His smile widened. He held her gaze as he turned her hand over, and now his thumb found her wrist, its thudding pulse. He drew a circle, a trail of fire. Danny’s eyes darkened as they dropped to her lips.
“Okay, okay, there’s a spark,” Madison said crossly. She wrenched her hand away, whipped it into her lap so he wouldn’t see the trembling. “Sparks happen, no big deal. I can’t imagine you really think this is a date. You’re too one-dimensional for me.”
Annoyance flickered in his expression. “Focusing on my racing doesn’t make me one-dimensional. I want to win the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship. I’ve worked hard for years and that’s put me in a position to achieve my dream.”
The waiter arrived with their appetizer, and Danny waited until they were alone again before he continued. “I’ve seen how you are with your work, Madison. Don’t tell me, with all that passion you feel for those animals, you don’t have some kind of dream.”
She did, but she never talked about it. Her boss would see it as treachery, her mom would worry about the risk involved, her sisters wouldn’t understand why it was so important. Danny, who spent his life following his dream, would understand.
“I want to open my own clinic,” she admitted. “I’d work with animal shelters half the time, private clients the rest. The private work would fund the shelter work.”
“Sounds like something you’d be good at.” He snapped a bread stick in half. “How’s it going?”
“Excuse me?”
He bit into the bread stick. “What progress have you made?”
“I—uh…” She stared at him. “It’s not like I’m planning to do it tomorrow.”
“You’ll never do it if you don’t start working toward it.” He folded his arms. “Unless you get a little more one-dimensional.”
“I don’t have a lot of free time,” she protested. “Roger, my boss, often needs me to work extra shifts. He promised he’ll send me to a Clinic Management course next year—it’s expensive and it’ll help with setting up my own business. If I refuse shifts, he might back out.” She could tell by the way Danny’s lips clamped together he didn’t think much of her reasoning.
Yeah, well, she didn’t have a whole team of people helping her focus on her dream. “Your family must be proud of your racing,” she said.
His eyes shuttered. “They would be if they were still around. My parents died when I was sixteen. They were driving through a flooded area. Their car got washed away.”
“Oh, Danny.” Instinctively, she reached across the table, put her hand over his.
For a fleeting moment, she saw stark pain in his eyes. Then he shook his head briskly and said, “Up until then I had a great childhood. Mom and Dad were the best, we did everything together.”
Which would only have made the loss harder to bear.
“Did you have other family who could look after you?”
Danny eyed her with irritation. He never had this conversation with people; he hated talking about his past. “No one I wanted to go to. I already worked as a gofer for SouthMax Racing after school and during summer, and I was racing a midget for Hugh Naylor on weekends. Hugh said I could live in the apartment over his garage if I agreed to work for him full-time after I finished high school.”
“So he adopted you? Fostered you?”
He shook his head. “I applied for emancipation as a minor, rather than go into the foster system.”
Madison’s eyes misted over.
“Hugh and his wife, Marj, were great.” Danny took a hearty swig of his beer. “I had a place to live and an income. And I got to do what I love—drive race cars. If I hadn’t been with Hugh I wouldn’t have gotten into the NASCAR Busch Series as early as I did, and from there into the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.”
Madison made an inarticulate noise.
He slammed his empty glass down onto the table, rattling silverware and making her jump. “Dammit, Madison, quit looking like you’re about to cry. Save your pity for dumb animals that can’t help themselves.”
CHAPTER FIVE
MADISON’S BROWN EYES filled with hurt—which was a welcome change from that damned pity she seemed to feel for anyone and everyone at the drop of a spanner.
Danny scanned the drinks menu, so he wouldn’t have to look at her. So what if he’d had fun shopping with her tonight…and even more fun teasing her about the attraction between them? Somehow he’d ended up asking about her dreams, then blabbing about his parents—those things wouldn’t help him win races and they left him feeling even more unsettled than he’d been lately. He decided she was right; this shouldn’t be a date.
