He turned his chair, his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his eyes and looked outside.
“You okay, sailor?”
He spun and smiled, snapping his laptop closed. “Oh, I’m fine. You know, just want to flog several of Shakespeare’s characters with a rusty toilet brush as usual.”
I flopped onto the couch, and he joined me, taking my hand and pressing a kiss on my wrist.
“Any long-term damage?”
“Daniel, you didn’t mean to hurt me. You were asleep.”
“I still feel awful. We have to take care of these precious commodities. Looks like you’ll be doing a lot of typing in the near future.” He threaded his fingers through mine. “How’s your review?”
“First draft’s done and sent. I left my stuff on the table, though, in case I have editing to do later.”
“I was thinking—we should get you a desk. We can move my guitar stand and fit a workspace in the corner here—if you want,” he added hastily. “I thought you’d like to leave your things set up instead of having to keep cleaning up the dining room table…”
He rubbed the back of his neck. I leaned into his side.
“That sounds wonderful.”
He expelled a big breath. “Really? I wanted to mention something when we were having lunch, but I thought I was being overbearing again.”
“Not at all. It’s a great idea.”
“Don’t worry about the cost. I want to buy it for you.”
“My final Vic pay check went into my account yesterday. I’ll get a check from Eli as well. I’d like to help pay for it.”
“You should save your Vic check for spending money for your trip.” He paused for a moment. “Mind if I ask how much the check from Eli will be?”
“Thirty dollars. Ten cents a word to start.”
It was a laughable amount, but it didn’t matter. It hardly seemed possible to get paid for doing something fun. I looked at him smugly, almost daring him to mock me. He didn’t. Instead, he cradled my cheek in his hand.
“You’re going to be published. How cool is that?”
My false bravado dissolved, genuine self-satisfaction taking its place. “I still can’t believe it.”
“You can do anything you put your mind to.”
“Like help pay for a desk,” I said.
“I’m not going to let you give me your first check as a writer to pay for part of a desk. You should get something personal. Something meaningful.”
His earnest expression crushed my resolve.
“Okay,” I said, hugging him fiercely.
“Huh, that was easy,” he mumbled into my neck. “Are you going soft on me, Miss Price?”
“Nope, just picking my fights more carefully.”
He laughed. “That’s a relief. I like it when you’re feisty.”
“You know what they say about leopards and spots. I’m not about to roll over and give up yet.”
“Good. Hey, speaking of picking fights, I got another email from O’Connor’s office.”
“Jesus, what do they want with you now?”
“Aaron’s back next week. I’m meeting him first thing Monday morning.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“It’ll be uncomfortable, but I’m looking forward to putting everything behind me so I can focus on more important things. Like you…”
He smiled and nuzzled my neck, feathering kisses along my jaw.
“You know my period could start any time,” I murmured as his lips moved lower.
“Then we should make hay while the sun shines.” He stood, dragging my shirt off as he walked me toward the hall. He was fiddling with the button on my jeans and trying to simultaneously kiss me when the buzzer sounded from the lobby.
“Are you expecting someone?” I breathed.
“Nope.”
He peeled off his own shirt and tossed it behind him. The buzzer went again, and once more we ignored it. At the bedroom door, my jeans started their descent to the floor. Daniel’s phone chimed on the dresser. Then mine rang out in the front hall. We both groaned at the same time. He pressed his forehead against mine.
“What if there’s some sort of emergency?” I said.
“I was just thinking the same thing. Fuck.”
He retrieved his phone, scrolling through his messages.
“Huh, it’s Jeremy. He’s downstairs with Julie.” He gestured to my jeans, which were currently halfway down my legs. “You should…”
I held up my hands. “I’m on it.” I hurriedly put myself back together, and we retraced our steps, retrieving our shirts on the way.
While Daniel attended to letting Jeremy and Julie in, I snuck into the powder room to check my hair. Then I dashed out to the living room and sat down, casually thumbing through a magazine. Daniel opened the door and stuck his head out into the hall. He looked at me over his shoulder and smiled conspiratorially.
“Rain check?” he whispered.
Julie hugged me, but it wasn’t one of her customary ebullient hugs. She looked wiped. So did Jeremy, the bleariness in his usually sparkling eyes betraying his fatigue. They’d stayed in a hotel the night before, finally consummating their relationship, but this wasn’t the exhaustion of the over-sexed. They both seemed entirely dispirited.
“Can I get you something?” Daniel said. “We have beer, wine, pop…”
“A couple of beers would be great,” Jeremy said, dropping onto the couch. Then he looked at Julie. “What’ll you have, Jul?”
Daniel laughed and shot me a nervous look. “Bad day at the office, Jer?”
“You could say that.”
Julie reached for his hand. “I’ll just have a soda water if you’ve got it, thanks. I’ll drive so Jer can have a drink. Jeremy added me to his car insurance,” she explained.
“Remind me to do that, Aubrey,” Daniel called from the kitchen. “It’s a good idea, in case there’s an emergency.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I flushed with pleasure at the thought of Daniel trusting me enough to let me drive his car—his pride and joy.
