Just a Couple Ex's Blindsided (2 page)

He crouched next to her, feeling the silken strands of her hair sliding over his hand. He bet the soft, tawny tresses had never seen a permanent or hair coloring they were so rich and natural.

“Come on, Liv, breathe deep with me,” he urged, pulling her purse from the press between her torso and knees as he massaged her neck. “Big breath in.” He waited. “Now, big breath out.”

“Panic attack,” her voice squeaked at him. Now that was a different animal, but he still thought the deep breathing would help.

“Those are pesky.” He used a conversational tone to hopefully ease her tension as he let up holding her neck down and she slowly rose. “My aunt use to get them when she was younger, until she started yoga and meditation.”

“She did?” Liv Dawson asked him, with her eyes so close, where he crouched, that he could see how clear and deep gray they were.

Andrew Dawson had a lovely wife. She wore little makeup and did not need much. The man was a fool if he was picking Kiki over Liv.

That thought shocked Axel so badly he froze. Then, he quickly hauled back his thinking to the more sane idea that there had to be another explanation. He realized his hand was still caressing the back of Liv Dawson’s neck, and he quickly removed it. “Yes, ma’am, I’ve also heard exercise helps.”

“Nothing I’ve done ever helps,” she said. “I’m sorry to have this happen here.”

“It’s all right,” he replied with an automatic response. “Would you like some water?”

She nodded, straightening more in the chair, while he rose slowly. He thought her color looked a bit better. She looked as if she spent some time in the sun and her skin had a light golden glow. “I’ll be right back with some,” he said.

Ma’am.
Axel’s use of the word warmed Liv. Men just weren’t very polite anymore and Liv found it another attractive quality. If Axel’s wife were half as compelling as he was Liv could easily see Andrew becoming infatuated.

She tried to get her heartbeat to flip back to normal, from its rapid beating, by doing some deep breathing. God, her skin crawled. She wanted to run away so badly, to try to outrun the effects, as they flooded over her. She was certain she would pass out.

“Hey it’s okay.” She heard Axel’s quiet voice assuring her and she opened her eyes, feeling his hand gently stroke her arm. His palm was so warm, and she concentrated on that, as he crouched before her. “Here, try to drink some of this.”

He helped her with the water, holding her shaking hand to the glass as she sipped. Suddenly, her heartbeat flipped back to normal ... and she wanted to cry she was so relieved that it hadn’t worked itself into a full blown panic attack.

She hated being so weak but she’d had the attacks since she was in her early twenties. Luckily now they only happened rarely and her doctor had assured her they had nothing to do with extreme events in life. Such as a husband possibly
cheating
.

She knew enough about the attacks that they could happen as much when she was relaxed and quiet; however it felt very suspicious this time.

“I’m getting better,” she murmured, refusing to dwell on how silly the attack made her look. Axel had said he was a medic at one time and that meant he must have compassion. The way he’d treated her so far showed concern and manners.

The handsome Mr. Savvi seemed to understand she needed a few minutes to compose herself and he took the glass of water and stood. “I’m going out back for a few minutes,” he said. “Please don’t leave before I get back.”

Liv nodded without looking up at him and the minute she was certain he’d left the front part of the store, she bent to grab her purse. The thought of fleeing was on her mind; however when she reached inside her purse for her keys, her hand closed around her cell phone instead.

A
xel began taking the tasteless prom dresses and throwing them none too gently into the boxes they came in. One part of him kept demanding an explanation, while the other part just kept calling him a fool for not seeing what was right in front of him. Maybe if his marriage were on solider ground, he’d not be jumping to the infidelity conclusion.

But he couldn’t disagree that Kiki and he were at odds. She wanted Houston and he wanted this little town. He wanted to give back to the aunt that had saved him off the streets from his drugged-out parents at the age of six. Lord, he owed her.

And everything his aunt had taught him in the years she’d raised him demanded he look after her, now she was in a nursing home. Kiki resented that. He knew she felt it was holding her back. He’d tried to love her out of it — that had been their signature fix-it for everything — hot sex.

