by Bella Andre
“Can I do anything to help?” she asked.
“How about cutting up some veggies to grill? I’ve got red peppers and asparagus.”
Thank goodness his outdoor kitchen was covered. The meal he cooked was amazing. Granted, she’d been living on cereal, microwaved soup, baked beans, hot dogs, and scrambled eggs for months. But even if she’d been eating at five-star restaurants every night, Daniel’s food would have been delicious, because he’d cooked it and she was eating with him.
They sat on the floor on thick cushions, leaning against big beanbags. A fire blazed in the stove insert, and he’d set out lanterns to ward off the dark until the electricity came back on. The puppies lay sleeping in their box, so much more comfortable than they’d been in her cold, wet cabin.
She felt exactly the same way—warm, content, and sated. Even unfinished, this house was more a home than anything she’d ever lived in. It was so Daniel—big, open, meant for family to come rambling through.
“Where’d you learn to cook like this?” she asked, licking her lips.
“I’m a bachelor,” he said with a laugh, though it seemed a tad hoarse as he watched her mouth. “We all know how to barbecue.”
“But don’t you normally have loads of household staff to do that stuff for you?” There was no point pretending he wasn’t a billionaire.
“I have a cook on standby when I don’t feel like doing it myself and someone to clean house, but I’m just one person. I don’t need a lot.” Then he smiled cheekily. “And my mom insisted I learn how to barbecue because my dad always burns the meat.”
“I’ve said this before, but your family sounds wonderful.” She was determined to be happy for him without feeling sorry for herself.
“Yeah,” he said, though a little frown settled between his eyebrows. With a small shake of his head, he continued, “They’re great. You and my sister, Lyssa, would really like each other. She’s in Chicago where my parents live. Where we all grew up.”
Tasha wanted to know everything about him, even though it was dangerous territory given that the more she knew, the more she liked.
“How did you go from Chicago to all this?” She gestured to his mansion-in-progress.
“I went into contracting right out of high school. College never felt like a great fit for me, and I like to work with my hands. That’s why I enjoy building this place. I missed creating something with my own hands. I missed having calluses.” Setting his plate on the floor beside him, he held out his palms. “It took a while, but I’ve got them again.”
She remembered his deliciously callused touch from when he’d rescued her, and now she felt the urge to kiss each and every mark on his hands. “What happened next?” Her voice sounded as hoarse as his when he’d laughed a few minutes ago.
“I came up with some new tools, got some patents.” He shrugged as though it were a feat anyone might have accomplished. “The money gave me a grub stake. And I moved on from there.”
She marveled—who wouldn’t? “Your parents must be very proud.”
“They’re proud of all of us.”
He was modest, but she could see how much it meant to him to make his mother and father proud. “You did it for them, didn’t you? I get that you wanted to be a success, but all your money, everything you’ve built, it was so that you could give them everything they didn’t have when you were a kid, wasn’t it?”
His eyes held hers for a long moment, as though he was stunned by her insight. “Yes, it was. It is. I’ll never be able to do enough for them. All the Mavericks feel the same way—we wish we could buy them a bigger house, better cars, send them on fancy cruise ships and private jets, give them shopping sprees at the most expensive stores.” He shook his head. “But they don’t want any of that. All they want is time to spend with us and a house that’s big enough to put everyone up for the holidays.”
All the things his parents didn’t want were exactly the things her father had lied, cheated, and stolen to obtain. And instead of being showered with unconditional love as Daniel had been, Tasha and her brother had merely been pawns in her father’s cons. She remembered clearly how he’d trotted them out at business dinners and parties as if to say, Now that you can see what a great dad I am, you know I must be trustworthy.
“Tasha? Are you okay?”
She came back to the concern in Daniel’s handsome face, the warmth in his deep-brown eyes. “I was just thinking about my family.” The words came before she could stop them.
“Did you used to spend a lot of time with them?”
His question was gentle, but far too probing. “We worked together.” She shrugged, trying to bury the topic in nonchalance. “But that’s all in the past now. And we were talking about you. How did you come by your carpentry skills in the first place?”
They were both well aware that she was pivoting away from talking about herself. The only question was whether Daniel would let her get away with turning the spotlight back on him.
“When we were growing up,” he finally said, “nothing ever got fixed in our tenement unless we did it ourselves. So Dad learned how to mend leaky faucets and running toilets and change the thermostat in the oven and put in new floorboards and Sheetrock.”
She was relieved that he’d let her off the hook. Yet there was a part of her that longed to confide in him.
An extremely foolish part that needed to keep its mouth shut.
“He taught you along with the other Mavericks?”
“All five of us definitely know our way around a tool belt. We worked for our keep.” Done with his steak, he stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back against the beanbag, hands behind his head. “We all enjoyed it too.”
