Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) (18 page)

“Awesome! Let’s go,” Sarah said with way too much enthusiasm.

There were several reasons Sarah had opted to get her degree in
psychology, and her interaction with Lexi was probably the biggest. Every time
Katie watched the two of them together, she knew her best friend was destined
for incredible things. She admired Sarah’s patience and everything else about
her.

The trip into town didn’t take long, with Sarah offering to drive. The
woman might’ve had the patience of a saint when it came to Lexi and her
frequently changing moods, but she had absolutely zilch when it came to
driving. Considering the small population of Devil’s Bend and the way Sarah
reacted to the minimal amount of traffic she encountered, Katie tried not to
think about the way the woman drove in the neighboring cities.

“What’re you gonna have for dinner, Lex?” Sarah asked as she helped the
little girl from the backseat, Katie standing on the opposite side of the car,
waiting for the pair to join her.

“Can I have a milk shake?”

“Of course you can,” Katie told her sister as Lexi reached for her
hand, gripping her fingers tightly.

“Can I have chicken strips?”

“Definitely,” Katie replied.

“What about mashed taters?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Okay. Then that’s what I want.”

Katie grinned as they stepped into the restaurant. As usual, the place
was bustling, most of the booths filled and the tables, too. There was one
empty spot in the back, and Sarah led them directly to it. Although it was
packed, the service was always prompt, and tonight was no exception. They were
able to order their drinks and their food within minutes of their arrival.

Lexi was surprisingly quiet, so Katie opted to talk to Sarah, wondering
what was on her little sister’s mind but not wanting to dig too deep. The night
was going too well.

“He’s back,” Katie told Sarah, realizing she’d opted to pick the most
serious topic she could have for their one night out that week.

“Have you talked to him?”

“Nope. But I saw him on Friday night.”

Sarah’s eyes widened, and Katie was grateful she didn’t have explain
all of the details. “He was at Cooper’s bachelor party.”

“At D and L?” Sarah questioned, leaning forward, her curiosity
obviously piqued.

“Yep.”

“Did he see you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And?” Sarah inquired.

“And he ran out. I wanted to explain, but he told me not to bother.”

Sarah’s eyes darted down toward Katie’s belly. “Do you think he knows?”

“I doubt it. But I’ve got to tell him. He deserves to know.”

“Yeah, he does,” Sarah agreed.

They’d both been on the same page as far as that was concerned from the
beginning. There was no doubt in Katie’s mind that Dalton would be an
incredible father, and she had to tell him. Until now, she hadn’t had the
opportunity, because it wasn’t like he’d tried to reach out to her. And she
wasn’t interested in leaving that sort of information on his voice mail,
either. “He’ll have to talk to me sooner or later.”

“You need to tell him now, Katie. You’re not gonna be able to go much
longer without people finding out.”

No, she wasn’t. As it was, last night when she’d told Dwayne that she
wasn’t going to be able to work there for a while, he had called her on it.
Obviously, if you were paying attention, her growing belly was pretty
unmistakable. Especially when she was practically naked like she was up on that
stage. Curious, Katie had asked him why he hadn’t said anything. Dwayne, being
Dwayne, had shown his true colors. He was a greedy bastard, and he’d informed
her that she was one of his most popular requests.

Not that she’d been happy to hear that. Had that been a lifestyle she
wanted to be in, it might’ve stroked her ego just a bit. Instead, it actually
creeped her out a little.

“I told Dwayne that Thursday’s my last night there.”

“Good. I’m not sure how you can keep doing it without people
realizing.”

“It’s all about what you want to see,” Katie told her friend.

“Maybe. But pretty soon, that,” Sarah said with a widening grin as she
glanced down at Katie’s belly, “is gonna be all anyone can see.”

Katie laughed. True.

Her hand went to her belly, a gesture that had become so natural lately
she didn’t even know when she was doing it half the time. When she was at The
Rusty Nail, she made a point to avoid touching her stomach, although it took a
lot of effort.

