Tate Montgomery's smile evaporated with Knox's response. His face paled as he asked, "What did you just ask?"

"Adorable? You can't be serious," Petunia balked. "She's the hired help. Are we on a hidden camera show?"

She began looking around the room as if a camera crew was secretly hidden, ready to pop out at any moment and yell, "Surprise!"

Nessa swatted at Knox's pinching hands. "Stop! Stop it!"

"Petunia, she's not the hired help." Tate's eyes narrowed. "You two don't look like a couple. Nessa isn't someone who dates just anyone."

Knox turned back to Tate. "I'm not just anyone."

"Tate?" Mitch Montgomery, Tate's father, called out to them. Jason stood beside him, a look of disbelief painted on his face.

The older man joined the group and smiled at Nessa. "Nessa Cruz, does your father know you're here dressed in this ridiculous costume?"

Nessa smiled. "No, but I'm sure you'll tell him, Mr. Montgomery."

Mr. Montgomery gave a hearty laugh before slapping his son on the back. "I'm not sure why you let this one get away, Tate. She's a firecracker!"

"He didn't let me get away, Mr. Montgomery. He threw me aw-"

"Nessa!" Tate interrupted, his eyes on his father. Petunia frowned and pulled Tate closer to her side.

"You know one another?" Knox asked, which should have been obvious since Tate had admitted to dating Nessa. Still, Mitch Montgomery was a feisty old man who only loved money and golf...in that order. He was hardly ever nice to anyone unless it brought him a lucrative amount of money. He couldn't stop smiling at Nessa.

"Of course," Tate said. "We dated for two years."

"Stop reminding us," Petunia muttered, earning her an apologetic shrug from Tate.

Mr. Montgomery began to explain, "Her father and I-"

"Step-father," Nessa corrected him.

"Nessa Cruz, Edward adopted you when you were six. You're his daughter and don't you dare say differently," Mr. Montgomery chided her with a frown.

"I know," Nessa said apologetically.

"You need to stop with this wild stage of yours, young lady."

Knox's eyes widened when he saw Nessa lower her head and answer meekly, "Yes, sir."

"In any event," Mr. Montgomery continued. "Edward and I are old college buddies. After he married Nessa's mother, he and I figured we'd get Tate and Nessa together. These two just couldn't work it out. It'll take them some time, but they'll eventually find one another again."

Knox recognized the warning. Nessa belonged to Tate.

Perhaps it was the older man's recent refusal to hold a conference at Luxmar, but Knox felt irritated by the older man. Hadn't his father purposely lost their last golf game to get Mitch Montgomery to choose the Luxmar?

Petunia began coughing and Tate sighed. "Father, you know Petunia and I are dating. You've met her several times."

Mr. Montgomery eyed Petunia as though she were a hair in his dessert, "Is that so? She looks like a stranger to me."

"Mr. Marsden?" Jason took that moment to interrupt. He was tapping his watch as if signaling to everyone that Knox had another appointment.

"Yes, you should get going." Nessa laughed nervously and gave Knox a slight nudge.

"Do you two know one another?" Mr. Montgomery asked, pointing a plump finger from Nessa to Knox.

"They're dating," Petunia said loudly.

"Dating?" Mr. Montgomery frowned. "You can't be serious, can you? Knox, I know you and your father are good people but Nessa and Tate are-"

"No, of course not." Nessa waved her hands in front of her. "Petunia's confused."

"Confused?" Knox placed an arm around Nessa's dinosaur shoulders. "I don't think so."

Knox faced Nessa, "Don't you remember? I'm your boyfriend. A boyfriend you like to pass special notes to."

Knox pulled a small scrap of paper from his pocket. The note Nessa had passed to Gloria days earlier waved in front of her.

Nessa's brows rose, "I gave that to you a few days ago. You carry it around in your pocket? Creepy."

Jason gave a bark of laughter before pretending to cover it up with a cough. Knox scrunched up his nose and grabbed hers, shaking her head from one side to another. "You're so cute. What am I going to do with you?"

Nessa pushed his hand away and rubbed her nose. "What is wrong with you?"

Mitch Montgomery's eyes narrowed as he watched Knox play affectionately with Nessa. "I don't know what's going on here but I want to make this clear-"

"Mr. Marsden, we really should be going." Jason stepped forward. "Will your...girlfriend be joining us?"

"Now just a minute." Mr. Montgomery had his hands on his hips.

"Don't worry." Knox pushed Nessa forward." I'll let my father know about the round of golf you wanted."

Mitch Montgomery muttered something only Tate could hear before dragging his son away. Nessa tried walking beside Knox but he pushed her closer to Jason. "Keep walking. I don't want people to think we know one another."