“Damn it,” he cussed, tossing a chartreuse-colored gown into a box. That had been the one thing they were good at together. Up until about a year ago, when Kiki started avoiding sex.

Axel stopped rampaging through the dresses in mid-throw. “No,” he uttered, more like a snarl. She couldn’t have been having an affair for a year. “No damn way!”

But he knew there was a damn “way.” He threw down the dress and shoved a hand into his pocket, looking for his cell phone. He’d call her and fix these messy suspicions he had.

A few minutes later, he entered the front of the store with his cell phone in his hand. Useless, because Kiki wasn’t picking up. His eyes roamed the store, searching for Liv Dawson's tawny head when he saw she was no longer in the chair he’d brought out for her. His gaze finally found a bit of coppery-gold from her hair and he walked forward, seeing her leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window that wasn’t taken up by displays.

She had her cell phone hung uselessly in her hand and he was struck by how isolated she looked. He wanted to cuss at Dawson for causing his pretty wife even a moment of anxiety.

“I’ve tried to call Andrew on my cell, but ...”

Axel finished for her. “No answer.”

She turned her gray eyes, shot with silver, toward him. “It’s not so unusual for him to not answer.”

Axel wondered what that meant about them, because ... “It isn’t unusual for my wife either. And, she’s not picking up.”

Once again, the unspoken passed between them. She straightened from the window, lifting her cell phone toward her purse. “Well, I better stop bothering you,” she murmured. “Thank you for your help.”

He stuffed his cell phone into his pocket, feeling the anger that had been simmering inside him spike again, but he didn’t let it show as he nodded to her. What more could they say to each other?

“I’m sure it’s all been a mistake,” Liv muttered, then she stepped to the door and pushed it open. “I really like your display windows. They’re very creative.” She smiled at him.

“Thanks,” he answered stiffly. He couldn’t smile back. Then she was gone with the door swishing shut, while his eyes trailed her walking to a black SUV.
Was there an explanation?

Liv walked to her car, slowly. Her mind was working anxiously on all the explanations there could be for her husband’s car to be parked where it was. She shook her head; she must have small town soap opera syndrome.

“What if he’s just broken down and he’s gotten a ride with someone?” she muttered, with her gaze looking across the highway. There was a bar over there. One she’d never paid much attention to before. Her eyes squinted against the morning sunlight. Was the place even open this time of day? She couldn’t tell by just looking at the building, but two motorcycles were parked out front.

She got into her car, nearly as if she was reluctant, while looking at Axel’s store, wishing he had the answers to all the questions taunting her. Throwing her purse on the seat beside her, she reached and caught the door, slamming it shut.

Then she attacked the ignition with her key, muttering. “Damn you Andrew for making me even think this.” But she’d been ignoring other signs as well. Andrew’s constant trips to Houston ... and being out of touch for days at a time. “What husband acts like that?” she demanded to know from the steering wheel as she turned on the ignition.

When she pulled out of the parking lot of Savvi’s Rental, she was torn. So torn, she only made it a short distance down the highway before she turned her car around. She didn’t want to believe it, but she just
had
to find out. The only way she could find answers was to wait for Andrew to return to the scene of the crime ... his red Roadster.

“If I don’t do this now,” Liv muttered, pulling her car into the parking lot of the questionable bar across the street from Savvi’s. “I’ll never have another chance like this to catch him.”

Maybe she was looking for the worst but this was her best chance, on her own, to either exonerate Andrew or catch him in the act. Because her husband was the type of man who would try to make her look crazy for thinking he could be fooling around. He was that good at twisting things like that.

Actually, she’d feel empowered, if it was true and she could catch him so concretely he couldn’t deny it. Liv pulled her car behind the bar. She didn’t want there to be any chance of Andrew noticing her SUV across the street. That left the only place she could really watch for him was inside the bar.

After she parked, she used her cell phone to put off her appointments and work for the day. Her crew at the rose farm, Carlos and Fran, could easily handle the day’s chores without her. The full-blown rose season wasn’t on them yet. That time of year, from June to October, was crazy busy.

