“Where are you?” he asked.
“About thirty minutes out. How about you?”
“I just arrived.” He sounded tetchy. “And I still can’t figure out why you wouldn’t let me drive you.”
“Because you should spend some time alone with your mom tomorrow. It will make her happy. And since you’ll be doing such a nice thing, that will make me happy, too.”
“What makes you think I want to make you happy?”
She smiled at his grumpiness, feeling the heat of the spring sun radiating through the window, landing on the side of her face. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The forest lining the sides of the road were full of verdant trees, their leaves dancing in the breeze as she whipped past them. “You wanted to make me happy last night,” she reminded him.
“I wanted to make you come.”
“And that made me happy. See how easy it is to be nice?” She loved teasing him. Finding the little chinks in his grumpy exterior and pushing her way in. “Now go in and see your mom and I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Did you deliberately leave late so I’d have to do this without you?”
She laughed. “No. I’m not manipulative, I’m just a slower driver than you. Now I’m going to hang up so I can concentrate, so goodbye.”
“Becca?”
“Yeah?”
“Press that pedal a little harder. It’s
completely legal to drive faster than forty miles per hour.”
Her chest rumbled. “Stop it. And go inside!”
“Shit. My mom’s walking down the steps. I should go.”
“Yes, you should.”
“I’ll see you in thirty.”
She managed not to laugh this time. “Yes you will.”
“And I haven’t forgotten that you owe me. I’m still planning on collecting. Very soon.”
He ended the call before she could respond. And maybe that was for the best, because his low-level threat sent a thrill through her, making her cheeks flush.
If Grumpy Daniel was fun, Passionate Daniel was everything. She liked them both. But the one she loved most of all was Happy Daniel.
She hoped to see a lot more of him.
Daniel turned to see Becca walk out of the little dressing room connected to her bedroom. She was radiant. Wearing a white cocktail dress that molded perfectly against her breasts and slim torso, then flared out to her knees, with embroidered flowers lining the hem. Her slender legs were exposed and tanned, and her feet were encased in pale pink shoes he wanted to see wrapped around his hips later.
He was wearing a suit. Dark blue, with a crisp white shirt. Becca had insisted on knotting his grey tie for him, her fingers sliding against his neck as she twisted the fabric under and over. He’d inhaled deeply, loving the soft floral notes of her perfume, and the way she stared up at him with those big eyes.
He could never get enough of her. She was the only one who could make him do things he didn’t want to do. He blinked at the thought of it. She was the sunshine to his darkness, the smile to his frown.
She warmed him in a way nobody ever had before.
“Come here,” he said softly, holding his hand out to her. She took it, and he pulled her toward him, circling his arms around her waist. “I’ve decided on what you owe me.”
A smile curled at her lips. “You have?”
“You tied to my bed for all of next Saturday, so I can do what I please with you.”