March."

Nikki was as beautiful as she remembered, but Dante was even more handsome in a black tux. "They look good together." A large wave of disappointment ran through her. "Really good."

Hannah gave her a commiserating smile. "I'm sorry, Keira."

She shrugged. "It is what it is. It's not like he didn't tell me he had a girlfriend. Actually, he seemed eager not to call her that. He just said they were seeing each other."

"Maybe it isn't serious."

"Or he was downplaying it because he's in a small town and feeling bored."

"There is that possibility," Hannah admitted. "But he seemed like a nice guy."

"I think he is a nice guy. But he's injured. He's lost. He's not in his real life. I can't just be a distraction."

"No, you can't. But even if you don't want to date him, you're going to have to deal with the fallout from these photos."

She sighed. "I'm going to be painted as the other woman."

"I'm afraid so. How about I buy you a drink, and we can talk about it?"

"That would be nice, but I have to meet my mother's friend to show him a house. Do you know Mark Langley? He's the administrator of the rehab center."

"I met him last night. We had a cocktail party to welcome the new rehab staff members."

"What did you think of him?"

"Handsome for an older man. Seemed smart, articulate. Why?"

"He showed up at our house out of the blue last Thursday. Apparently, he went to high school with my mom, and he's been taking her out ever since then. They've had dinner. They've gone on walks. They talk for hours on the phone. It's weird."

"Are you saying he's dating your mom?"

"It sure seems that way. She thinks he's wonderful, but I find him to be overly aggressive. My mother disagrees. She says he's just being nice