“I only asked because I don’t want to put antibiotic ointment and bandages on your cuts if you’re just going home to shower.”
“I am going to shower,” he said. “Thank you for taking care of my cuts. Are we still on for tonight?”
“Oh,” she said with surprise, excitement, and nervousness tangling up inside her. “I thought you were kidding about that. You don’t have to make me dinner.”
“I want to. How about I come over at seven?”
You want to! Ohmygoodness, you want to…Her emotions reeled. This is a date, right? Wait. Is this a date? Is it wrong to be excited if you haven’t had a chance to try to react better to Hadley yet? I can’t help it. I’m excited!
“Daph? Does seven work?”
“Sorry. That’s when I put Hadley to bed.”
He nodded, brows knitting. She wondered if he was going to rescind the offer.
“Seven thirty?” he asked. “Eight? Does that give you enough time to get her tucked in?”
“Sure. Anytime after seven thirty should be fine. What should I get from the store?”
“Absolutely nothing. Do you have any food allergies I should know about?”
“Nope.”
“Great. Then we’re all set. I look forward to it.”
They walked around the desk as Brody and Rick came out of Rick’s office, and Rick said, “Daphne, we can book surf lessons for Brody for Tuesday through Friday for the next three weeks.”
“Okay.” Remind me when my head isn’t spinning.
“I’m going to head out and see if I can find a biker to run me over,” Brody said. “Be back soon, Daphne.”
“My ass you will.” Jock hooked an arm around Brody’s neck, dragging him toward the door. “I’ll take your trash out, Rick.”
Daphne was glad to hear them joking around as they headed down the steps. She exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and when she turned around, Rick was perched against the front of her desk, arms crossed.
“I’m sorry for helping Jock, but I couldn’t just let him bleed,” she said.
“What are you talking about? I don’t mind that you helped Jock.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about to reprimand me?”
“Do I?” He stood up and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Sorry. I’m just concerned as your friend, not your boss. What’s going on between you two?”
“What do you mean? We weren’t doing anything.”
“I don’t think you were. But you two looked pretty cozy, and Desiree said Emery and Dean found you two together last night. I like Jock. We all do. But I know how he is with Hadley, and I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t expecting to hear that, or to feel the pang of guilt it stirred. “Thanks for worrying, Rick, but we’re just friends and we’re getting to know each other better. We talked about his reactions to Hadley, and he apologized. I think there’s a lot more to Jock than meets the eye.”
“I get that feeling, too. I’m glad he apologized. Just be careful, okay?”
“I always am.”
Rick went back to his office, and Daphne took the phones off the answering service, trying to push that pang of guilt away. She would never do anything that could hurt Hadley. Hadley would be asleep when Jock came over. She’d been careful for so long, it was nice to have a chance to let her hair down and be a regular twenty-six-year-old woman hanging out with a man she was attracted to. Was that such a crime?
She sat at her desk, the events flyer staring back at her. Events other people get to plan. She’d spent her entire life being careful, and she was tired of it. Being careful was exhausting, and limiting. Maybe Rick and the guys weren’t the only ones who needed a nudge.
Gathering her courage like a cloak, she pushed to her feet and strode into Rick’s office. When he looked up from his computer, she said, “Do you have a sec?”
“Sure. What’s up?” He waved to the chair across from him.
She sat down and said, “We got another call about hosting a wedding—a small one, only fifty guests. I gave them a few recommendations, but I’ve been here two years now, and you know I have the experience to handle event planning. I was thinking that maybe we could start with a small event and see how it goes.”
Rick sat back, nodding, and a kernel of hope bloomed inside her.
“I have no doubt that you’re capable of handling events. We’ve all seen how great you are at everything you do. I know we said we’d like to eventually host holiday events and such, but with Aaron, and Dean’s baby on the way, and Drake’s music stores taking off, I’m not sure this is the right time to do it.”
She felt deflated, but she refused to let herself sink just yet. “I know how busy life is with a new baby, and I realize you guys don’t have much time. What if I handled all of it, start to finish? I’d just need you to approve budgets.”
“Daphne, you already have a full-time job.”
“I know but…” She wanted to say she’d work extra hours to pull it off, but she didn’t want to do that and lose out on time with Hadley. He was right. She couldn’t do the job of two people, no matter how much she wanted to. One of the two would get slighted.
“You’re right. I wouldn’t be able to do it without working a lot more hours, and I can’t do that to Hadley.” She pushed to her feet and said, “Thanks for taking the time to talk about it.”
“I’m sorry, Daphne. Maybe in a year or two we’ll be in a better place to reassess and take on more.”
“Sure. Or maybe you and Desiree and Emery and Dean will be having more babies.”
Rick winked and said, “If I have it my way, we will.”
“I hope you do. If I had been in a position to have more, I definitely would have.”
She left his office battling her own disappointment against their happiness. They’d worked hard to achieve their dreams, and they were finally in a position to enjoy them.
Maybe it was time for her to start working toward her dreams, too.
