by Susan Hayes
“Tell me. What would they see if they looked closely?” Dave demanded, slowing his thrusts the slightest bit.
“Us. Half-dressed and fucking. Me bent over a table, hanging on to the edge. You behind me, both of us watching the window…” Dani blurted out the words, desperate for the release that she couldn’t quite reach.
“Fuck, yes!” Dave exclaimed in the split second before he kissed her, his free hand cupping the back of her head as he made love to her mouth. His tongue thrust into her mouth, sealing off her cry as her orgasm finally erupted into a blinding moment of soul-shattering pleasure. She lowered her body to his, grinding herself against his hand and the iron-hard cock she knew was pinned between them.
Shudders wracked her body as the aftershocks tore through her, leaving her breathless and quaking. Dave ended their kiss with a tender brush of his lips to hers before bowing his head so his face was buried in the rise of her bosom.
“Where the hell have you been all my life?” he asked, his words muffled against her body.
She lowered her head to his, cheek pressed to his brow. “Seattle. No one mentioned my dream guy was hanging out in Chicago or I would have come looking for you a lot sooner.”
He eased his fingers out of her body and wrapped his arms around her as he chuckled. “It would have been nice if someone had told one of us we were looking in the wrong city.”
“Or maybe we weren’t supposed to cross paths until now. Fate’s funny that way.”
“Yeah, it is.” He turned his head so his words were clearer. “But I have a feeling that now I’ve discovered you exist, I’m not going to let you go. You might be stuck with me, sunshine.”
She considered that for a moment and discovered that the idea didn’t worry her as much as she’d expected. Even with all the uncertainty in her life, or maybe because of it, she didn’t want to let him go, either. “I might be okay with that idea.”
She reached between them to adjust her skirt so it covered her legs once more. “So, what now? I mean…you didn’t really get much out of what we did…”
He lifted his head to give her a quizzical look, one blond brow arched and a half-smile quirking at his lips. “I loved every second of what we just did, and I hope we get to do it again soon, but there’s no rush.”
“No?” she asked, more than a little confused. In her experience, men didn’t give pleasure without expecting to get it back in return.
“Believe me, there is nothing I want more than to carry you to your bedroom and continue what we’ve started. I have a long list of things I plan to do to you, and with you, but I know you’re not going to be able to relax when Casey is asleep right down the hall. I can wait until this is right for both of us.” His grin turned sheepish. “Plus, I didn’t think to buy condoms.”
She groaned. “Me either, though I am on the pill. Condoms aren’t something I’ve had to even think about. Not since…well, not since Bobby.”
Dave’s eyes widened. “There’s been no one else?”
“No.”
“Good.” He didn’t even try to hide his satisfaction at learning she hadn’t been with anyone else since her divorce. “And since we’re sharing. It’s been a long time for me, too.”
Dani snickered. “I guessed that much. Otherwise, you’d be carrying condoms.”
“Very astute. You could have been a detective.”
She shook her head. “I could never do what you do. It takes a special kind of person to put themselves in the line of fire every day. I go to work and feed people. The worst I’m going to deal with is a cut or burn, or a customer who didn’t like the way his meal was prepared. You go to work and come face to face with the worst of human nature. It’s a steady diet of violence, greed, and death. It would destroy me to do your job.”
“It’s not all bad. There are days when everyone lives and justice prevails. But there are days it’s pretty horrible. When those days come around, it would be nice to have someone to talk to.”
“I can do that,” she said, the words taking on the shape of a promise.
Dave stroked her cheek. “And I can see to it that you and Casey are safe.”
“You have yourself a deal.” She ran her fingers through his hair again, the hint of silver in his locks reminding her of a question she’d wanted to ask. “You know, I don’t even know how old you are.”
“Thirty-nine.” He cocked a brow at her. “Please tell me I’m not robbing the cradle.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Nope. I’m thirty-two, though, which means that I have definitely caught myself an older man.”
“Mature man. Believe me, sunshine, I’m not anywhere close to old or infirm.” He leaned in to kiss her, only to be interrupted by a familiar wail from Casey’s bedroom. “I’m thirsty, Mommy! And why is my door closed? It’s too dark in here.”
“Coming, bug.”
She sighed and Dave grinned before asking, “So this is what parenting is like? How do people manage to have more than one kid?”
“I honestly have no idea. I’ll be back once I’ve got her settled.”
“I’ll clean up and then re-heat these coffees. We still need to talk about what you saw tonight. If your ex is in Chicago, we’re going to have to figure out how he found you, and what you think he’ll do next.”
“I liked it better when we were kissing and ignoring reality,” she grumbled as he helped her to her feet before standing up himself.
“Me, too, but I wouldn’t be much of a boyfriend if I didn’t do all I can to protect my girls.”
His words made her heart flutter and her stomach fill with a flurry of butterflies. “Your girls, huh?”
Dave crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a crisp nod. “Mine.”
She blew him a kiss before turning from him to go check on Casey, idly wondering how she was able to walk when it felt like she was floating two feet off the ground. It wasn’t only the way he’d claimed her that had her so giddy. It was because he’d claimed Casey, too.