"Then, why did you tell Mr. Montgomery you were my boyfriend? He's going to tell my parents and you'll never hear the end of it."

"I did it because I don't like the man and because I need to talk to you."

Knox whispered something to his assistant and Jason led them to Knox's car before stepping into the driver's seat.

"Talk to me about what? The note?" Nessa groaned. "Listen, I was angry when I wrote that."

They were in the backseat when he read the note. "Knox. Knox. Who's there?"

"I thought it was cute," she mumbled.

"Who told you about this? Was it Jessica?"

"Again with her? I told you I don't know her." Nessa shoved the dinosaur head in his lap, crossed her arms, and leaned back against the car seat. "Excuse me, but can you turn up the AC? It's hot as hell in this outfit."

"She's the only person I told about this."

"There's someone else who knows," Nessa said.

"No, there isn't," Knox was speaking through gritted teeth. "Jason? Drive."

Knox seethed next to Nessa.

Her tongue darted nervously across her pink-stained lips. "Your grandmother knew about it. Isn't she the one who always told you that joke?"

Knox's face paled and Nessa panicked, thinking she had made a mistake.

"Are you some kind of stalker? It makes sense if you are," he whispered, his hands squeezing the dinosaur head in his lap.

"No, of course not." Nessa crossed her arms. "Be careful with that mask. It's not mine and I can't afford to replace it."

Jason drove them down a secluded path leading to the outskirts of the city. Nessa tapped a dinosaur hand against the window. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Let me out. I don't want to be here," Nessa said, panicking. What if he was planning on murdering her in the middle of nowhere?

"Okay." Knox shrugged. "Jason stop the car."

The car immediately slowed to a stop near an upcoming cornfield.

"Wait!" Nessa held both arms out. "I don't have my cell phone or my purse. You can't leave me here."

"Too late."

"Are you serious right now? You're just going to abandon me? Who does that?"

"Apparently I do," Knox answered. "You wanted me to stop so I did."

"Did you plan this? Try to scare me before you drop me off in the middle of nowhere? No one probably drives through here."

"Sounds like you're going to have a rough afternoon. Get out."

"No." Nessa sat back and closed her eyes.

"You're not going to get out?" Knox raised a brow.

"So you can leave me? Hell no!"

Knox grinned. "Okay."

He proceeded to press the button to roll down the window and tossed the dinosaur head outside.

"Let's go, Jason."

Nessa gasped. "You evil sonofabitch!"

Knox laughed.

"Wait!" Nessa quickly opened her door and ran around to get the dinosaur head. She heard the clicking of the car doors locking before whirling around.

"You aren't serious are you? I could die of heat or dehydration or something if I tried walking back in this suit!"

"Sounds like a personal problem," Knox jeered.

"You just made a huge mistake," Nessa warned him. She placed her hands against his door and allowed the car window to frame her face.

"This coming from a woman dressed like a dinosaur?"

Nessa shook her head. "You say that now but you just wait. My Ghosties told me your biggest secret. I could destroy you." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."

Knox leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching. "Prove it."

"Drive now," Knox ordered.

Before Nessa could respond, Jason pressed on the gas, leaving her in a cloud of dust.

"You aren't really going to leave Ms. Cruz out there, are you?" Jason asked. "Her father is a pretty rich man. I looked it up after hearing Mr. Montgomery say his name."

"No, of course not." Knox sighed. "I just wanted to teach her a lesson."

"But why?"

"I don't know. She gets under my skin."

Jason chuckled and Knox fumed.

"What's so funny?"

"You. In all the years I've known you, you've never acted like a little kid and today you've done nothing but play along with Nessa Cruz's craziness."

"That's not true." Knox fidgeted in his seat, feeling like Jason was right. Why had he pretended to be her boyfriend? Surely not to help her. The look of pity on Tate Montgomery's face had irritated him. Then again, he had thought Nessa was some poor woman struggling to make her way through life and that Tate had merely used her. In reality, Nessa came from money. It was clear Mitch Montgomery found her wealthy enough to overlook all of her quirkiness. The old man hadn't batted an eye when he saw her in a dinosaur costume. She was a strange woman.

"Should I turn back now and pick her up?" Jason asked.

"If you insist," Knox replied. "She'll probably be incredibly grateful."

Jason slowed the car as an oncoming truck from the opposite direction approached them. It was a group of Mariachi singers and they were singing loudly through their windows. A slogan decorated the side of the dark truck.

"Mario's Mariachi: We sing anywhere and anytime."

"Someone must've wanted them to sing nearby," Jason murmured and pressed on the car brakes.

Standing in the bed of the truck stood Nessa in her dinosaur costume, including the head. Both Jason and Knox turned as they watched her make a fist at them followed by an obscene gesture.