He returned with the drinks, and Jeremy took several long gulps of his beer, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
“You okay?” Julie asked, scooting close to his side.
He took her hand. “I’m fine.”
I’d have mocked their sentimentality if it weren’t obvious that he was upset about something and she was at a loss for how to comfort him.
Daniel leaned forward in his chair. “So, this is an unexpected visit,” he said.
“Yeah, sorry to barge in. Hope we’re not interrupting.” Jeremy looked back and forth between us.
“Not at all,” Daniel assured him. “We were just hanging out.”
Half naked.
“So, what’s up, J? The apartment hunt going okay?” Daniel asked.
“Done,” Jeremy said. “We’ll be signing off on a townhouse this afternoon.”
“You guys, that’s amazing!” I said.
“You’re not wasting any time,” Daniel said.
“Are you kidding?” Jeremy snorted. “I’m so ready to get out of Mom and Dad’s house, you have no idea.”
“It’ll be nice for you to have your own space, for sure. Especially now…”
Daniel gave them both a meaningful look.
Especially now…what? I wanted to ask, just to stir the shit, but the vibe in the room didn’t seem conducive to me being a total dink.
“No, you’re right on the money.” Jeremy looked at Daniel seriously. “We’ll be moving in as quickly as possible.”
“Is everything okay?” Daniel asked, his expression transforming to one of concern.
Julie placed her other hand over top of Jeremy’s, and he took a deep breath. “We went to the house for brunch this morning so Mom and Dad could meet Julie.”
“Things didn’t go well?” Daniel prompted.
“They liked Julie. That wasn’t the issue. Dad showed me something—something he should have
shared with me months ago. They got a letter in the mail in March. It was from the drunk driver…the one who…you know…”
“What?” Daniel’s eyes widened, and he pushed himself to the edge of his chair.
“Turns out it was a woman,” Jeremy continued. “Her name is Anita. She lives in Spain. She was writing to find out about me. Apparently she’s been trying to track us down for a long time—”
“Wait,” Daniel said. “They got the letter in March? And they’re just telling you now?”
Jeremy nodded and sighed, glancing uncomfortably in my direction. “Um, Aubrey, would you and Julie mind…Can we just have a second?”
“Of course,” I said, quickly crossing to stand behind Daniel’s chair. “We’ll be in the office.”
“Sorry,” Jeremy said sheepishly.
“It’s okay, Jer,” Julie assured him.
Daniel cast a grim look at me over his shoulder, obviously wishing he didn’t have to deal with this crisis alone, but what could I do? I led Julie into the office and closed the door. We flopped onto the couch.
“Fuck, Julie. Is he okay?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He gets so quiet sometimes and disappears into himself. It’s like he has to think stuff through without interruption. It’s hard to gauge his emotions.”
“Daniel does that too. They’re sensitive, that’s all.”
“Doing these MADD assemblies and then getting the letter on top of that…I guess it’s stirred up a lot of confusion.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Between you and me, I think that’s why his folks didn’t tell him about the letter before now. I think they wanted to see how he coped with the assemblies. Since he handled everything okay, they decided to tell him.” She sighed and pursed her lips. “Gwen’s so overprotective. Jer is the most patient person I’ve ever met, but this drives him mental. He’s sick of being treated like a child.”
“I can’t imagine how it must feel to be in his shoes.”
“He blows my mind sometimes. He’s so…I don’t know…pragmatic about everything. He doesn’t blame anyone or feel sorry for himself. I hate to see him hurting.”
She sighed, and I squeezed her hand.
“Hey, how’d last night go?” I said, thinking a new topic might be a good idea.
“Honestly?” Her face lit up a little. “It was perfect. He’s incredible. Too bad this shit happened today; it kind of took the shine off what went down last night.”
“I wasn’t really asking for details about who went down on whom.” I was rewarded with a dirty snicker, and I shoved her shoulder lightly. “Hey, we can help you move—” I started to say, but then there were two quick knocks, and Jeremy’s head poked through the door.
“Come on, Jul,” he said. “We should jet. We have a ton of shit to do.”
Julie looked at me warily. “Okay.” She joined him in the hallway.
“You’ll let us know if you need anything, right?” I said, following Daniel as he walked them to the door.
“Sure thing.” Jeremy dropped his car keys onto Julie’s outstretched hand. “Take it easy, Aubrey.”
“You, too. Bye, guys.”
Daniel’s shoulders slumped as he closed the door. I put my hand on his back. “That didn’t sound good. Is he okay?”
He turned from the door, coiling his arm around me, pulling me hard against him as he kissed me. At last he released me, and I searched his stormy expression.
“Everything’s fine,” he said. “I promise we’ll talk about it later. Can we pick up where we left off before they got here, please?” He brushed his lips against mine. “I just need a few minutes. Wait for me in bed?”
I nodded and stepped back, but he tugged at my hand again, his eyes traveling down to my breasts. “Naked…”
“Don’t be long,” I whispered.
I undressed and slipped into bed to wait for him. Was he really okay? He’d always felt an overwhelming protective instinct where Jeremy was concerned. Maybe this latest wrinkle in Jeremy’s life had knocked him for a loop.
