Both Willie and Mark had their arms crossed in front of their chests, but Mark looked angry.
“Dallas? Alone?” Mark asked.
She shyly looked away and started to place the last few dresses onto the hangers as Mark walked closer.
“I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’ve never been out of Pearl before,” she replied.
“Well, technically, aside from living in Oregon, you’ve only been out to Keanter, Croton, and Turbank with friends. Dallas is bigger,” Melissa stated.
“What is this all about? Who are you going with?” Willie asked.
“Yeah, I’d like to know a little more about this trip. Things are different out of Pearl, Diane,” Mark added in a rather fatherly tone. It aggravated her. When Willie asked, she knew it was because he and his brother took over a protective role since she was their woman’s sister, and she was single. It was how things worked in Pearl. But Mark? What was his interest? Maybe some new lingerie for his next sexual partner? She swallowed hard. Immediately she imagined herself being that woman, and wearing something unique, one of a kind from this Dallas show. I’m such a moron.
She felt like she was being interrogated, he was that authoritative. She knew that Mark helped out the government still, and worked a lot from the home he shared with his brothers, but he was big, he was assertive, and he was older.
“Diane, can you keep an eye on things up front while Willie, me, and Johnny go have lunch out back by the patio?”
“Sure, take your time.”
“Oh. And maybe call up Amanda and see if she could cover for you while you’re away. You’re leaving tomorrow morning, so tell her we’ll pay her for the full week.”
“Okay. I’ll call her.”
Melissa and Willie walked through the back room. Diane hung the last dress on the rack and then began to try and break down the box.
Mark walked closer to assist her, and when his arm brushed against her side, she nearly jumped out of the way. The attraction to the man was instant.
“I asked you a few questions, Diane. I’d like to know more about this trip you’re taking alone.” He was so close she could smell his cologne, and the manly appealing scent that was all Mark. He was six feet three, muscular like a football running back, with dark black crew cut hair, and bold brown eyes.
She turned to look up toward him, and even though she was five feet seven, she still had to look way up to lock gazes with him. She could tell by the way he stood there, he wasn’t happy.
“It’s not a big deal, Mark. I’ll be gone for five days. I’m staying at the Dallas Sheraton hotel in the city. I’ll be with Elvira Monte from Keanter. We’re helping with a fashion show, and then I’ll be heading back here by Sunday afternoon.”
She lifted the box and moved it to the side out of the way. Diane walked closer to the counter, when Mark touched her hand to stop her. She immediately pulled away and stared at him in shock. Oh God, he’s so sexy. I can’t stand it. I need to get away from him.
“You’re a beautiful young woman. You need to take precautions, especially when you’re in unfamiliar surroundings.” He stared down at her intensely. She swallowed hard. Was he being a disciplinarian to her again?
“Listen, I appreciate your neighborly concern and all, but I’ll be fine, and I’ll keep aware of my surroundings.”
She quickly placed some distance between them by moving around the counter toward the box of new designer jewelry that Millie had made. The shop couldn’t keep these items on the shelf either.
* * * *
Mark felt his heart racing. Just being this close to Diane made him feel this way. Knowing that she was leaving for five days to travel to Dallas on her own just made him feel concerned and jealous. He liked having her here in Pearl. Hell, with everything going on with Brenda missing, the old case being reevaluated, and having to travel out to Wyoming, he was on edge. For some strange reason he felt concerned about Diane’s trip.
“Can I help you find something today?” she asked him, interrupting his thoughts and also trying to change the subject. Diane was good at that.
He needed to play this cool and remain calm. He couldn’t panic thinking about the possibility that she may meet some other guy or guys and that he, Drake, and Lucas would lose their opportunity to let her know how they felt about her. She was so damn quiet, gentle, and sweet, while he and his brothers were hard, recalcitrant, and downright unbearable. Their need to be in charge, controlling everything and everyone around them, even made them mean sometimes. Their personalities alone would scare Diane away. Their ideas, their fantasies about what they’d like to do to her in their bedroom would shock the poor, young woman.
He pretended to look around the store at some of the items. It was the same thing every week. He would ask her what she liked out of three items he chose, and she would tell him and he’d buy it. He had a closet filled with lingerie. Lingerie he envisioned Diane wearing and no one else. Hadn’t she realized that he always picked the same size, her size every time? Hadn’t she noticed the way he watched her, when she described the pieces he chose? Today had to be different. Today he needed to send her off to her trip to Dallas with him and his brothers on her mind.
Just then the cuckoo clock began to chime.
She turned toward it and smiled. She watched and waited for the small bird to come out the front door on the clock and make its sound. He wondered if she even knew that his brothers Drake and Lucas signed the inside of the clock they hand made for her. Inside it said, Ours until the end of time.
“You like that clock, huh?” he asked, absorbing the way her long brown hair was pulled back into some fancy braid.
“Oh God, I love that clock. I love most everything your brothers make. I wish they would consider letting me speak to some people in Croton about their work. I’m certain they could easily set up a storefront there or perhaps sell them on consignment in some of the upscale stores in Turbank, Croton, or even Keanter.”