Liv grabbed her purse and got out of her car, feeling nervous about going into the bar alone. When she walked around the side of the building, she mentally prepared herself to walk into the bar. While she wasn’t a prude, she was a married woman who hadn’t walked into a bar alone in years.

“I’ll just order a glass of wine.” God, it was only ten-thirty in the morning. But whatever. “I’ll just order the wine, and get a seat by the window to watch.”

Yes, nothing could be simpler, she assured herself, looking over the massive motorcycles as she walked by them toward the front door of the bar. She’d have to remain aloof inside so none of the motorcycle guys got any ideas. But she was probably being overly crazy and they wouldn’t even pay attention to her.

“Who has a bar open this early?” she muttered, pushing the door open past any hesitations she felt. A single thought did pass through her mind.
She wished Axel Savvi was with her.

Going from light to dark blinded Liv for a second and she blinked, while stepping inside the bar. She heard the door swinging shut behind her just as a man’s voice boomed in a masculine tenor. “Oh
mama,
look who just came in. Pink is my new favorite color.”

Liv felt a blush creeping up her cheeks as her gaze focused on a large man walking toward her. He had a red bandanna tied across his forehead and a long beard that rivaled his big belly covered in a ratty blue tee shirt. There were chains hanging from the pockets of some type of leather pants he wore, and more alarming, there was another man just like him standing at the bar.

“Come on, babe, we’ll buy you a drink.” She was startled and a quick comeback did not flip to her lips fast enough. “Are you looking for a walk on the wild side, baby?” he roared at her.

The man’s alcohol-laced beer breath washed over her as he entered her space and tried to grab her behind. She did squeal then, damn it, like a girl and she hated the sound as she twisted away from his beefy hand, noticing the other biker was leaving the bar and lumbering toward them.

“You cannot just accost people like that,” she hissed at him, glaring as hard as she could. “I’m not interested,” she stated flatly. That should put him in his place, she thought, trying to walk around him.

“Aw, come on, babe, how about a dance. Get to know each other.”

Liv’s eyes widened. The man was filthy drunk and not paying any attention to a word she said.

“Hey, lady, dance with me instead. He’s too drunk, he’ll smash your pretty toes,” his partner said overly loud as he drew nearer.

“I don’t want to dance,” Liv stated a bit loud herself. Then she sidestepped them both, moving around a table, looking for the bartender. Someone needed to get these men in line. Then she added, for good measure, in an even louder voice, “My husband will be here any minute.”

She stayed on the other side of the table, not going toward the bar or leaving, because the two burly bikers could catch her either way she went from where they stood. One was scratching his belly and the other was drinking from a bottle of beer, while they peered at her through their red eyes.

“Well, babe, we better dance fast if your old man’s coming. I’ll warm you up for him.” The drunkest man started around the table, which backed her toward the wall. It was ridiculous, and she was becoming concerned. And what if Andrew showed up while all this was going on and she missed him?

“Liv?”

Liv glanced up at her name, shielding her eyes from the morning light glaring off the windows into the darkened bar. She saw a large masculine silhouette, but she couldn’t make out any features.

By voice recognition alone, she whispered, “Axel?”

Some shuffling movements sounded and she saw the burly biker in front of her stumbling backward. “Hey man, your wifey was just looking for a man to dance with.”

“I was not,” Liv exclaimed.

At the same time Axel, who she could see better, moved next to her and grasped her around the back of her waist. “Buy these men a drink on me.” Axel nodded toward the bartender, then he looked at the men. “See you around.”

Axel’s strong arm moved her toward a window seat as the bikers grumbled, but eventually staggered back to the bar. “I guess we had the same idea,” Axel’s low voice said next to her ear.

Liv felt a blush heating her cheeks — it was a little embarrassing. Then he reached forward to pull out a chair from a small two-person table in front of the window. As she sat, she could see the view was perfect to see the Roadster.

Axel guided her chair in, and then he leaned down. The smell of his cologne tugged her closer to him. “I’m going to go pay for their drinks and I better get us something.” He hesitated and she could see the amber shots in his irises.