At first, the idea of having a baby had been terrifying. She had cried
for several days after taking the pregnancy test. But then she’d sucked it up
and gone to the doctor, receiving confirmation that yes, she was pregnant. From
that moment on, Katie had felt a little lighter.

Taking care of Lexi hadn’t always been easy, and Katie knew she
wouldn’t have been able to manage without Sarah, but it had been something that
gave her purpose. She hated their circumstances, hated her mother for
abandoning them, but she knew this was what she had to do. Despite her
challenges, Lexi was a sweet, beautiful, smart girl, and Katie loved her more
than she loved anyone.

The thought of being a mother no longer freaked her out; it actually
gave her something to look forward to. But she knew, without a doubt, she had
to tell Dalton. And she had to tell him soon.

Because keeping in him in the dark about this was not something she was
okay with.

Thursday
night

Dalton had absolutely no idea why he was there or what he thought he
might prove by going down to Diamonds and Lace in the first place. After nuking
a TV dinner and scarfing it down, he had needed something to do. Being back in
Devil’s Bend was a lot harder than he’d thought it would be. Knowing where
Katie was and what she was doing wasn’t helping matters, either.

Cooper had called, asked if he wanted to stop by the bar, but Dalton
had declined. He’d made an excuse that he had an errand to run and high-tailed
it out of his house as fast as he could. He damn sure didn’t want Cooper to
stop by and see his truck. That would be the first clue that he was lying about
the errand.

So here he was, sitting at one of the tables at Diamonds and Lace,
waiting for the night’s main act to come on stage. He already knew it was
Katie, thanks to the chatty waitress who’d brought him his first beer. He was
pretty sure the blond with the big tits had made him from the moment he’d
walked in the door, but she hadn’t gone all fan girl on him. Yet.

The night was still young, though, just a little later than the last
time he’d found Katie shaking her ass on stage for all of the horny cowboys
vying to get close enough to see all her goods.

God, the thought of those bastards ogling her just made him want to
punch them in the face.

And yes, he was a damned hypocrite, because his ass was sitting right
there, at a table along the wall, waiting for her to come out.

What he was trying to prove, he had no fucking clue, but for some
reason, Dalton still wanted to see her. No matter how hard he tried, he
couldn’t get her out of his head, and the wide-eyed, surprised look on her face
when he’d run into her in that hallway just a few days ago was still engrained
in his brain.

“Hey, honey, can I getcha anything?”

Dalton raised his beer toward her, signaling he was good, or maybe he
was asking for another. He didn’t know. Shit-faced drunk sounded like a damn
good mood to be in right about now.

As he watched the waitress strut away, his ears were assaulted by a
low, throbbing bass line that rumbled through the building. The lights on the
stage began to flicker, the strobe lights dancing across the black curtain that
hung along the back wall.

A rowdy group of guys up near the front began to whistle and cheer,
building the hype and the excitement throughout the place.

Next thing Dalton knew, there she was.

Aww, damn.

As much as he wanted to hate what she was doing, he still had a vast
appreciation for Katie’s incredible body. He much preferred her to be flaunting
all of those delicious curves just for him, though. Maybe in his bedroom,
sprawled out on his bed…

Not helping, cowboy.

Dalton didn’t figure she could see much past the lights, but he tilted
his hat a little lower, hoping to conceal himself from her view in the event
she glanced out at the crowd. He found himself mesmerized by every move of her
body, from the sensual sway of her hips to the way her hair caressed her skin.
Damn it.

Dalton’s body hardened, but it wasn’t completely from desire. One of
the cowboys in the front started yelling out, telling her how much he loved her
and how he wanted to marry her.

That shit pissed him off.

“How ’bout a dance just for you,” one of the wandering girls said as
she passed by, her long, blood-red fingernail making a line across his chest.