Their steaks arrived, along with steak knives that would have come in handy cutting the tension at the table.
For a while, they ate in silence. Danny took the opportunity to observe Madison as she cut her steak, speared pieces of salad with her fork. Her cheeks were flushed—no doubt because she was mad at him—and her hair looked soft and touchable. Her sweater was a chunky gold knit that crossed in a V over her breasts. At the pet store, Danny had noticed how the sweater skimmed her trim, jean-clad derriere.
His gaze traveled back up to her face and locked on her lips. He imagined leaning across the table and kissing her right now. Bad idea, given he didn’t plan to see her again.
Then he heard himself say, “I have to go to New York for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series awards ceremony on Friday. I wouldn’t know where to start finding a place to board Buster—any chance you can look after him overnight?”
Madison put down her fork, happy to talk, it seemed, when it concerned the dog. “I’d love to look after him, but my condo rules don’t allow me to have a dog. Even if it’s just for one night, one of the neighbors is bound to make a fuss—it’s hard to sneak in an animal as big as Buster.”
Danny drummed his fingers on the table. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say, yet there was an inevitability about it he couldn’t fight. “You can stay at my place.”
She recoiled. “I’m a stranger. Why would you invite me to stay?”
“You care about Buster. You’re more likely to let him destroy my garden than you are to steal the silver.” Danny realized it was that caring side of Madison that had grabbed him and wouldn’t let go. Looking at it dispassionately, he could admit he was vulnerable right now. It might not be a bad idea to give in, temporarily, to his need for the kind of care Madison offered—even if it was aimed at his dog, not at him. It might make the holiday season less…solitary.
In the end, he convinced her, which he chalked up as another victory for Danny Cruise. Then he swiftly wrapped up the evening—before his runaway mouth and his lonely soul invited her to move in with him permanently.
He drove Madison back to the vet clinic to pick up her car. He got out of the truck to open her door. She was so close he could smell her hair, lemons and something spicy like cinnamon. She looked up at him. Man, she had a nice mouth.
“Good night, Madison.” He leaned in, kissed her briefly, just long enough for the softness of her lips to tantalize him into wanting more. When he pulled back, she was smiling and frowning at the same time.
She got into her car, lowered the window. “Thanks for an interesting evening, Danny.”
After she drove away, Danny climbed back into the truck, slamming the door. “Interesting!” he expostulated. “What kind of word is that?”
In the backseat, Buster lifted his head and yawned.
Suddenly, Danny wasn’t sure who’d won tonight.
AT SIX O’CLOCK Friday evening, Madison keyed in the entry code Danny had given her, and let herself into his stone-and-cedar home near Kannapolis.
“Wow.” Slowly, she turned to take in the double-height entryway, the open-plan living and dining room with vaulted ceilings. It was so large, it might have been intimidating, but Danny’s house was homier than she’d have imagined. Warm colors delineated the spaces and created intimate corners. The enormous fireplace was piled high with logs and pinec
ones.
Then she noticed the Christmas decorations everywhere. A tree in the living room, swathes of red and gold ribbon. Obviously Danny hadn’t done it himself—the decor proclaimed a professional touch. But even so, why would a guy who wanted to forget Christmas have someone make his house look like this? As she headed to the kitchen, she noticed mistletoe hung above every doorway. Which took her mind in the obvious direction…
It was the shortest kiss in history, she scolded herself. Yet she only had to close her eyes to feel Danny’s mouth on hers again. Impatient with her mental meanderings, she yanked the back door open. Buster’s chain rattled on the back porch as he got to his feet.
“Come in, boy,” she invited. “Come and distract me from Danny Scrooge.”
After Madison fed Buster and ate the microwave meal she’d brought with her—despite Danny’s insistence she should help herself to the contents of his family-size fridge—she turned on the TV.