“There’s something really satisfying about completing a job, isn’t there?” She much preferred this safe topic of conversation to the family minefield. “These past months, I’ve had more than a few moments when I’ve been so pleased with the work I’m doing that I just have to stand back and look at it.” She’d often felt the same way while building websites, especially when she figured out a new tool or widget. She didn’t mention her job, though. It would only trigger more questions.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s a great feeling. My dad didn’t just give us the tools to be able to fix things with our own hands—he showed the other tenants how to fix stuff too.” Daniel’s expression softened with the tremendous love he felt for his father, for his whole family. “That’s where the idea for my DIY show came from. I wanted to emulate Dad by teaching people how to do it themselves and save money. And also to give them an inexpensive place to buy the tools and products they need, aided by helpful assistants to answer their questions. At first, we did demonstrations and classes at the stores, but I wanted to reach as many people as possible, so we transitioned into videos.”
It didn’t hurt, she thought, that Daniel was so good to look at on the screen, that he smiled often, that his laugh was a deep bass. But he was so much better in person. Her reactions to him were more visceral—the curl of desire in her belly, the heat of her skin when he was near.
Just as she’d feared, the more she liked him, the harder it was to keep her distance. Especially in the warm firelight and the candles and lanterns he’d set out to keep the dark at bay, where she felt lulled into wanting what she couldn’t have. What she didn’t believe she was worthy of. Not anymore.
“Any video requests?” he asked.
“You have to do a video on installing a hot tub,” she found herself saying. “I’d love to install one off my bedroom so that I can get into it first thing in the morning, straight out of bed.”
“A hot tub? Off your bedroom?” His voice sounded strangled, his gaze sizzling hot and riveted on her lips, as though he wanted to devour them. As if he wanted to consume her.
The only thing that could have broken the spell was a puppy whining for food. Otherwise, Tasha might have dived on him and done all the devouring herself.
“I think that’s
Darla,” Tasha said, jumping to her feet and looking into the crate. Sure enough, the little puppy was squawking like a baby bird. “She must be hungry. Which is good, isn’t it? It means she’s feeling stronger, right?” She was babbling because Daniel’s eyes were so intense. As though he could see right through her need to put distance between them. “I’ll make some Puppy Chow for her.” Spanky grumbled and woke up, closely followed by Froggy. Concentrating on them was better than facing the look in Daniel’s eyes, the one that promised to ferret out all her secrets. “We should probably feed the boys too.”
“I’ll help you.” Leaning down to scratch a puppy ear, Daniel was close enough to heat her straight through.
Backing up, she stepped on the edge of her plate, her cutlery rattling to the floor, and she would have tripped if he hadn’t grabbed her.
Just as it had when he’d rescued her from the roof, his touch sent hot need racing through her.
“Why don’t we let the dogs run around a bit while we make up their food?” Her voice sounded as breathless as she felt.
“Actually,” Daniel said, “I should probably take them outside to do some business first.”
Talking about the puppies and their potty training should have squashed all sense of desire. Except it didn’t. Because watching him pick all three up in his big hands made her whole body hum, turning her wild inside and crazy with need.
He was so gentle. And yet so strong.
So gorgeous.
So sexy.
Get a grip, Tasha.
Only, that was her major problem. She wanted a grip. On him. All over him.
And she was actually spending the night here?
She’d survived falling off the roof. But temptation might very well be the death of her.
Chapter Nine
Daniel breathed in the cold, stormy night air, hoping it would cool him down. Tasha seemed completely unaware of how utterly desirable she was. As far as he could tell, she didn’t have a clue what her smiles and laughter did to him.
And she clearly had no idea of the fantasies his mind had conjured up when she’d mentioned hot tubs…
It was going to be a hell of a long night.
By the time he’d returned with the puppies, she’d lined up food bowls on the floor in front of the crate. After he put them down on the hardwood floor, their feet slid out from under them as they tried to scramble to their food.
“Try again, guys.” He stood them all up on their paws.
“And girl,” Tasha said, kneeling beside him.
Tasha’s fresh-rain scent did things to his insides, and he battled an intense desire to nuzzle her hair. Yet there was something so vulnerable about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but any move he might make felt like he’d be taking advantage of her.
She was nothing like the women he’d dated. Women who knew the score. Who had been around. No one got hurt, and nothing got messy. But Tasha was a whole different toolbox he didn’t know his way around.
And he’d be damned if he hurt her.
In the back of his mind, though, he couldn’t stop wondering if keeping his distance was more about protecting himself from Tasha. Just as his mother had suggested during their call, maybe that was his MO, the way he’d always held himself back from every other woman, fearing that no relationship could stack up to his parents’ perfect, open, honest love story.
Until his mom had started talking about bumps.
Damn it, he wasn’t letting that thought inside his head right now. Not when he finally had Tasha here for an entire night.
“Sit, Darla.” He tapped her behind. “Good girl,” he praised. Then he let her eat before doing the same with Spanky.
“Are you trying to train them already?” Tasha gathered up Froggy like a protective mother. “They’re just babies.”
The affronted frown on her brow made him laugh. “They did their business outside when I told them. So I figure they can learn to sit for a meal. Why don’t you try the command?”
She harrumphed, so damn cute the need to kiss her consumed him all over again. But she set Froggy by a bowl, said, “Sit, Froggy,” and tapped his little bottom. When he sat, she applauded him, then let him eat.