Chapter Six
JOCK CARRIED THE groceries he’d bought up the steps to Daphne’s apartment Thursday evening, asking himself the same questions he’d been asking all day. Was he being fair to her? She was so open and giving. Was he being selfish? Would he ever be able to overcome his triggers? He had no idea why Hadley had chosen him as a target of her affection, but every time she clung to his leg, he’d wanted to scoop her into his arms and earn the smiles she gifted him. He wanted to hear her sweet giggles float in the air like brass rings he’d give anything to catch. And when she cried, he wanted to hold her and soothe her tears away, but he couldn’t get past the memories those sounds dredged up.
He stepped onto the landing knowing the answers, and they weren’t pretty. He wanted so much more than a clandestine friendship with Daphne, and he knew that wasn’t fair to her. But how could he walk away from the only woman who had made him feel anything since his world had been turned upside down? The only woman who made him lust and laugh and want to be a better man? The situation was torturous, but he wasn’t a completely selfish bastard. No matter what he felt for Daphne, until he got his shit together, there was no way he’d put Hadley in another situation that could possibly end with her in tears. Until he figured out how to conquer the beast, he would continue seeing Daphne only when Hadley wasn’t around.
He knocked on the door, hoping he didn’t appear as nervous as he felt. When she opened the door, their eyes connected with the heat of a torch and somehow also the light of a summer day. He knew in that moment that it would be impossible for him to walk away even if he wanted to.
“Hey, gorgeous.” When he’d seen her that afternoon, she’d looked beautiful in a sleeveless paisley top and white capris. Now she wore faded jeans and a white T-shirt that had OH BABY! in pink script across her chest, and she looked even more ravishing.
“Hi.” Her eyes swept over his button-down shirt and black jeans, and she looked nervously do
wn at her clothes and said, “I didn’t know we were dressing up. I was worried that if I dressed too nice, I’d look like I was making more out of this than I should or that I was trying too hard.” Her words flew fast and breathless. “Sorry, but it’s not a reflection on how I felt about having dinner with you. Not that I’m thinking anything big. I just…I’m rambling. Sorry.”
“I like to hear you ramble. You could wear a burlap sack and you’d look like a million bucks.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, inhaling the floral scent of her perfume. “Mm. You smell good, too.”
She smiled and said, “You’re not allowed to make me blush tonight.”
“Then I guess I shouldn’t give you these.” He reached into the bag, withdrawing a bouquet of flowers.
“Oh, Jock. They’re beautiful. So much for not blushing.” She lifted them to her nose and said, “You didn’t have to do this.”
“Despite the way I freeze around Hadley, I was brought up to be a gentleman.”
“Well, remind me to thank your parents for that. Come in. Let’s put these in water.”
She motioned for him to follow her. He stepped inside, noticing Hadley’s tiny shoes and sandals lined up beside Daphne’s beneath a table in the foyer. On top of the table were two pretty candles and a decorative bowl with a key ring in it.
She led him through the cozy living room, and he imagined Daphne and Hadley cuddled up on the teal couch surrounded by the yellow and beige throw pillows. Above the couch was a large painting of a meadow with a little girl running through it. It looked happy and peaceful, like Daphne. The coffee table was stacked with children’s books, and a pale-yellow chair, showing the indentations of an old favorite, was tucked in the corner of the room beneath a light. He could see Daphne reading there in the winter. Cubbies filled with stuffed animals, dolls, and other toys lined the wall beneath the window. There were baskets overflowing with toys by the couch and chair and another by the half wall separating the kitchen from the living room. On top of the half wall were pictures of Hadley and several more decorative candles.
He followed her into the simple and clean kitchen, with white cabinets and a wooden table for four with pretty blue cushions on the chairs. There was a hook on the wall with a set of blue oven mitts hanging from it and candles decorating the windowsill. He noticed that all of the wicks were still pristine. A stack of coloring books littered a child-size plastic table, and several of Hadley’s scribble drawings hung from colorful magnets on the refrigerator. Everything in Daphne’s apartment was as warm and heartfelt as the aura she gave off.
“Hadley’s quite the artist,” he said, admiring the drawings.
“I love when she gives me her drawings. She’s always so proud of them.”
“As well she should be. You must love candles. Are they all just for decoration?”
“They’re not supposed to be. My grandmother used to light candles at night when I’d visit. She said nothing soothed the soul like the scent of candles. She passed away a few years ago. I keep telling myself I’ll use the candles because they bring such good memories, but I don’t want to light them with Hadley around, and after she goes to bed, I never think about it.”
“Well, they’re very pretty.” He set the grocery bag on the counter and said, “Your whole place is nice.”
“Thanks. We like it.” Daphne moved a chair from the table to beside the counter and climbed onto it.
“Whoa.” He put his hand on her back in case she lost her balance and said, “I can get whatever you need.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got it.” She opened a cabinet and retrieved a vase from the top shelf.
As she climbed down, he said, “You have to be careful climbing up on chairs like that.”
“Are you kidding?” As she filled the vase with water, she said, “Single moms have to be nimble and quick. We scale counters, climb trees when balloons get stuck in them, and we’d crawl into sewers if we had to.”
He moved the chair back to its place, loving that she wasn’t afraid to be herself around him. “You’d crawl into a sewer?”