The NASCAR awards show started at nine. As she watched the opening credits roll, an awful thought struck her. What if Danny was taking a date to the ceremony? Surely he would have said something…but Madison was the one who’d insisted the dinner they’d shared wasn’t a date.
She watched various drivers, team owners and sponsors arriving on the “Yellow Carpet,” the men in their tuxedos, the women glamorous in evening dress. Pretty much everyone was in a couple.
The voice-over said, “And there’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series runner-up Danny Cruise, The Natural.”
He appeared on her screen—alone. Immediately, for his sake, Madison wished he wasn’t. Because she couldn’t help feeling that, whatever he said about his focus on his racing, Danny was lonely.
She watched the ceremony right through. Danny won the Most Dramatic Moment Award, when viewers voted his knife-edge win at Daytona as the most nerve-racking highlight of the last NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season. And, of course, he won the award for finishing second in the series.
On that trip to the podium, he said, “Winning the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship is the pinnacle of any driver’s racing career. I want to congratulate Trent Matheson on his deserved victory. And to give him some advice for next season—watch your back.”
The crowd laughed and applauded. Back in Danny’s living room, Madison added graciousness and self-possession to the list of things she liked about him. The only list I should be making is my Christmas shopping, she thought.
After the program finished, Madison took Buster outside, where they both shivered in the freezing night air, then she showed him to his basket in the utility room before she headed upstairs. The guest room Danny had told her to use was spacious, decorated in aqua and teal colors that lent a restful feeling.
She brushed her teeth, donned her pale blue flannel pajamas, which featured gamboling kittens. Buster had been fine tonight—if she managed to dig up enough willpower, she would leave right after breakfast, without waiting for Danny to get home.
Bad idea to start thinking about Danny as she climbed into bed. Madison slept fitfully, waking several times, and each time it took her a while to get back to sleep. On about the fifth occasion, the bedside clock read four-thirty. She went to the bathroom, then, restless, wandered to the window, peeked through the curtains. It was still pitch-dark outside. Maybe a soothing cup of tea would put her back to sleep.
Downstairs, she stuck her head around the utility room door—Buster slept the sleep of the innocent, lying on his back, legs in the air. Madison chuckled as she put the kettle on the stove.
Then she saw the slow, silent movement of the back door. Opening.
The sensible thing would have been to run for a phone and dial 911. Madison froze to the spot and let out a squawk.
The door flung open, and Danny raced into the kitchen. “Madison? Are you okay?”
“No, you jerk, I’m having a heart attack.” She clutched at her chest, where her heart had almost leaped out of its cavity. Her other hand gripped the back of one of the pine kitchen chairs, because her knees threatened to buckle.
“Hold on.” He grabbed her upper arms, half supporting her, half hauling her toward the phone. Then he computed that her condition was the result of his unexpected appearance, and stopped. “Dammit, you gave me a scare.”
“You gave me a scare.” She thumped him lightly on his chest. He was wearing a tuxedo again, and his white shirt looked just as good dry as it did damp. “What are you doing here?”
Apparently satisfied she was in no danger of imminent cardiac arrest, he relaxed his grip. “I left right after the awards ceremony. I flew up on my own plane, so it was no big deal.”
“Oh.” That was all Madison could manage, because Danny’s hands were caressing her upper arms. Awareness scattered and regrouped—awareness of the scant few inches of space between them, that she was wearing her pajamas, that she’d failed to fasten the top three buttons, giving him a generous view of her cleavage. Fortunately, he wasn’t looking down.
Now he was.
His eyes lingered on the swell of her curves, and Madison thought she really should do something to get his attention. Something other than removing her pajama top.
“I watched the awards on TV.” Her voice came out husky.
He brought his gaze back up. “I hoped you were.”
The simple words had Madison’s heart thumping again.
“It wasn’t much fun being there on my own,” he admitted.
“Too bad they don’t let you take a pet,” she joked.