“See? It works.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Only if I tap his butt down.”
“Good training habits start early.”
She narrowed-eyed him this time. “You said you’d never had a pet, so how do you know?”
“Intuition.”
“Yeah, right.” She laughed.
He loved the way her face lit up when she forgot to be wary. It was just how he wanted her—sweet and hot and laughing.
Without thinking, he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. She went still, and his heart beat harder in his chest, throbbing in places way down low. He’d never felt this mixture of desire laced with nerves before.
He’d always asked for what he wanted, never worried about mixed signals, never wondered if someone might get hurt—because none of his previous dates had had any chance of lasting for the long haul. They’d known it as well as he had.
But with Tasha…
His thoughts scattered as she turned to him slightly, her mouth so damn kissable. Trailing his finger around the shell of her ear, he touched her lobe, slid down to her throat, her skin warm to the touch. Her lashes fluttered down, and she finally breathed, her lips parting. Inviting.
He was so close to kissing her. Barely a breath away from drowning in her scent, in her warmth.
“Oh look, see how much Darla’s eating all on her own this time.” Her voice trembled, but whether it was with desire or nerves, he didn’t know. “She’s finally on the mend. And so are the other two. They just needed food and water and TLC. Don’t you think?”
“I do,” he said, squashing his disappointment that she hadn’t fallen into his arms. “They’re going to be fine.”
Maybe he should have kissed her and to hell with thinking things through. But he wanted her to be just as into him as he was into her. He wanted to know he wasn’t the only one slowly going crazy with need.
And the truth was that he needed to understand her better before they took that step, so they could avoid any pitfalls waiting around the bend.
When she yawned, it hit him how tired she must be from caretaking the three puppies. Plus, she’d been up way earlier than he had, the realization a potent reminder of how she’d found him naked in his bed this morning. The memory made his voice a little rough around the edges. “It’s been a long day, and you’ve been occupied with these furballs the whole time. It’s my turn tonight. Why don’t you head up to bed?”
“I like taking care of them,” she insisted, “even if they don’t sleep through the night yet.” The second big yawn that chased her sentence gave her away.
“Do I need to carry you up there and tuck you in myself?” He’d love it. But it was the baddest of bad ideas considering he didn’t trust himself to find the strength to leave.
“No!” The unavoidable sensual undertones of his offer were akin to striking a match beneath her feet. “I’m going.” She was already skittering away from him and up the stairs when she called over her shoulder, “Good night.”
He sat on the floor with the dogs, stroking them silently until he heard his bedroom door close. “Women.” Darla gave him the side-eye, and he brushed a hand over her cute head. “All the ones who ever wanted me, I didn’t want. And now that I’ve found one I can’t stop thinking about…”
Darla slipped and slid as she tried to climb into his lap. He picked her up, and she immediately curled into a ball of fluff. Moments later, her brothers were jostling to join her, and before Daniel knew it, he had three warm bodies happily snoring against him.
Family. There was nothing like it to heal you—or, as in the case of the other Mavericks’ birth parents, harm you.
He’d learned tonight that Tasha had worked with her family, which was now in the past. But her emotions about it clear
ly weren’t past artifacts, if merely talking about her family could etch that much pain on her face.
Daniel knew from Will, Sebastian, Matt, and Evan’s experiences that dealing with bad things from your past wasn’t easy. On the contrary, it tended to be a long road, one you could walk only with the people who loved you, people you trusted not to use your pain against you.
Secure in the knowledge that nothing could hurt Tasha while she was in his home, he leaned against the beanbag and closed his eyes, soon joining the puppies in their slumber.
* * *
Tasha woke to the sun filling Daniel’s room. The storm had passed during the night, and the morning was glorious. She stretched luxuriously in his big sleigh bed. Though she should have been more insistent that she didn’t need to take his bed, she couldn’t deny that the thick, top-quality mattress was an utterly delicious treat after three months on a blow-up bed.
Daniel had said she should use whatever she wanted, and though she didn’t like to take advantage of his hospitality, she couldn’t resist a shower in his spa-like bathroom.
Nor, on the heels of last night’s almost-kiss that had crept into her dreams, could she resist the fantasy of Daniel in there with her, soaping each other…
No, she couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t allow herself to fall deeper under his spell. Especially now that she’d learned just how difficult his childhood had been—and how hard he’d worked to bring not only himself out of it, but his parents as well.
Daniel deserved to be with a woman just as selfless and good as he was. One who had sound judgment about people, or at the very least, one who hadn’t missed every single sign of wrongdoing her entire life. A woman who’d never walked on the wrong side, the way Tasha had with her family.
After showering and towel-drying her hair, she left it hanging loose to air dry. Finally looking at her watch, she shocked herself. It was eleven o’clock. How had she slept that long? It was unheard of.
But she knew exactly why. With Daniel downstairs, she’d felt safe for the first time in months. She hadn’t missed the wariness that sometimes crept into his eyes, as though it worried him that he couldn’t add up all her pieces into a whole. He was right to be wary, obviously smarter than she by a long shot when it came to not trusting someone completely before you knew enough about them.
