by Unknown
Bryce walked back to his car, trying to figure out what to do next. He had never let anything stand between him and what he wanted and he’d never wanted anything, he’d never needed anyone, as much as he wanted and needed Dani.
Bryce was going to make things right. He would make things work. Somehow.
But first he had to find her.
Dani speared a clump with a pitchfork. She hadn’t mucked stalls in over a year and already the muscles in her arms and shoulders ached. Good thing she’d remembered gloves or she’d have blisters on her hands.
Her pitchfork scraped the wheelbarrow.
The smell of horse and hay reminded her of the day at the stable with Bryce. Her mind burned with the memory.
Of her riding.
Of the sexy smile on Bryce’s face as he’d watched her.
Of the passionate kiss they’d shared.
Stop thinking about him. Dani squeezed her eyes closed, trying to force the images from her mind.
It was over. She opened her eyes. Over.
She stabbed another clump.
The horse from the next stall neighed.
Her boots crunched beneath the mixture of straw and shavings.
“Just be patient, Penny,” Dani said to the pretty little chestnut mare. “Your stall is next.”
The horse snorted.
“I know how you feel.” She leaned against the pitchfork handle and rolled her shoulders. “It’s not easy being patient.”
But Dani finally had a plan in place. She wiped her sweaty forehead with her forearm. She’d spent the last three days e-mailing her résumés to more companies. This morning, she’d even had a phone interview for a position in Raleigh, North Carolina. That was on the other side of the country, but nothing was stopping her from taking a job anywhere in the world. No one cared where she ended up except her mom, and she only wanted Dani to be happy wherever that might be.
She sifted through the clumps. The physical work felt good, satisfying.
“I wondered whether you’d be wearing a bandana,” a much too familiar voice said.
As Dani clutched the pitchfork handle, she pivoted toward the doorway.
Bryce stood at the entrance to the stall. Her stomach fell to the tips of her paddock boots. He stared at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. And liked what he saw. Dani ground her boot against the floor.
She stole another glance his way. Sweat beaded on his forehead as if he were nervous about something. Not so calm and collected today. That surprised her.
He also looked out of place in his dress pants and Oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button undone at his neck.
Out of place, but handsome as ever. Not that she cared what he looked like, Dani reminded herself.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“Once I figured out you’d moved, I found your two friends’ user names on a chat log I had. Unfortunately for me, Kangagirl and Englishcrumpet weren’t about to give you up until I’d convinced them I had your best interests in mind. But they were easier to convince than your mother.”
Dani’s mouth dropped open. She closed it. “My mother?”
Bryce nodded. “I spent the last hour talking to her.”
“Whatever you said must have worked.”
Another nod.
“You went to a lot of trouble to find me.” She eyed him warily. “Why?”
“I wanted to see you.”
She noticed the dirt smudges on the sides of his fine leather shoes. “All that just to see me.”
“And to explain.”
“Go ahead then.” Dani wanted to feel indifferent and kept her voice steady, but inside she trembled. Heaven help her, she wanted to hear what he had to say. “I’m listening.”
“Before I say anything—” he strode across the stall toward her “—I need to do this first.”
“Do—”
Bryce pressed his lips firmly against hers, taking what he wanted and giving back what Dani so desperately needed. His warm, wet kiss filled her up, and she wanted more. She kissed him back with an eagerness of her own. As he pulled her closer, she wrapped her arms around him. The pitchfork crashed to the floor of the stall.
Bryce pulled back, his gaze never leaving hers.
Oh, my. Oh, no. Dani wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, afraid what her response to his kiss might have told him. She raised her chin. “Something else you think I need?”
“Something I needed.” His eyes gleamed. Anger or something else, she couldn’t tell. “I need you, Dani.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t been expecting that.
“I’m sorry for not trusting you to handle James on your own,” he said, his tone genuine and his voice strong. “I thought all this time I only wanted to protect the people I care about, but you’re right. I’ve only been trying to control things. That’s my way of protecting myself. My heart.”
The sincerity of his words, the honesty in his eyes, brought tears to her eyes. Deep inside, a sliver of hope sparked.
“I’ve been doing that ever since my parents’ divorce to keep from getting hurt, but I didn’t realize what I was doing until you pointed it out.”
“I appreciate you coming all this way to say that.” She cleared her dry throat. “It means…a lot.”
“You mean a lot to me,” Bryce continued. “You said I was like your father, but I’m not him. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you push me away, I will still love you.”
His words reverberated through her. The oxygen seemed to evaporate from the air. She might as well be twenty feet underwater, the way she struggled to breathe.
Bryce loved her.
“I’ve needed to hear you say that,” she said. “Even though you said they were just words.”
“Words are important, and I can say them as many times as you want.”
“Thanks, but saying the words doesn’t change things.” Dani wanted to ignore the truth, but couldn’t. “You like being in control, Bryce. You like protecting people. That’s who you are, and I’m afraid I’ll lose myself, the way my mother did with my father, if I’m with you.”
“I know being independent is important to you, but I love you. I have to be able to protect you. You’re strong enough, though, to stand up to me and let me know when you need help or when you don’t. And I’m smart enough to learn.” He raised her chin with his fingertip. “You’re not your mother. You’ve never been her.”
A million thoughts ran through Dani’s mind. But only one came to the forefront, as clear as the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day.
Bryce.
“You’re right. I’m not.” She stared up at him. “But I never wanted to be hurt again, the way my father hurt me. I figured if I didn’t rely on anyone, it couldn’t happen again.”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Dani.”
