Had he expected her to wear something more formal? More wedding-like?
“Is this okay or should I change into something else?”
Danny shook his head. “No. It’s fine. You look . . . nice.”
His smile was an afterthought. Forced. Something knotted in the pit of her stomach and for the first time she considered that this was a terrible, terrible idea.
Her father must have sensed her discomfort. “Beautiful as always, pumpkin,” he said with a wink.
Bree pressed a kiss to his stubbled cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Danny stepped forward and offered his hand to her. She looked into his eyes, needing some kind of reassurance and he gave it to her with a confident smile. Bree placed her palm in his and watched as his strong hand folded around her own, providing that little bit of security she needed to push forward.
“I’m not sure how long we’ll be,” he said to her parents. “Depends on how many others they have scheduled in front of us. But if we won’t be back until this afternoon, I’ll let you know.”
Hesitantly, Bev stepped forward and embraced him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Pete nodded in understanding and offered his hand to Bree’s future husband. “Good luck.” Danny reached out to accept it only to be pulled in unexpectedly, her father whispering something in Danny’s ear then slapping his shoulder to punctuate the point.
“Yes, sir.” Danny smiled, seemingly amused by what transpired.
After one last hug and kiss from both her parents, he pressed his palm to the curve of her lower back. Even through the layers of her dress and jacket, she could feel the strength of his hand as he escorted her out the door and to where the car was parked along the curb.
“What did my dad say to you that was so funny?”
“He told me if I hurt you that he had a gun and a shovel and that no one would miss me.”
Bree rolled her eyes. “That man really needs some new material.”
“Tell me about it,” Danny laughed. “I’m pretty sure he said the exact same thing before I took you to senior prom.”
Mac stood on the sidewalk to see them off, happy and smiling and kissing his daughter-in-law-to-be on the cheek before she climbed in. Michael kept his distance, remaining on the front porch, arms crossed over his chest. Even if Danny hadn’t mentioned Michael was against their marrying, she would have caught a clue. Only when she waved did he give a half smile and wave in return. The smile, however, quickly disappeared and he turned to go inside.
Whether he was upset with her or Danny or both remained to be seen, but it looked like their four-hour car ride south was going to be an interesting one.
Chapter Six
ASIDE FROM THE low hum of the radio, they drove to the county seat in silence. Which meant she had far too much time alone with her thoughts. Just the occasional glance from him had Bree going crazy inside. What the hell was running through his mind? Was he regretting his offer of marriage? There’d been that momentary look of surprise in his eyes that disappeared just as quickly. Something was up and once again he was keeping his true thoughts from her.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She watched his face carefully, his eyes briefly making contact with hers before returning to the road. “This idea of yours, it was pretty impulsive. Even for you. So if you don’t really want to go through with this I’ll understand.”
“And do what instead?” he replied without looking in her direction.
Here she was one giant bundle of nerves spiraling out of control and he was calm. So damn calm. Which was just so like him. Danny loved this kind of crap. Spontaneity. Living moment to moment. Whereas she was a planner. She liked neatness and structure, and this was far from orderly.
“I don’t know. Don’t you have a girlfriend?” Or two? Maybe three? God, she hoped there weren’t three. “What would she have to say about this?”
“You’re asking whether or not I have a girlfriend? Now?” he asked, not hiding the amusement in his voice. “We’re on the way to the courthouse, Bree. And no, there’s no girlfriend. I don’t do girlfriends.”
“You used to.”
“Not in a very long time.”
She couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been. Two years? Five years? Surely he’d been in some kind of long-term relationship since they were together in college.
“So what happens after?”
She didn’t dare look at him now; instead she took great interest at the passing scenery as the heat of embarrassment burned through her.
“After?”
“After we get married since we won’t be . . . you know.” She idly waved one hand between them without looking in his vicinity.
“Since we won’t what? Be having wild hot monkey sex 24/7?”
Jesus. He loved tormenting her and she couldn’t not look at him now.
Having hit a red light just blocks from the courthouse, Danny focused his attention solely upon her. His blue eyes twinkled with mischievousness, his lips quirked. He was having way too much fun with this.
“Well, yeah. I’m just—”
A car horn alerted them to the stoplight changing to green, and Danny returned his attention to the road. Which meant she could now ogle to her heart’s content. Her gaze landed on his hands, how they alternately gripped then smoothed over the leather-wrapped steering wheel as he made a turn. She still remembered the feel of those hands. Smoothing across her skin, over her breasts, down her stomach. How they could lift her from the ground and gently pin her to the bed.
“What are your plans?” She placed a hand at her throat. Her pulse raced beneath her fingertips, her skin hot to the touch. If she were wearing a string of pearls around her neck she’d certainly be clutching them right about now. Which was pathetic, considering she was a grown damn woman having a conversation about sex with her husband-to-be. Instead, she was on the verge of dying of embarrassment.
“My plans?”