Chapter Eight
Four days. That’s how long it had been since he’d last seen Dani and he was eager to have her in his arms again. Phone calls and e-mails were no replacement for spending time with someone, a fact that had never been clearer to him than it was at this moment. Between his schedule and hers there hadn’t been any time to meet. So instead of being with her, he’d spent the time trying to figure out if, and how, Bobby had followed her to Chicago. Since there’d been no sign of him since the night at the school, it was starting to look like a false alarm.
He’d left his office to go shower and change, and once that was done there didn’t seem to be any reason to hang around, so he called it a day ten minutes early. That decision earned him a few curious looks and one knowing smirk from Detective Lia Archer—who happened to be dating his little brother Nick.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, boss,” she said as he passed her desk.
He was halfway out of the building before it occurred to him that if she knew he had a date tonight, it was a given that the rest of his family did, too.
The first one of them to comment was going to get their nose broken. Again.
He stopped by a florist shop on the way to pick up Dani. By the time he had set the bouquet of red-and-white roses down on the passenger seat he was nearly twitching with anticipation of the night ahead. Casey was with his parents for a few hours, meaning they were free to enjoy themselves. He’d made dinner reservations at the Capital Grill, but after that he’d left the evening unscheduled. It was Dani’s first night out in a new city, and he’d left the rest of the date up to her.
Traffic was bad enough that he was only a few minutes early by the time he got to Dani’s. He used the time to call and confirm their dinner reservation before heading up the walkway toward the house.
He was halfway to the house, flowers in hand, when a mocking voice met his ears. “Before I let you knock on that door, you and I need to have a little chat about your intentions,
bro.” Dave looked up to the porch to find Tag watching him from his front door with a goofy grin on his face.
“My intentions? We’re not really having this conversation, are we?”
Tag nodded, still grinning. “Oh yeah, we are. Dani and her daughter are under my protection, remember?”
“If I have to come up there and kick your ass I’m going to be late for my date, so for Dani’s sake I’ll answer your stupid question. My intention is to take Dani out for a nice dinner and prove to her that not everyone in our family considers a cheeseburger to be the epitome of fine dining.”
There was a riff of laughter from inside the house, and Dave’s hand clenched into a fist. “You little shit, who else is up there with you?”
Nick appeared in the window, laughing hard as he waved down at Dave. Worse still, he was holding up his cell phone as he recorded the whole thing.
“Nicky! Is this any way to repay me for helping you get together with Lia? I tell her you’re a good man—which is probably the biggest lie I’ve told in my whole damned life—and this is the thanks I get? I’m going to fucking kill both of you right after I get back from dinner. If you value your lives, you’ll both have left the country before then.”
“Jeez, I’d have thought the fact you’re dating would improve your cranky disposition. Apparently not.” Tag waved as he wandered back toward the door. “I did tell you I wanted to be there the day a woman came along and knocked you on your ass. As it happens, not only did I get to witness it, I’ve had it recorded for posterity. Have a nice date, bro.”
“Fuck. Off,” Dave snarled as he flipped his middle figure up at his brothers and marched the rest of the way to Dani’s door, which was directly under the porch where Tag stood. He decided to ignore his idiot siblings and focus on the one person who truly mattered. Dani.
He raised his hand to knock, only to have it swing open to reveal a laughing goddess standing in the doorway. “If you need to kill them, I can wait.”
One look at her was all it took to make him forget about his brothers. He drank in the vision she made. Ivory satin against dark skin, soft lips parted, brown eyes looking up at him with a mix of happiness and uncertainty. She was barefoot and wearing nothing but a negligee that had him instantly hard and wanting.
“Fuck, woman. Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, his voice sounding a little shakier than he’d like.
Her lips curved up into a shy smile. “That wasn’t my intention, no.”
Dave moved into the doorway so there was no chance that anyone, especially his brothers, could catch a glimpse of his woman. And goddamn it, she was his. No one else was ever going to get to see her like this. The unexpected surge of primal feelings left him stunned, as well as giving him a new perspective on what his brothers must have felt when they’d met their future wives and girlfriends.
It was disturbing as hell.
He offered her the bouquet he’d bought for her, pleased by her soft coo of delight when she took them from him. “Since it seems to be the word of the hour, what are your intentions, Daniella Moore? Because there is no way in hell I’m letting you out dressed in that outfit. I’d have to fend off every man with eyes in this whole damned city.”
She tensed, her lower lip vanishing between her teeth for a moment before she finally stepped back and gestured for him to come inside. “I thought maybe we could stay in tonight. All night.”
She is trying to kill me.
Dave was through the door and had it slammed behind him before he even registered that he was moving. The moment the lock was engaged he turned and hauled Dani into his arms. “I’m all yours, sunshine. In, out, wherever and whatever you want to do tonight.”
Her face lit up and the shadows of doubt vanished at his words. The flowers slipped from her hand, forgotten, as she beamed at him. “In. I definitely want to stay in.”