As she arranged the flowers in the vase, she said, “For Hadley? Of course. This one time—”
“At band camp…”
They both cracked up.
“I love that movie,” she exclaimed. “Please tell me you did not bring apple pie for dessert.”
“You mean I don’t get your muffins for dessert?”
“Ohmygod,” she whispered, turning beet red.
“I’m kidding, Daph. I brought chocolate cream puffs.”
“Mm. Sounds delicious.”
“Then I guessed well. Now, about that band-camp story. Did it involve a flute?”
She swatted his arm. “You’re terrible. There is no band camp in this story. It’s a goat story.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal,” he teased. Her pink-cheeked disapproving look made him want to kiss her again. “I’m sorry, but it’s a classic line. I couldn’t resist. Go ahead. I promise to behave.”
“Last year I took Hadley to a petting zoo, and she brought her favorite stuffed monkey. She always brings stuffies with her. Anyway, I turned my back for three seconds to get goat food out of the dispenser, and she fed her stuffy to a goat! Apparently goats eat anything. I knew the second Hadley got sleepy, she’d want that monkey, so…” She shrugged and said, “I might have taken a mama goat down to save my daughter’s stuffy.”
“Damn. You can deal with blood without passing out and take down a mama goat? Beneath all that blushing you are one tough cookie.”
“Once you’ve given birth, you see the whole world differently.”
He could say the same thing about losing a child, but he wasn’t going down that path tonight. He shook off those dark thoughts and focused on Daphne.
“I’d do anything for my baby girl.” She peered into the bag he’d brought and said, “What’s going on in here? I see wine. Yummy.”
He took out the bottle. “Where do you keep wineglasses?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have any. But I do have regular glasses.” She grabbed two glasses from a cabinet. “Or I can offer you a wide array of sippy cups.”
“Regular glasses it is. I guess that means you don’t have a corkscrew?”
“Actually, I do. I got it as a secret Santa gift ages ago.” She snagged the corkscrew from a drawer and handed it to him.
While he opened and poured the wine, he said, “I hope you like fettuccini Alfredo and shrimp.”
“That sounds heavenly.”
He handed her a glass and picked up his own. “Here’s to secret Santa and new friends.”
They clinked glasses, and as she took a sip, he said, “And to your muffins.”
She choked, turning just in time to spray wine into the sink as laughter bubbled out of her mouth.
He passed her a napkin from the holder on the table and put a hand on her back. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
She wiped her mouth and her pink cheeks and said, “That happens to you a lot.”
“Only around you,” he admitted.
“I’m sure I’m nothing like the girls you’re used to hanging out with. And I’m definitely not used to this kind of friendship.”
“I’m not used to it either, so why don’t we relax and enjoy our evening.” He set down his glass and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get started, blondie. Where do you keep your pans?”
They cooked dinner together, because Daphne insisted that moms were not good at letting someone else do all the work. It was a simple dish that involved boiling fettuccini, simmering ingredients for the sauce, and cooking shrimp, but working side by side with Daphne was anything but simple. She was so frigging cute and funny. He loved her laugh, and she was sexy, and so honest and real, by the time they were ready to eat, Jock was even more drawn to her.
Daphne put place mats at either end of the table. He moved them closer together and said, “I know it’s a small table, but that was still too fa
r apart.”
After they set out the food, he said, “Just one more thing. Do you have a lighter or matches?”
“Yes. In the biggest drawer behind you.”
“Why don’t you hit the lights and we’ll bring out those happy memories.” As he lit the candles, happiness sparked in her eyes. “Who knows, maybe we’ll even make a few of our own memories to go with them.”
He pulled out a chair for her, and as she sat, she said, “Your parents really did raise a gentleman. Everything smells so good. Thank you for showing me how to make this. It was fun. I feel like I’m at a restaurant.”
“Chez Daph?” He sat down and said, “We make a good team, and it was the least I could do. After all, you probably saved me from getting a duct tape infection.”
She took a bite and closed her eyes for a second in pure satisfaction. “Mm. This is delicious. After I cleaned up your leg, I remembered that you probably have a lot of medical experience, since you cared for Harvey.”
“I have some, but we’ve talked about me for two days. I want to hear about you. Have you always lived here?”
She twisted fettuccini around her fork and said, “I grew up here, but I moved away when I got married and came back when I got divorced.”
“I take it your ex isn’t from here?”
“He was from Wilmington, North Carolina. I was eighteen and working at a resort in Chatham when we met. I worked at the front desk and helped the event planner. He was twenty-two, a management intern. We had a lot of interaction because of our jobs, and a bunch of the staff used to hang out after work. I got to know him over the span of several months, and one night he and I got together.”
“Whirlwind relationship?” he asked, taking another bite.
“No. I can’t even blame my bad decisions on that. Tim and I dated for a few months while he worked here, and when he went back home, we did the long-distance relationship thing. After a year of going back and forth, he proposed. We got married in the courthouse, and I moved to Wilmington, where I worked at a resort doing event planning, which I loved.”
“You didn’t want a fancy wedding?” he asked.
Tempted by Love: Jack Jock Steele (The Steeles at Silver Island Book 1) Page 10