“I did not.” Dani licked the icing from the cupcake. “But I’m not surprised. Just from talking to him, I suspect that his IQ is in the genius range.”
Spencer patted the cushion next to him, silently inviting Dani to scoot over. “I’m curious as to why you didn’t tell the others that Whittaker offered you the yacht for an overnight stay.”
“Well…” Dani remained leaning against the couch’s armrest, ignoring Spencer’s silent invitation to move closer. Tonight, she wouldn’t let him distract her with his kisses. “I was happy to share my reward with everyone, but I also wanted a little time without some crisis popping up.”
“Like Ivy, Starr, or Tippi having a fight with their boyfriends?” Spencer’s wry grin made Dani giggle.
“That or another ghost attack at Fox Hall.” Dani popped a mini-black-bottom-brandy bite into her mouth, reminding herself to ask Franklin’s chef for the recipe. “The hull of this boat is pretty effective at blocking cell phone signals so unless we’re on deck, no one can reach us.”
“Ah, so I was included in your alone time.” Spencer teased, “I thought maybe you just let me stay because I drove us here.”
“You found me out.” Dani snapped her fingers. “I only kept you around so I’d have a ride home tomorrow. It’s too expensive to get an Uber from Peoria to Normalton.”
“I knew it.” Spencer chuckled, then said, “You never did tell me how you ended up witnessing Chandler’s confession.”
She knew neither he nor Gray were happy about her actions. But if she and Spencer were to be together, he had to be able to accept her decisions.
“Franklin arranged it with the police because he thought that since I had figured out the murderer’s identity, I deserved to be there.” Dani bit her lip. “And I decided to take him up on his offer because I needed to make sure that I hadn’t jumped to some conclusion and implicated an innocent man.”
Spencer nodded slowly, then reached down and nabbed the last bite-size frozen key lime tart. “I can appreciate that.”
When he didn’t comment further, Dani breathed a sigh of relief and broached another touchy topic. They might as well get it all out in the open right now while they had the time and the privacy. “What did you think of my father?”
“I still don’t understand why you helped him get a foot in the door with Whittaker.”
Dani wasn’t sure why she did it herself, but she tried to explain. “He’s not a bad man. He didn’t abuse me and I never went without anything.”
“Neglect is a form of abuse.”
“I wasn’t neglected,” Dani protested. “He just didn’t have a lot of himself left to give to me. My mom took that part of him with her when she died.”
“He was a parent.” Spencer scowled. “He owed it to you to make more of an effort.”
“He did, when I was younger, but I think once I moved out, it was almost as if he’d been abandoned again.” Dani’s voice thickened. “He’d never been warm and fuzzy, but that was when he really grew distant.”
“Humph.” Spencer snorted his opinion.
“Anyway…” Dani knew she wouldn’t change Spencer’s mind and was touched that he cared that much about her to be angry about her father’s behavior toward her. “Dad seems to be trying now and I’m going to give him a chance.”
“Of course you are.” Spencer’s voice was affectionate. “That’s just who you are.”
“I sure hope so.” Dani brushed a tear away, then leaned over and poked Spencer’s arm. “And don’t pretend you’re so hard-nosed. You’re giving Brock a second chance. I heard you tell him you’d make a couple of calls and see if you could find him some security work once he had his prosthesis.”
“That’s nothing.” Spencer took a sip of brandy before he said, “Besides, Brock did me a favor. He got me out of a loveless marriage that would have just become worse as time went by. Taking that into consideration, he was the reason that I was free when I met you.”
Dani’s heart turned to mush. Spencer was so sweet. He’d been making his feelings about her clearer and clearer, even though she hadn’t reciprocated.
“Aw, what a nice thing to say.” Dani leaned toward him and cupped his cheek. She looked into his beautiful dark-blue eyes and risked exposing her inner self to him. “But the truth is, I think being with you and having the girls in my life has made me a better person. I was actually a lot like my dad before. I tended to keep to myself, I had very few friends, and I guarded against any feelings that might expose me to being hurt.”
Spencer kissed her gently on the lips. “Me too.”
“So maybe it’s the combination of us together that makes things click.”
Spencer tried to take her in his arms, but Dani scooted back against the sofa arm. “Hey, I have a question for you. Will you ever be able to tell me about your previous work?”
“It’s probably better if I don’t.” Spencer stood up, took Dani’s hands in his, and raised her up beside him.
“But that’s not fair. You know all about my past.” Dani took a step away from him. “If you’re still not ready to trust me with all of yours, we need to take it slow until you do.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just think you’re safer without that knowledge.” Spencer moved behind her, rubbing her shoulders. “And it’s getting harder to ignore the physical attraction between us, isn’t it?”
“Uh…” Dani gulped, then said in a breathy voice, “But passion fades and I want to make sure we have more than that before we take the next step.”
“Okay.” Spencer kissed her neck.
Dani felt herself melting, but tried again to put the brakes on. “You understand. I don’t want to be hurt again.”
“Neither do I.” Spencer turned her around and leaned his forehead against hers. “We can take it as slow as you want as long as we’re always moving forward.”
Dani looked past him out the yacht’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The moonlit water was mesmerizing and made her realize just how happy Spencer made her.
Listening to her heart, she pressed her lips to his and murmured, “That’s a promise I can keep.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Rebecca Aygarn Talkie for the great Ouija board line.
About the Author
© David Stybr
Denise Swanson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Scumble River mysteries, the Deveraux’s Dime Stores mysteries, and the Chef-to-Go mysteries, as well as the Change of Heart and Delicious Love contemporary romances. She has been nominated for RT Magazine’s Career Achievement Award, the Agatha Award, and the Mary Higgins Clark Award.
Tart of Darkness
Chef-to-Go Mysteries
New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson serves up a delightful cast of small-town characters and a deliciously mysterious murder!
Right when Dani thinks she’s hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion—cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students attending the nearby university, as well as providing personal chef services and catering events for the local community.
But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, a student is murdered and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects! She’ll have to scramble to clear her name and save her business before the killer reappears—perhaps to silence the new chef forever.
“Fast-paced and fun—as is Swanson’s style—Tart of Darkness is utterly unputdownable.”
—Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author
For more Denise Swanson, visit:
sourcebooks.com
Leave No Scone Unturned
Chef-to-Go Mysteries
New York Times bestseller Denise Swanson serv
es up another delicious cozy mystery!
It’s the beginning of the university’s fall semester, and Dani can’t wait for the college students to return to Normalton, Illinois—after all, without them, there is no one to support her Chef-to-Go business. But Normalton University’s orientation week is marred by murder, along with a series of car-jackings and sightings of a mysterious creature in a pond on campus. And with the whole town feeling unsettled, Dani finds herself dealing once again with the infuriatingly handsome Spencer Drake, the head of security at the university.
But as the trouble in Normalton draws worryingly close to home, Dani realizes that if the killer isn’t caught soon, she may be the next one who is found scone cold dead.
“Fans of Joanne Fluke and Diane Mott Davidson will enjoy the cooking frame, the sympathetic characters, and the small-town setting.”
—Booklist
For more Denise Swanson, visit:
sourcebooks.com
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