At that moment, Dave knew that he’d do anything to see her look at him the way she was right now, without the doubt or worry, her whole being aglow with happiness. He bent down to kiss her, whispering a promise as his lips touched hers. “Whatever my lady wishes, she only has to ask.”
She was laughing as her lips parted beneath his, the joyful sound filling his mouth. He cradled the back of her head in one hand as he took their kiss deeper. He couldn’t get enough of her. His nights had been full of dreams of having her in his arms again, but nothing from fantasies rivaled the real thing. This was a warm, lush woman with a laugh that lightened his heart and banished the loneliness he’d come to accept as his lot in life.
“Your lady has an important question to ask,” she said when at last they ended their kiss. “Do you want dinner now, or later?”
“Later. But I should cancel our reservation and then maybe call in a take-out order or something. Is Casey really gone all night?”
“Your parents offered to keep her for a sleepover. They’re even going to take her to school tomorrow. It feels a bit weird, to be honest, but she was so excited at the invitation I couldn’t tell her no.” She gave him a shy smile. “As for calling for take-out, there’s no need. I made us dinner.”
“For once I’m grateful to my mother for interfering in my personal life.” He kissed her again before letting go and fishing in his pocket for his phone. “Let me call the restaurant. Then I’m all yours again. And later, we’re going to talk about you cooking all the time. I love it, but you don’t need to do that for me. I want to take you out for dinner, too. This is the second meal you’ve made for me, and that’s not including all the dinners I’ve eaten at the bar lately.”
It took him a minute to find the number and make the call, and by the time he was done his mind was clear enough that he finally noticed a few more details that he’d missed earlier. The kitchen table was laid for two, with a basket of what smelled like freshly baked buns already set out. Dani had rescued the flowers from the floor and was putting them in water. She glanced over at him and smiled.
“Your mom is wonderful, and she only wants what’s best for all of her boys. When I asked her if she’d watch Casey, she wanted to know if I had a date. I was actually nervous to tell her that it was with you.”
He put away his phone and walked into the kitchen, moving right up behind her so he could plant a kiss on the back of her neck. “And why would you be nervous about that? She must be thrilled to know I’ve broken my vows to never date again. Not to mention the fact she likes you and adores your baby girl. You’re like family already.”
“I know. But I wasn’t sure it would be okay. I mean, that she’d be okay with me going out with you. Some people get funny about things like that. It’s one thing to work with someone, or be friends with them, but it’s another when a family member starts dating someone like me.”
“If this is about the fact that you have a much sexier skin tone than I do, then stop worrying. My family isn’t like that.” He drifted several more kisses across her bare shoulder, then turned her around so he was looking into her eyes. “You’re beautiful, Dani. Inside and out.”
****
Dani had spent long days and sleepless nights planning tonight and worrying that she was making the wrong choices. Would his family accept it if she started dating David? Would he think her too bold for asking to stay in tonight? She’d questioned every choice and changed her mind a hundred times, but in the end she’d stayed true to what she wanted. For once, the universe seemed inclined to let her have her way.
“Thank you. You’re pretty amazing yourself,” she whispered and reached up to stroke his cheek. “Let me set the oven to keep our dinner warm. There’s wine breathing on the counter if you’d like to pour us a glass.”
Dave didn’t move away. He simply leaned in close enough that their bodies were pressed tight together. He reached over her shoulder and she heard the beep of the oven controls being reprogrammed. “Dinner’s dealt with. The wine can wait. The only thing I want right now is you.”
“I’m all yours.”
“Damn r
ight you are.” His expression turned utterly wicked as he moved back, then lifted her into his arms. “And you have my permission to scream out that fact, along with my name, as often as you like. Hopefully, it sends my brothers fleeing from the house with their hands over their ears.”
She laughed, then threw back her head and cried out, “Oh, Dave, yes. Yes! Do that again and I’ll be your slave for life!”
“That’s my girl.”
She cried out several more choice phrases as he carried her down the short hall to her room. By the time they entered her bedroom she was laughing uncontrollably, and him along with her.
It wasn’t much of a room. A few basic bits of furniture, most of them mismatched and battered. A closet with only a handful of clothes taking up a fraction of the available space, and a double bed with a handmade quilt that Jo had wrapped around her shoulders that first night they’d arrived in town. It embarrassed her to let him see how little she had.
He set her down on the edge of her bed and she started to explain, but he pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her words. He knelt on the floor at her feet, dropped his hands to his thighs and gave her a slow, sensuous smile. “Undress me.”
He was trying to distract her and she let him. What else could she do when the man she’d been dreaming about was on his knees, telling her to undress him?
She pushed his sports jacket off his shoulders and he shrugged it off the rest of the way before tossing it aside. Next, she attacked his tie, taking a moment to admire the subtle green-and-gold design before undoing the knot and slowly sliding it off his neck. She set it beside her on the bed and started working on the buttons of his shirt. After the first few she had to lean in to reach the rest, and he dipped his head to nuzzle at her breasts. After that, she started moving faster. He inhaled deeply and turned his head to press an openmouthed kiss to one breast as she reached the last button and yanked it open hard enough to pop it loose.