I was considering throwing on my wrap and going out to find him—to tell him that he didn’t have to sneak away to pull himself together—when he appeared at the bedroom door. He certainly didn’t seem upset. In fact, he was grinning cheekily.
“You got anything on under there?” he asked, crawling up the bed to join me.
“Uh-uh. Naked as a jaybird.”
He tugged the cover, lifting an eyebrow as he peeked underneath.
“Hmm. Almost perfect.” He lowered the blanket and gently pushed a strand of hair away from my face. “But would you object to wearing something for me?”
Here I was expecting him to be morose, and instead he was being playful, seemingly on the verge of requesting that I put on stockings or high heels.
“I didn’t think you’d be in a kinky mood this afternoon, Mr. Grant,” I said, smiling coyly and sliding my hand under the hem of his T-shirt.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Tell me what you want me to wear, and I’ll think about it.”
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small box. A small blue box. He opened my hand and rested the box on my palm.
Tiffany & Co.
“Daniel, what’s this all about?”
“This is about me buying you a graduation present way too early and not being able to wait to give it to you because I love you so much, that’s what it’s about.”
“What am I going to do with you?”
“We’ll discuss what you’re going to do with me in detail in a few minutes. Right now, will you please open your gift?”
I smiled at him shyly and opened the box. The most beautiful necklace was inside. The pendant was the outline of a heart. It had a pinkish hue. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. Even the chain was unique, a black cord contrasting strikingly with the pink of the heart.
“You agreed to the desk earlier. Maybe I’m pushing my luck, but I hope you’ll accept this without kicking up a fuss,” he said, gently moving the pendant on the velvet padding. “It’s rose gold. Those are diamonds.” He pointed to the semi-circle of jewels embedded in the heart. “Do you like it?”
“Daniel, it’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say thank you and then say you’d like me to help you put it on.”
I pressed my hand to his cheek, and he kissed my palm.
“I love it,” I whispered. “And I love you. Thank you.”
“I love you too.”
“So, this is what you want me to wear?” I asked, freeing the chain from the velvet backing and setting aside the box.
“Yes. Just that. Here, let me help you.”
He secured the clasp as I held up my hair.
“What do you think?” I asked, touching the pendant.
“It looks perfect.”
“I’m trying not to worry about how much it cost. I’ve never even window shopped at Tiffany’s.”
He rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t paying attention to price tags. I was more focused on the name of the pendant. It’s called an open heart.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “That seems especially appropriate now, after you opened up and shared your past with me last week. I know it wasn’t easy for you to talk about, but you can tell me anything, any time, and I won’t judge you. I hope you know that.”
“Same goes for you.” I rested my hand on his chest. “I don’t want to pressure you, but you are going to tell me what happened with Jeremy, right?”
He lay back on the pillows, and I moved beside him, resting my cheek on his chest.
“He’s frustrated with my parents for holding out on him. He talked to them for a long time about disclosure. He’s tired of being treated with kid gloves.”
“That’s what Julie said.”
“As much as we’d like to help him with the move, I think he needs to do this himself.”
&nb
sp; “I totally get that. You’d call it martyrdom, but sometimes it’s just a need to prove to yourself and others that you can do something.”
“I’m starting to understand that,” he said, pressing his lips to my temple. “Anyway, Jeremy and I made a deal. He wants to put an end to the cycle of secrecy that my dad’s been perpetuating for years. No more family drama. It’s ridiculous.”
“I couldn’t agree more. So, what’s Jeremy going to do about this woman and the letter?”
“He’s going to write to her.”
“Wow.”
“He’s convinced there’s a reason why she’s been looking for him, and he won’t feel right until he communicates with her.”
“He’s one in a million.”
“I know. I’m so proud to be his brother. I’ll support him and help him, but I’m going to do my best not to worry about him. Besides, why expend energy worrying when the woman I love is here, naked and warm, waiting in our bed?”
He kissed the tip of my nose, and I snuggled against him. “In that case, I don’t see any reason for you to worry about anything again, sunshine.”
Kissing me softly, he gently traced his finger around the pendant, then ran his hand lightly across my collarbone to my breast, circling my nipple with this thumb. “Lovely. And the necklace looks pretty good, too.”
My laugh turned to a sigh as his lips took the place of his thumb.
“Now,” he said, his face lighting up, “I believe you owe me a rain check…”
Daniel
Chapter 15
Raven or Lark?
Did ever raven sing so like a lark,
That gives sweet tidings of the sun’s uprise?…
…I’ll send the emperor my hand:
Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?
(Titus Andronicus, Act III, Scene i)
“GOOD MORNING, LOVELY.”
“Hey! Morning, sunshine.”
Aubrey yawned, and I pictured the accompanying cat stretch. More often than not when she’d stretch like that, pressing her body against mine in the morning, I’d find her impossible to resist, and the day would get off to a resounding start. I was the luckiest bastard in the world. Unfortunately, she’d spent the weekend at Jackman. After being kept at arms’ length all week because of her period, I was champing at the bit.
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