“I see that now.” Her cheeks warmed. “And I never meant to hurt you, either.”
“We’ve both been protecting ourselves.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry, Bryce. I’ve been using anything I could—your background and your money—the same way I used my baggy clothes, to keep you at a distance. Just like a heroine from a Jane Austen novel.”
“That’s okay.” He smiled. “So long as I don’t lose you to the Colonel.”
“Don’t worry about him.” Dani removed her gloves and placed her hand on Bryce’s chest. His heart beat beneath her palm. “You might be a Web tycoon, but you’re also a caring man who reaches out to others, whether it’s me, your family or Blinddatebrides.com users looking for love. You’re definitely Colonel Brandon material.”
“Even without a uniform?”
Warmth flowed through her veins. She nodded. “You, Bryce Delaney, are my Colonel Brandon.”
Bryce’s smile widened. “From the moment you entered my life, I needed you. I’ll always be here for you. I love you, Dani Bennett.”
“Oh, Bryce.” Joy overflowed from her heart. “I l
ove you, too.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. A kiss of hope. A kiss of promise.
“You decide what you want to do yourself and what you don’t. I’ll support you either way.” He tightened his arms around her. “Together we can make our dreams come true.”
She gazed up at him. “That sounds wonderful, but it’s not as simple as that.”
“No?”
“For this to work and to last, we have to trust each other. Take care of me, but let me take care of you, too. I’ll tell you what I’m thinking and feeling and you have to do the same.”
“I’m not used to being taken care of, but I want this to work and to last. I’m willing to try,” he said.
“You said you’re smart enough to learn.”
“That I did,” Bryce admitted. “Have no worries, Miss Bennett, I am and I will.”
Tingles exploded inside of her. “So we’re back together, dating again.”
“I think we’ve skipped right on over to serious relationship.”
“Fine with me.”
“Me, too.” He brushed his lips across the top of her head. “Now we just have to figure out what comes next.”
“That’s easy,” she said without any hesitation. “We head back to San Francisco.”
“You’re sure about that?”
She nodded. “I finally know where home is.”
Bryce kissed her gently on the lips. A strange expression crossed his face. “This isn’t how I planned things, but hang on.”
Confused, Dani watched him run out of the stall and return with a large box that he placed on the ground. “What…?”
He dropped to his knee.
“You’ll ruin your pants,” she said.
“I can buy a new pair.”
He held on to her hand.
A mixture of anticipation and nerves made her hold her breath. She was too stunned to believe, too hopeful to doubt.
He stared up into her eyes as if she were the earth and heaven to him. “Being without you has only made it clearer that I want to be with you always. I don’t want you to ever question what I mean by us being in a relationship. Will you marry me, Dani Bennett?”
Her heart soared, but her brain dragged her back to the ground. Was marriage to Bryce what she wanted?
Her heart screamed the answer. It was time to move forward with this man who loved her, a man she loved back.
“Yes.” Dani laughed. “Of course I’ll marry you. I love you, Bryce.”
“I love you.”
He stood and sealed the proposal with a kiss.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I never felt like I belonged anywhere. But when I’m with you, I do.” Dani smiled up at him through tears of happiness. “I feel safe, secure and loved. Nothing else matters as long as we’re together.”
“I don’t have an engagement ring for you, but I do have these.” He removed the top from the box and pulled out a pair of new paddock boots. “I bought these for you after we went to look at the horse. I figured you could use an extra pair. One to wear when you’re hanging around the stable and another pair for when you ride.”
Dani touched the shiny leather. “These are more practical than any ring.”
“You’re still getting a ring. I want to put a big one on your finger. Not practical, but you deserve it. And I want the world to know that you’re with me.”
“Do you plan to carry me off like some caveman, too?” she teased.
He grunted. “If that’s what it takes.”
Things couldn’t get any better. Dani’s entire body seemed to be smiling.
“Can I put the boots on you?” he asked.
She stilled. “Just like Cinderella.”
“Well, if the shoe fits…” Bryce reached for her left foot. “But they aren’t exactly glass slippers.”
Dani’s heart sang. “They’re better.”
She leaned against a wall of the stable while he pulled off the old boots and put on the new ones. These were what she wanted, what she needed. Just like him. Bryce really did know her.
This was like a fairy tale come true, but with no fairy godmother required.
“How do they feel?” Bryce asked when he’d finished.
The love in his voice brought a sigh to her lips. She straightened, leaned back on her heels and wiggled her toes. “A perfect fit.”
“Perfect fit, huh?”
She nodded. “Just like us.”
“I could have told you that.”
“Your compatibility program did.”
He smiled. “I don’t need a computer algorithm to tell me what my heart’s known all along.”
Dani saw not only her dreams coming, but a lifetime of love in his eyes. “What’s that?”
“The two of us are perfect for each other.”
EPILOGUE
To: “Englishcrumpet”
From: “Sanfrandani”
Subject: Let’s schedule a chat!
I have so much to tell you, but the biggest news is…
I’m engaged! Can you believe it???
We considered eloping for about thirty seconds, but know a long engagement makes smarter sense. Plus then maybe you both can come!
Bryce said you two told him where to find me. Thank you so much! You are the best friends ever!!! xoxox
Love,
Dani
P.S. Bryce reactivated my Blinddatebrides.com account.
P.P.S. Do you think six bridesmaids would be too many?
My three sisters, Bryce’s and the two of you!!!
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3452-3
DREAM DATE WITH THE MILLIONAIRE
Copyright © 2009 by Melissa Martinez McClone.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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