“Because I sincerely doubt—” Bree cleared her throat in an attempt to free the words. “I doubt you’ll go without you-know-what for however long we’re married.”
He found a spot in the courthouse parking lot, pulled in and shut off the engine. Danny repeated her sanitized phrasing in amusement just before his eyes widened with surprise.
“You’re expecting me to be unfaithful?”
The temperature in his vehicle had skyrocketed twenty degrees in the last sixty seconds and she desperately needed fresh air. Bree made a play for the door handle, but he hit the child locks, effectively holding her hostage.
“LET ME OUT, Danny.”
“Not until we talk this out, Bree.”
At first it was amusing listening to her spurt and sputter as she fought the embarrassment to get to the heart of the question. But in the end she’d successfully gotten under his skin. He realized it’d been ten years since they were close, but even as a horny college freshman he’d been faithful. So to question his loyalty, his ability to keep his libido in check, well, in short, it pissed him off.
“It’s not really cheating since it’s not a real marriage.”
Danny took a deep breath, counted to ten and reminded himself to not lose his shit. Resting one arm atop the steering wheel he turned to face her.
“You think I’m going to marry you, have you move in with me then go off and screw around with someone else?” he said so calmly he impressed the hell out of himself.
“You aren’t?”
“No!” Bree flinched when his answer slipped out with a little too much force. He needed to regain his composure. Not to mention change the subject, if possible. Time for a little designed distraction. “I mean no,” he repeated, the calm having returned. “Not unless you’re into that kind of thing.” She blinked once, twice, her eyes going wider each time. He was definitely on the right track. “Are you into that kind of thing?”
Her jaw dropped open. With his index finger Danny lifted her chin and closed it for her.
“You don’t seriously think—” Her blush now reached epic proportions.
He leaned across the console well into her personal space. “It’s been ten years, Bree.” His voice dropped to an even lower register. “Who knows what you’re into now. What kind of naughty little things are packed away in those boxes in your bedroom?”
Bree covered her face with both hands, the only way to hide from his gaze as he had a good laugh at her expense. “You’re so mean,” she whined.
Danny pulled one hand from her face and waited until those big brown eyes focused on him.
“To be honest, I’m a little bit insulted. As you should be. You’d let me humiliate you that way and just sit back and take it? That’s not the girl I knew.” He released her hand and pressed the button on the driver-side to unlock the doors. Hopefully he’d convinced her unless . . . “Was that what you were planning to do?”
“Me? I have no plans,” she said, the picture of innocence. “I’m just along for the ride on this one.”
“Yeah. Right. Why are we even having this conversation if you haven’t been thinking about it? Maybe I should have asked if you were planning on screwing someone else while we’re married. Have you been seeing anyone?”
“I’m twenty-eight years old, unemployed, and living with my parents. And I’ve yet to mention the cancer part. That’s so sexy. For years I’ve practically been beating men back with a stick,” Bree deadpanned.
Danny shook his head. “You’re terrible.”
“What?” she shouted as he climbed out of the truck and made his way around the front. “It’s the truth.”
He opened her door, offering his hand to her. “Listen up, Dunbar. There won’t be any other women. I promise.”
“But that’s the point. You don’t have to.”
God dammit. He could just tell she was on the verge of saying something stupid, like suggesting he take a lover. So when she didn’t take his hand, he placed it over her mouth instead. Her brown eyes widened to the size of saucers.
“No, I do. Got it?” He’d definitely shocked her. About as much as he shocked himself. But she didn’t fight him, didn’t squirm to get away. “Nod your head once to show you understand.”
Almost immediately he felt her smile against his palm as she nodded in agreement.
“Good,” he said, smiling back at her.
His knuckles brushed across her soft cheek, his attention dropping to her now uncovered mouth, temporarily mesmerized by his thumb skimming across her full lower lip of its own volition. Her pink lips parted beneath his touch, her soft exhales fanning over his calloused skin in an erratic rhythm. In an instant their past came rushing back. How he’d tasted those lips, that tongue. How there once was a time he’d spent hours lost in the feel of her mouth on his.
But reliving the past wasn’t part of their agreement and he’d be far better off to remember that.
JUST BEFORE DUSK they reached the outskirts of Savannah due to a longer than expected wait at the courthouse. After which they’d returned to her parents’ home for a late lunch, and Danny loaded up her things. Somewhere south of Charleston, the whirlwind of the past few days caught up with Bree. She curled up on the second-row bench seat with a pillow and blanket and slept peacefully despite all the boxes and luggage piled around her.
In the rearview mirror he could see the long strands of her brown wig draped over her cheek, the contrast between light and dark only making her skin appear paler. More sickly. He knew why she wore it, but secretly wished she wouldn’t. Something about it dulled her natural vibrancy. And the woman that wore it was far from dull.
At least she didn’t used to be. As much as he hated to admit it, Danny didn’t really know much about the woman she was now.
“What do you think the guys are going to say when they find out the great Daniel MacGregor has fallen into the clutches of marriage?”