“No, thanks,” he grumbled, his eyes glued to the only woman in the room
he had any interest in.

“Are you sure, honey?” she asked sweetly as she moved even closer, the
sharp smell of her cheap perfume stinging his nostrils.

“Positive,” he growled, not bothering to look up at her.

He knew he should’ve been polite, offered her a
thanks, but no
thanks
smile, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Hell, at this rate,
Dalton was going to wind up in the parking lot on his ass when one of those
bouncers decided he was more than they cared to deal with tonight.

His anger was ratcheting up. The last few months had helped to ease it
some, but sitting here while Katie flashed her ass for every Tom, Dick, and
Asshole waving money at her only set him back again.

“If you’re interested in a dance, that one won’t help you out,” the
other girl offered as she lingered beside him.

That bit of news grabbed Dalton’s attention, and he tilted his head
toward her, not quite making eye contact but lifting his head enough that he
could see her face. Pretty blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a body to die for…
Yep, she looked like half of the other girls in there.

But she still didn’t hold a candle to Katie.

“She avoids the crowd if at all possible,” the girl continued, her
white silk robe falling open to reveal a barely there matching G-string and
nothing else. Her breasts were firm, a little too much for his taste, her
nipples a tantalizing shade of brown. Overall, she was incredibly attractive.
Didn’t explain at all why his body didn’t give a damn that she was standing
there half-naked.

She didn’t do a damn thing for him.

Now Katie, on the other hand… Lord, have mercy.

“So no lap dances for her?” he asked curiously.

“Not if she can help it. Not to mention, tonight’s her last night
here.”

Dalton lifted an eyebrow, trying to hide his surprise. “She’s leavin’?”

“That’s the rumor,” the woman replied.

Interesting. Not that it changed the fact that Katie was currently
peeling off her bra slowly, with a wicked gleam in her eyes. He still preferred
that sweet look she had offered him a time or two to that vixen routine she had
going on. And when in the hell had she started wearing that much makeup?

“I’ll check on you in a bit, honey,” the blonde said, smiling down at
him as she ran her hand across her flat stomach.

“I’ll be here,” he offered, turning his attention back to Katie as he
tipped his beer back.

When the music changed to an even more seductive tune, Dalton knew he
was in for it. His current case of blue balls was threatening to turn into a
fierce shade of electric blue before the night was over.

And he didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do about that now that
he was here.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

God, Katie was tired. And sore.

Too much dancing in those freakish heels that Dwayne insisted she wear,
and now her feet were killing her. Another reason she was grateful that tonight
was her last night to dance up on that stage. Even if she could’ve hidden her
protruding belly, there was no way she would’ve been able to wear those heels
for much longer. Her ankles had already started to swell.

It was nearly three o’clock in the morning, and Katie was more than
ready to sneak out to her car and head home so she could fall into her bed. At
this point, she didn’t even care if she changed into pajamas; she just had an
overwhelming desire to schedule an appointment with her pillow. An eight-hour
session would be fantastic.

“Saying good-bye forever, huh?” Terrence asked when Katie approached
the back door, where he was stationed.

“God, I hope so,” Katie admitted honestly, earning a brilliant white
smile from the big man.

“Give me a hug, kid.” Terrence pulled her into his big, burly arms, and
Katie went easily. There were few people she would miss in that place, but
Terrence was one of them.

“Take care of yourself,” Katie told him. “Tell Mona I said good-bye,
and when that baby’s born, give her a kiss for me.”

“Will do.”

Katie took a step back when Terrence released her, trying to hold her
emotions back. That seemed to be an overwhelming problem these days, what with
the pregnancy and all.

“Need me to walk you to your car?” Terrence offered as he held the door
open for her.

“I’m good. Thanks, though.” It wasn’t as if she had far to walk. For
their safety, the girls were given the parking spots closest to the back door,
and to ensure no one was lurking around who shouldn’t be, the parking lot was
lit up like the surface of the sun.