He inched closer. “I wasn’t thinking about Buster.” He fingered the lapel of her pajamas, touched one of the kittens. “Cute pj’s.”
Without waiting for a reply, he grasped her other lapel and tugged her toward him so they were touching almost the entire length of their bodies. Surely that lightest of contact couldn’t explain the explosion of heat that rippled through Madison?
“Your house is gorgeous,” she babbled, feeling as if her face was on fire. “It’s so comfortable, so warm.”
“I had a good decorator.” One arm slipped behind her back.
She swallowed. “You must have told her what you wanted.”
He nodded. His other arm went around her, just loosely, but now she was wholly in his embrace.
“And the Christmas decorations,” she said urgently.
“The decorator again,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered there. “All part of the service.”
“The tree looks fantastic.”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes told her he thought something was fantastic, but it wasn’t the tree. “What did you think of the mistletoe?”
“It, uh…” The words dried up under the scorching heat in his dark eyes. He tightened his embrace enough to move her backward to the doorway. Madison couldn’t resist looking up at the mistletoe.
“Let’s see if it works.” Danny lowered his mouth to hers.
From the first touch, it was nothing like that swift kiss he’d given her the other night. He kissed her hard, seeking a response that Madison gave willingly. She wound her arms around his neck, pressing herself closer to him.
If they didn’t stop now, the next step was bed.
She tore her mouth from his. “Danny, wait.” She put a hand on his chest, creating a space between them.
He was breathing heavily, just as she was, and his eyes glinted with a hunger she recognized. He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re going to say this is a bad idea.”
“You know it is.” She ducked her head aside as he leaned toward her again. “I should go back to bed. Alone.”
He sighed as he released her, then smoothed her pajama top back into place with an efficient intimacy that had her blushing. “If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
“It is,” she lied.
His hands rested on her hips. He glanced over her head and said regretfully, “Best damned mistletoe I ever bought.”
WOULD DANNY KISS any woman he found in his kitchen i
n the early hours of the morning? Or only a woman he…liked?
The questions plagued Madison as she showered. She’d fallen asleep after she came back upstairs this morning, and she hadn’t woken until nearly eight.
She toweled herself dry, pulled on jeans and a clean long-sleeved cherry-colored T-shirt.
“I don’t think he’d kiss just anyone,” she said out loud. Danny wasn’t one of those drivers who had a reputation as a flirt. From what Madison knew of him, he wasn’t overly impulsive. In which case, he liked her.
“Why shouldn’t he like me?” she asked her reflection. She might not be as glamorous as his other girlfriends, but she was attractive. He’d described their dinner the other night as a date. Did he want to keep dating her? If he did, what would she say?
Madison tried to picture herself as Danny Cruise’s girlfriend.
Will I have to get a belly button ring?
She lifted her T-shirt and checked out her navel above the low-slung jeans. Imagined a gold stud or hoop—very tasteful, nothing flashy—glistening there. She rather liked the idea.
Of course, she couldn’t let her mom see it.
Just like that, the bubble burst. Who was she kidding? She liked Danny, he was a great guy—but he was never going to fit into her ordinary life. He wasn’t going to spend time with her mom and her three younger sisters when they had their boyfriends over for a family Sunday dinner once a month. He wasn’t going to help them move furniture and paint walls.
Why start dating him when she’d end up dissatisfied? To avoid any risk to her heart, she should end it now.
But…maybe she’d let him kiss her good morning first.
CHAPTER SIX
WHEN MADISON WALKED into the kitchen, Danny was using a knife to extract something from the toaster.
“I picked up some bagels from the all-night store on my way home this morning,” he said.
Electrocuting himself seemed an unnecessarily severe way to end their relationship. Madison moved swiftly to unplug the toaster from the wall.
He looked up, surprised. “Thanks, but I was being careful.”
A NASCAR Holiday 2: Miracle SeasonSeason of DreamsTaking ControlThe Natural Page 22
