Saxon's Savior (Protect and Serve #3) - Pandora Pine Page 0,36

to look at the menu, let alone choose something. “I’m not sure. How about you?”

“Surf and turf!” Dallas’s eyes sparkled like twin emeralds. “Nothing beats buttery lobster and a thick, juicy rib eye.” His mouth was practically watering.

I was sold on the entrée simply by Dallas’s enthusiasm for it. My voice may have shaken a bit when I told the waitress what I was having. Money wasn’t an issue, it was the trauma of not having it that was cast over my entire life.

“How do you feel about Gloucester now that you’ve had a little time to settle in?” Dallas took a sip from his Mountain Dew.

We’d both ordered soda when the waitress asked for our drink orders. I would have the occasional beer, but after seeing what addiction did to my parents, I made a conscious effort to stay away from anything that could derail the life I’d built for myself. “I like the city. All the people I’ve met have been so kind and welcoming. Then, there are your parents.” I paused, not wanting to lose control of my emotion.

“There’s something I need to share with you.” Dallas took another sip of the yellowish liquid before meeting my eyes. “I had a thing with Toby Whitmer.”

“You did?” Dallas’s words stunned me, but I kept an open mind.

“Yeah. We met at a convention a few months back. It burned fast and hot. Before I knew what was happening, he was out of my life.”

“The convention in Boston?” My stomach twisted on itself. “It was you?” My mouth hung open.

“What was me?” Alarm lit in Dallas’s eyes.

Shit! I should have kept my stupid mouth shut. Dallas deserved the truth. I hated to be the one to give it to him. “Toby came back from that conference walking on air. I’d thought he was a dick from day one, with the way he bullied his staff and sometimes the families we met at accident scenes. I think the reason I didn’t like him was because he expected everyone to adore him.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t?”

“No. Not even once. I did my job by the book and couldn’t wait to leave once my shift was over.”

“What about when he got back from the conference?” Dallas looked like a shell of his former self. All his usual swagger was gone.

I reached out to Dallas, wrapping my hands around his own. “Toby was jacked because he’d scored at the conference. He was his usual crude self.” I hated those memories of my time in Newburyport. Knowing that Dallas was the man he’d fucked and then turned on made them even worse. “He expected me to fall into bed with him after telling me all about what he’d done to you, and the awful way he’d treated you when the conference was over. He tried to come on to me a few times after that, but I always turned him down flat.”

“Which explains why Toby was so anxious to get rid of you.” Dallas huffed out a rough breath. “I was such a fool.”

“Don’t do that.” I gave our joined hands a squeeze. “We’ve all been there. Fucked men we never should have given a second look. It happens.”

Dallas snorted at me. “We’re gonna talk about the men we shouldn’t have fucked another time, but what I meant was that I was such a fool where you were concerned. Even though Toby treated me like shit, I still believed every word he said when he told me you were trouble.”

“Oh, I’m trouble all right.” I was about to lean over the table to show Dallas just what kind of trouble I was, when the waitress appeared with our dinner.

“Wow! Look at all this food.”

He took the words right out of my mouth. The steak was still sizzling on my plate, while the hot, buttered lobster glittered in the candlelight. I couldn’t decide which to try first.

Dallas held up his half-empty glass of Mountain Dew. “To you, Saxon, and a new beginning.”

“Our new beginning,” I chimed in, clinking my glass against his.

Tonight really was a new beginning for the two of us. All the baggage we’d brought to the table had been dealt with and left in the past. All that was left to do now was move forward. Together.

17

Dallas

The Portside was just as good as Kennedy promised me it would be. Being with Saxon was even better than the food. After we had our little chat about Toby Whitmer, dinner was smooth as silk. We spent