Even with that small measure of security, Katie double-timed it to her
car, because despite all of the lighting and the big man standing guard by the
back door, she had always hated this part of the night. More than once, she’d
been confronted by a drunk guy who was hoping to get a little more than just a
dance. And more than once, she’d kindly had to refuse. Only one of those times
had the guy gotten physical, but that had been enough to scare Katie senseless.

So much so that she’d relied on Terrence’s kind offer of an escort for
months after that. Only recently had she begun to feel a little safer, at least
enough to walk the thirty or so feet to her car on her own.

Once she was in her car, she locked the doors and started the engine,
not wanting to hang around to invite trouble. A minute later, she was pulling
out onto the street, heading toward Devil’s Bend. The drive took roughly thirty
minutes at this time of the morning with little traffic to fight through, and
on days like this one, she was grateful for that. She was too damned tired;
keeping her eyes open was a bigger chore than even driving.

It wasn’t until she was pulling down the street that led to her
apartment complex that she noticed there were headlights in her rearview
mirror. A cold chill ran down her spine at the thought of some guy following
her from the club. As it was, it was after three in the morning, and the entire
town of Devil’s Bend was probably tucked into their nice warm beds.

Everyone except her.

Her attention swung back to the headlights shining into her rearview
mirror. Had they been there the whole time? How had she missed that?

Was she supposed to go home? Or somewhere else? And if the latter,
where?

Holy crap.

The never-ending questions weren’t helping her at all.

Her skin began to tingle from the warning that her brain was sending,
and her hands were now shaking as they white-knuckled the steering wheel. Katie
glanced at her small apartment complex off on the right side of the road. The
place was so small she didn’t stand a chance of losing her tail in the parking
lot, so she knew not to bother with that.

Maybe she could go into town.

No, that was stupid. The only place that might have people hanging out
was The Rusty Nail, and they would just be Eric or Tessa closing up.

Katie didn’t want to bring them into this if she could help it.

When her cell phone rang, Katie nearly leapt out of the moving vehicle.
Her heart raced as if it were a contender in the Kentucky Derby. She glanced
down at the screen, hoping it was someone who might be able to help her as she
pulled into the small complex. It was that or she would end up on the wrong end
of a dead end road.

She hit the talk button and waited, unable to get her voice to work
enough to greet the caller.

“It’s me, Katie,” came the familiar voice on the other end of the line.

“Dalton?”

“Yeah. Pull into your apartment. I just want to talk.”

The relief had her nearly dropping her phone. That was until her brain
made the connection that Dalton was the one following her. As happy as she was
that he wasn’t some creeper stalking her, Katie still didn’t want to face him.

Not like this.

Darting a look into the rearview mirror, Katie noticed the makeup that
was still caking her face.

Shit.

“Come on, Katie. Just talk to me.”

Katie couldn’t even find the words to answer him, but she did find
enough brainpower to direct her car into her parking spot. The one right next
to her was empty, meaning that the young guy living in the apartment below hers
was probably spending the night with his girlfriend, something he did quite
frequently these days.

When she put the car in park, Katie pulled the phone from her ear and
looked at it. She knew Dalton was still on the other end, but no matter how
hard she tried, she couldn’t utter a single word, so she hung up.

And that’s when she sent up another silent prayer. God should be used
to it by now, she rationalized. It seemed she sought his help more and more
these days.

Good thing, too, because she saw what happened when she relied on her
own instincts to do the right thing.

∞ ∞
∞ ∞ ∞

Dalton knew it was risky following Katie home, but he hadn’t been able
to help himself. Partly because he’d wanted to make sure that she got home
safely, but more so because he wanted to talk to her.

All the questions he wanted to ask her seemed to be on constant repeat
in his head, and spending the last few hours watching her hadn’t helped him one
fucking bit. In fact, he wanted to fire them off one at a time and wait to see
if she would lie to him again.