Of course Michael’s first attempt at conversation in the past three hours would be a doozy. Why pussyfoot around the subject? Just go for the damn jugular right out of the gate.
“I’m going to catch a ration of shit, that much is certain.” If Danny never thought it possible he would return from block leave with a wife, then the guys in his platoon certainly didn’t.
“Think your past is gonna come back to haunt you?”
Danny shrugged his shoulders and focused his attention on the road. “Can’t do anything about that now.”
Mike chuckled. “Maybe you shouldn’t have talked so much crap for the past several years to every guy who got married. Which reminds me, are you going to change your cell phone number? How many women have that number anyway?”
“Quit—” Danny checked himself, quickly lowering his voice before he woke the woman sleeping in the backseat. “Quit blowing shit out of proportion. You make it sound like I fucked anything in a skirt.”
Danny continued to check the mirror, hoping Bree was truly asleep and not listening in on the conversation.
“Let’s be honest here. You’ve definitely plowed through a lot of terrain.”
“And who are you? The Pope? I don’t think you’ve been the greatest of Boy Scouts, either.”
“Have you given her any idea of your past? What are you going to do when you two run into one of the many notches on your bedpost? Because at some point in time, it will happen.”
“It won’t be a problem. Things aren’t like that between us. There are no expectations.”
Thankfully, the conversation ended before Bree woke and they arrived at the apartment complex where both he and Michael lived. Taking the first of several boxes from the truck, Danny led Bree upstairs to his second-floor apartment.
Michael dropped his load and headed out the door for more. Danny followed to do the same, until Bree called out to him.
“Are things okay with you two?”
Danny shrugged. “No different than always.”
A worry line formed between her brows. “I hate that I’m the cause of tension between the two of you.”
“He’s not angry with you. He’s angry with me.” Danny skimmed his palm across her shoulder. “And you of all people should know that’s nothing new.”
“Maybe we should all go out to dinner? Smooth things over before it gets worse?”
With the way their conversation went in the car, the last thing Danny wanted to do was break bread with his brother. But he’d suck it up and do it. For Bree. Not for his brother or himself, just so she’d stop worrying about it.
By the time he reached the parking lot, Michael had already removed several boxes from the back of his truck.
“Bree wanted me to ask if you wanted to go out to eat with us.”
“I’ve got plans.”
“With who?”
“Hatton.”
First Lieutenant Raymond Hatton was an asshole of the highest order. A guy who knew more about writing military history than actually conducting it. After more than a few close calls during their last rotation in the ’Stan, he finally let go of his micromanaging bullshit style and let the guys who’d been fighting the fight all these years do their job. Even if there weren’t rules against fraternization, Danny wouldn’t hang with Hatton unless it was a direct order. But it made sense Hatton would try to hang with Mike. After all, they were both officers. Both single, since Hatton’s wife filed divorce papers and moved back to wherever they came from during the last deployment.
“Since when do you hang out with that dickhead?” Mike gave him a look. “Sorry. I meant Lt. Dickhead.”
“Consider it a pity outing. I’ll take him out, let him blow off some steam, maybe then he won’t be such an asshole. Besides, I’m sure as hell not going to hang out with the two of you on your wedding night.”
“I told you it’s not like that between me and Bree.”
“That may be the case—”
“That is the case.”
“Either way, if the three of us go out and run into any of the guys, they’re going to get suspicious. So I’ll help carry up the rest of her stuff, but then you two are on your own.” Mike stacked one box on top of another and picked them up off the ground. “You’re not afraid to be alone with her?”
Yes. No. “Why would you think that?”
“There’s a lot of history there, Danny. This arrangement you’ve come up with might not be so easy to disentangle yourself from.”
Making a big deal out of nothing. Again. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. Both he and Bree were adults. They’d made a deal. He’d help her for as long as she needed. A year, maybe two at the most. After that she’d probably move back to South Carolina or maybe to Atlanta and he’d go back to doing the same thing he was doing before he slipped that ring on her finger. Back to a life filled with random hookups, short-term arrangements and recreational flings.
Oddly enough, the prospect of rushing back to his old life didn’t seem all that appealing.
BREE TOOK UP residence in the kitchen where she’d be out of the way as the brothers brought in box after box of her things. Danny’s apartment was sparsely decorated, with not much more than a loveseat, recliner, and television. A small table with two chairs was shoved against the wall to allow for a path through the tiny breakfast nook.
The boxes continued to stack up, many of them filled with stuff she didn’t really need. But Danny insisted she’d feel more at home if she brought more than just the essentials. Since he had plenty of room for her things and her move was indefinite, she might as well bring everything they could haul.
“Okay you two, I’m outta here,” Mike said, making his way to the front door.
“Want to run in the morning, or do you think you’ll be out too late?”
“If it’s anything like the last time I went out with Hatton, I’ll be in bed before eleven. Give me a call at six. If I don’t answer, go on without me. ’Night, Bree.”
Once and For All: An American Valor Novel Page 5
