He was a good guy, I was sure. But maybe he was just trying to make sure that was what I thought, so I wouldn’t find out he was exactly the same kind of guy that everyone in the media seemed to think he was.
I hated doubting him like that. But I didn’t know what else to think.
We got to his place, a little bit outside the city, and I couldn’t help but stare at it. Finally, I gave a short laugh. “Is it just you here?” I couldn’t help asking.
Daniel frowned. “Yeah, it is,” he said. “It used to be me and my dad, but after a while...”
I winced, sorry that I had brought up bad memories. “It’s a beautiful place,” I told him. “It just seems so big for just you.”
Daniel grimaced at me. “It is,” he finally said. “It really is. But this was always my family place, and now, well, it’s not like I can just walk away from it.”
I couldn’t help asking. “Doesn’t it get lonely?”
Daniel’s face twisted through a complicated set of emotions before it settled on dismay. “Yeah,” he admitted. “But what could I do, get rid of it? My parents bought this place before I was even born. They always dreamed that they would raise their grandchildren here.”
I stared at him, caught off guard by the topic of his final phrase, more so than the honesty. Grandchildren? But I supposed that if his parents were both dead now, there was no question of grandchildren. More a question for him of if he would ever dare to have children. I swallowed hard. There was nothing I could say to make anything feel better for him. I just wished there was something I could say that would sound less insubstantial or careless.
“I do have some staff,” Daniel added. “They come and go, but they’re here throughout the week. A cook, a housekeeper. A gardener. It’s not like I really live alone.”
I shook my head. Hearing him talk about all of them like that, I couldn’t help feeling that he didn’t really have anyone that he felt like he could confide in. But at the same time, I just had this feeling that he was selective about who he had there. That he wanted me there, that he might just need me there. And that was a heady feeling.
Daniel caught my wrist. “Come inside?” he asked.
I stared at him for a long moment. I knew just what he was asking. But even though I knew I should be telling him no, that I should be telling him that I should leave, that I should be reminding him of the fact that he was my boss and that I shouldn’t be there, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to do it.
I smiled up at him. “All right,” I finally said. “Show me this palace that you apparently live in.”
Daniel snorted. “It’s far from a palace,” he finally said. “But I bid you welcome, my lady.”
I snickered as he led me inside.
We paused in the front hall. I couldn’t really see much more opulence than I had been able to see outside. I frowned over at him, and he raised an eyebrow at me. I was lost in the look of him, honestly. I knew that I should probably go, that his driver would take me straight home if that’s what I wanted. This didn’t need to go any further than it already had.
I knew Leanne probably wanted me to go home to my own place that night; she would probably want me to call her and tell her all about the date, but to also assure her that I was home, that I was safe, that there was nothing she needed to worry about with me. I knew that there were plenty of outcomes she was hoping from me, but none of them were going to be what she wanted.
Because I did want to be here with him. I didn’t want to call the car back, and I didn’t want to leave. And I trusted him not to take things too far. I trusted him not to take things further than what I wanted. I didn’t know just what it was that made me feel so sure of him, but something, something told me that he wasn’t such a bad guy. A
nd that he definitely wasn’t the kind of man the paparazzi insisted he was.
No, he surely wasn’t that.
Daniel turned to face me, catching my hands in his and leading me backward toward the stairs, his eyes staring meaningfully into mine. He was brooding and serious, but beneath all of that, I could almost taste how badly he needed me.
I let him lead me upstairs.
I barely had a glance at his bedroom before he turned me toward him, reaching for the hem of my dress and lifting it slowly. He gave me plenty of time to protest, to push the material back down or else to tell him that this wasn’t what I wanted. Except the trouble was that I really did want this. Whatever he was willing to give me, I wanted it all. Even if it meant that I ended up heartbroken in the end.
And this—this was what Leanne was trying to prevent, I suddenly remembered. She didn’t want me to be hurt; she didn’t want me to feel anything like this. I was suddenly aware of just how badly Daniel could hurt me. But I already felt like I was too far in to stop it all now. What was I supposed to say to him? What was I supposed to tell him?
As he reached for my dress and tugged it up over my head, as he removed my bra, it wasn’t just that I felt incapable of stopping it. No, instead, I found myself reaching for him in turn. I found myself tugging off his shirt and undoing his belt, stripping him out of his own clothes, in turn.
I stumbled as he suddenly caught my panties, dragging me even closer by the waistband. He grinned at me as he caught me, lifting me bodily up into his arms, literally sweeping me off my feet. I loved how strong he was, how kind, how intelligent, how sexy. He was the best man I had ever met, I was sure. The only man who had ever measured up to my standards. And here I was, in his house with him. In his bedroom with him.
This might totally go up in flames. In fact, I was sure that it would. But why not enjoy it, while it lasted? No point in going home just now. Might as well see where it led.
I submitted to his touches, letting him use me as he wanted to. He was gentle and tender, and that was all that I could ever ask for in a man.
But Daniel still, somehow, managed to go above and beyond.