Part 39 (1/2)
Yvette had been occupied watching Cannon replace tools in the garage, but at that growled sentiment, she looked at Armie. ”What?”
”The coward who d.i.c.ked with your door. I hate that sneaky c.r.a.p.”
She pretty much hated it, too. ”It bothers me a lot that my problems are spilling over and affecting Cannon. If I could, I'd keep him totally uninvolved.”
Armie snorted. ”Some friendly advice-don't say that to Cannon. No involved guy would want to hear it, but Cannon gets more involved than most.”
Knowing he was probably right, she said in a smaller voice, ”I only meant uninvolved with the trouble.” And before he made her feel even worse, she explained, ”I wanted him to see me differently this time.”
At that, Armie laughed outright.
Insulted, she narrowed her eyes at him. ”Why is that funny?”
”How the h.e.l.l did you want him to see you? The poor guy is upside down over you.” He lifted a brow. ”Majorly in l.u.s.t.”
”Armie,” she warned.
But he'd already moved on. ”He likes you, too, though. Wouldn't have brought you around the rec center otherwise. And clearly he enjoys you. Don't think I've ever seen the guy so touchy-feely, and always smiling.” Shaking his head, he asked, ”Did you want him to be oblivious?”
”Of course not.” She wanted him to be...well, impressed. And didn't that just make her sound shallow?
”Then I'd say he's seeing you exactly as he should.” Softening, going more serious, he said, ”But, hon, I get what you're saying. You wanted to show him that you were free of the past.”
Exactly! ”Yes, that's what I meant.”
”Only no one ever is. Not me, not Cannon.” He glanced at her. ”Not you. Some s.h.i.+t digs in, gets under our skin, and while we might get used to it, we can't get rid of it. It takes part in everything we do, every decision we make.”
Did Armie's past play into his outrageousness? Most likely. She rubbed a smudge of dirt on her jeans. ”The thing is, Cannon got pulled into all my mayhem before I moved away. Then, as soon as I get home, I find out my grandfather has more or less saddled him with me. I was dealing with that, but now Heath is here, causing more trouble.” The spot of dirt remained-much like her problems.
”I say you just go with it.”
She gave up on her messy clothes and instead stared at Armie. ”Go with it how?”
”Stop fighting fate. Stop fighting Cannon.”
”I haven't been!”
”Bull. I see it, so I guarantee you that he sees it.” He pulled into the driveway, and Cannon started out of the open garage to greet them.
”You're here,” Armie added. ”Looks to me as if you're staying. So jump in with both feet. Tiptoeing around never got anything accomplished.”
She didn't have time to a.s.similate that before Cannon opened her door, tugged her out and greeted her with his mouth on hers.
”Way to make me feel like a third wheel,” Armie complained.
Cannon kept his arm around her waist. ”Everyone knows you like things in threes.”
”Not when I'm just a bystander.” Grinning at Yvette's blush, Armie added, ”Got everything moved in and locked up again before we left.”
”Great. Drinks are on me tonight.”
When they both laughed, Yvette said, ”Why is that a joke?”
”Because neither of us will be drinking.” He stole another kiss, took her hand and started for the garage. ”I have to show you what we found.” He looked back. ”Come on, Armie. You'll want to see this, too.”
In the middle of the floor was a medium-size safe. Yvette looked up and saw a panel missing in the ceiling. ”It was up there?”
”Yeah. Centered on two-by-fours across the rafters. d.a.m.n thing weighs around a hundred pounds. We had a heck of a time getting it down.”
”We?” Armie asked, walking around the safe.
”Denver helped. It barely fits through the opening, so it was pretty awkward.”
”And if you misstepped, you and the safe both would have come through the ceiling.”
Yvette knelt down to look at the locks. ”Why would Grandpa have that up there?”
”No idea,” Cannon said. ”But with the double locks, we'll need both the key and the pa.s.s code to open it.” He crouched down beside her. ”You run across anything like that?”
”Not so far, no. But I can keep an eye out.”
”Until then, I think I'll bring it inside, just in case he has anything valuable in there. Doubtful, given where he had it stored, but...” Cannon shrugged. ”Could be whatever is in there is so important that he didn't want to leave it in the obvious places.”
”A mystery.” Armie rubbed his hands together. ”Now you have me interested.”
”Where do you want me to put it?” Cannon asked.
”Our...” She glanced at Armie and amended, ”My bedroom, I guess.”
Though Armie said nothing at her near slip, he had to pinch his mouth to keep from grinning. ”Guess I should get going. I'll see you both at Rowdy's.”
After he'd left, Cannon hefted the safe to carry it in, and Yvette held the door open. He set it inside her closet for safekeeping.
Yvette double-checked the various keys and papers that they'd gotten from Whitaker, but there wasn't anything for the safe. She glanced at the clock and knew she had to hustle to get ready.
Tonight, when they returned from Rowdy's, she'd do a search to see if she could find a way to access the safe.
She watched Cannon peel off his s.h.i.+rt as he headed into the hall shower and decided the safe could wait. As soon as they got home, she'd let him know she was ready. Past ready.
She'd waited long enough.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
t he bar was insanely packed. Every table, booth and bar stool was taken with standing room only. Denver, Armie, Stack and a few others had tables toward the back-leaving the up-front tables for Cannon's fans- and luckily they'd saved her a seat.
After seeing her to their table, Cannon cupped her face. ”I might be busy for a few hours, but I'll keep checking back here.”
For what? If Heath was still around, he couldn't bother her in a place this congested with onlookers. ”I'll be fine,” she promised him. ”Go and have fun.”