spicy, boozy taste. “Omigod, Dallas.” I glanced over at Liddy and her amazed expression matched mine. “This is . . .” I took another drink and groaned. “Hands down the most fantastic margarita I’ve ever had.”
Dallas bowed. “Thank you. It’s a secret special recipe. Takes forever to make but well worth the effort.”
“I agree.” Liddy raised her glass. “To Dallas, for sharing her labor of love with us.”
Another clink of our glasses.
“Let’s sit in the living room.” I connected my phone to my speakers and picked a favorite playlist. A little Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair, Katy Perry, P!nk, Taylor Swift; sisters in girl power.
“Have you had a chance to relax since the official grand opening for Full Tilt?” Liddy asked.
Dallas curled her feet beneath her in the chair. “I promised Jax I’d be on-site for the first two weeks and I’ve reached the end of that. It’ll be bittersweet to move on to the next project.”
“Which is . . . ?” Liddy asked.
“Nothing I’m allowed to talk about,” Dallas said, miming locking her mouth and tossing away the key.
Then Liddy focused on me. “You have to have overheard something working for Jaxson.”
“It’s a miracle I hear anything to do with my job when I’m on the ice, say nothing of overhearing something that I’m not supposed to.”
Liddy blasted me with an arch look, a reminder that I had recently overheard things I shouldn’t have.
But I didn’t take the bait. Nolan had apologized and we’d both moved on.
The fact I’d been texting with him regularly . . . not something I wanted to share. She might read the wrong thing into it.
Or maybe the right thing, which scares you even more.
“Is there anything else we should be celebrating?” Dallas asked Liddy. “I’m seeing . . . a bit more skittishness in your aura. BT-dubs, it doesn’t appear to be causing anxiety, so good news?”
“We landed a corporate gift account and I’ll be the liaison between the client and the graphics team.”
“Congrats! Are you happy you’ll be spending more time in London?”
I looked at Liddy. “You didn’t tell me that’s part of your promotion.”
“Only because I just found out this morning.” She focused on Dallas. “Dallas, sweetheart, you know I adore you, but it is spooky the way you just toss it out there like I’m wearing a sign.”
She shrugged. “You are to me. I can’t unsee it.”
“Is that hard for you?” I asked her. “The always-seeing part?”
“Sometimes. This . . . sense that I have? It’s ever-changing, so even I don’t know what to expect most of the time.”
“Please explain,” Liddy said after taking a drink.
“I’ll try.” Dallas looked across the space and gathered her thoughts. “If I run into you in the hallway next week, I won’t get the same reading from you that I got today, even if your mindset is the same and nothing externally has changed. When I get emotional impressions I can’t . . . bank them, for want of a better term.” She glanced up. “My perceptions freak people out. They act like I’m a mind reader, but the more I try and explain the less people listen. I’ve had to make adjustments to myself based on other people’s random reactions to me, which sucks because I feel less true to who I am. But I’ve come to accept it’ll never become easier.”
“You do realize that we are amazed by the whole of you, Dallas, not just the reading auras and making kick-ass margaritas skills.”
Dallas grinned. “I realize I’m not everyone’s cup of tea leaves—ha-ha—and I’ve had to stop talking about the woo-woo stuff even when it’s a constant part of my life.”
I leaned in. “Tell me who’s being mean to you and I’ll beat them up.”
“It’s not just people.” She sighed and reached for the pitcher of margaritas. “Never mind. Who needs a refill?”
Both Liddy and I raised our glasses.
Even though Dallas and I had little in common, I felt a pull toward her. In this moment my gut was telling me to dig deeper. “So what is the deal with your mother?”
She froze. Then her eyes narrowed. “Are you reading me right now?”
“Uh. No. Why?”
“How’d you know to ask about my mother?”
“Because you mentioned her earlier.”
She relaxed. “You caught me off guard. But ask away about my meddling mama.”
“That’s why I’m curious. Why did your brother ask me to play along as he tried to convince your mom that we had a date the night of the Full Tilt party? Then while she