Free All Smoke No Fire by Randi Alexander Page A

come in, he’d slowly let go of the hope he’d been foolishly hanging on to. He was just a dumb puppy, looking for attention from someone way the fuck out of his league. “Idiot.”
    “Dax.” Shaw’s voice came with a quick knock on the door.
    “Yeah?” They’d been trying to coax him out all day.
    “Company.” His friend pushed open the door and gave Dax a serious look. “For you.”
    “Who—”
    Shaw turned and walked away.
    “Hell.” He sat, putting his stocking feet on the floor and made himself get up. Probably one of the girls, Harper or CJ, called in to help perk him up. He shuffled into the living room.
    A petite woman in a long, light-blue parka with a fur-trimmed hood pulled off her tall white snow boots. By the height, it had to be Harper.
    Behind her, the guys shrugged into their parkas and stepped into winter boots. Where the hell were they going? Dax sure as hell hoped they didn’t expect him to go with them.
    The woman flipped back her hood. Black hair. She turned to look at him. Hazel eyes, slanted up at the corners.
    Marilou?
    His heart stopped, then restarted with a bang.
    “Dax. Can we talk?”
    As his mouth dropped open, the guys shuffled to the door.
    “We’ve got to go to…” Pete’s lips moved but nothing else came out.
    “Church.” Huck flung the word at them and disappeared out the door. Pete and Shaw followed.
    “Church? Really?” Shaw’s voice reached him as the door swung shut. “That’s the best you could come up with?”
    Then he was alone with Marilou.

Chapter Eight
    Dax stared at Marilou as she pulled off her mittens and stuffed them in the pockets of her parka. The apartment went deadly silent as neither of them spoke. He moved forward, wanting to pull her in for a hug, but not daring to hope she was here for a reconciliation. “Can I take your coat?”
    She nodded and unzipped it, then handed it to him. “Cold here, today.” She rubbed the red tip of her nose.
    He hung the coat in the little closet beside the door. “You want some coffee or hot chocolate?” How the hell could he be so polite when he just wanted to drop to his knees and beg for another chance?
    “No, thank you.” She gestured to the couch. “Can we sit and talk?”
    He nodded and they sat on opposite ends. “Is your bus outside?”
    She shook her head and smiled. “I flew. Got on a plane from Billings, Montana to Denver, then another one up here to Dickinson.” She looked so proud of herself, he wanted to pull her in for a hug and tell her how amazing that was.
    “That’s…really great.” He sounded so stupid, but this conversation was out of his normal zone. No one had ever done anything like this for him. She’d braved her biggest fear to come to him. How did he deserve anyone this wonderful?
    “It is.” She tucked one leg up under the other and turned her body to face him. Her thick pink sweater cupped her pretty breasts and her jeans looked worn and comfortable. He must look like a slob in his black sweatpants and U.N.D. sweatshirt. “And I want to tell you why.”
    “Okay.” He narrowed his eyes, waiting for some sign from her, something to tell him what she was doing here.
    “What you heard in Delroy’s office, that was just stupid. I was hungover and not thinking. He backed me into a corner, figuratively.”
    He nodded, wanting her to go on, and also in agreement of her assessment of what she’d said. It had been stupid.
    “You probably heard him yelling about the men I’ve been with. Guys who I wanted to help in the business, but who used me to get what they wanted.” She stared down at her knee. “The last one, Bradley, he did a number on me.” She tipped up her chin. “No, I let him do that to me. I was in a vulnerable place and I let his leaving me take away part of my world.”
    “I don’t understand.” Dax needed to hear it all.
    “I let this breakup keep me away from my family.” She held up one hand. “But I’ve rectified that. On the ride from