“Her feet aren’t wet, Daddy,” Ginny corrected him, looking down at Danni’s shoes. “It’s not raining.”
Ginny had been in rare form all day, he noted, and apparently on her best behavior as well. She wasn’t a child given to tantrums, but she could get a bit cranky at times when she was tired, which by all rights, after walking around for four hours through stores that didn’t have a single stuffed animal between them, she should have been. It seemed to Stone as if his small keg of dynamite was trying extra hard today.
It wasn’t difficult to see why.
Ginny had taken a huge shine to Danni, so much more so than she ever had to Elizabeth. Now that he thought about it, Ginny hadn’t really taken to any woman except for his sister, and now Danni, since her mother died. That said a great deal about the woman he’d been driving around for the last four hours, he mused.
“Nope, you’re right,” he agreed. “No rain.” He looked now at Danni as they reached his truck. “What do you say to grabbing some dinner and then calling it a day?”
“Why don’t we just go to my house and I’ll whip up something for us?” Danni suggested, addressing her words to both Stone and his daughter.
“I think you’re forgetting something,” Stone pointed out.
She thought for a moment and nothing came to her. “What?”
“You have no kitchen.” He hadn’t thought he’d have to remind her of that.
“I have a plug and a hot plate,” she countered, then grinned. “Never underestimate the ingenuity of a woman with a hot plate.”
Stone laughed. “I have no intention of underestimating you,” he told her sincerely. He already knew how capable and determined she was. He didn’t need a refresher course. “But I thought it might be a nice change of pace for you to consume something you didn’t have to slave over a hot plate to make,” he told her, doing his best to look serious at the end.
His thoughtfulness left her momentarily speechless. Recovering, Danni said the first thing that came to her mind. “You forget, I like to cook.”
He could just hear his sister’s voice in her head, wholeheartedly endorsing this woman.
Stick with her, Stone. This woman’s a keeper.
Most likely, his sister was also anticipating being invited over for meals a lot, he guessed. That was, if she ever did get around to moving out again.
“No, I didn’t forget,” he told her.
When it came to this woman, he’d found that he didn’t forget anything he’d learned about her. Not the way she smiled, or the way she tilted her head when she was listening to him, or the way that she pressed her lips together when she was trying to make up her mind about something.
But that wasn’t the point right now—or maybe he was just trying to bury the point because he wasn’t ready to face it just yet. Because admitting, even just to himself, that he was drawn to this woman on any other level than just plain old basic physical attraction, would be leaving himself opened to the possibility of pain, raw, soul-shredding pain. He’d already been through that once and barely survived. He might not survive a second time around.
“There must be some part of you that likes to be waited on,” he said.
“There is,” she allowed, “but you just gave up your whole Saturday for me, so I want to do something in return.”
“You did,” he told her. When she looked at him quizzically, he explained, “You gave Ginny a bunch of cake pops.”
“I gave Ginny cake pops because she was such a good audience,” Danni said, twisting around to look at the little girl and give her a wink. Ginny beamed at her in response.
“Well, fortunately, I’m driving so that means you two have to go where I take you,” Stone informed her with finality. “So I suggest you settle back and enjoy the ride, Ms. Everett.”
“Guess I have no choice,” Danni replied, amusement playing along her lips as she turned to face front again and settled into her seat. “But I intend to make a feast for you and Ginny once I get my kitchen back.”
“It’s a deal,” Stone told her and, God help him, he realized that he was looking forward to the informal “date” he’d just made.
* * *
His reaction to Danni both intrigued Stone and worried him. He hadn’t had feelings—real, intense feelings—for anyone since Eva had died. For the longest time, he actually didn’t believe that he could feel anything again. What he’d had with Elizabeth was pleasant enough and he did like her. But he had resigned himself to his low-key attraction to the mayor’s chief press secretary being as good as it got for him.
After all, he’d had passion already and while it had been wonderful, it had also led him into a land of desolation once Eva was no longer part of his life. It had taken him a very long time to heal, to feel something other than despair and dread.
Had he not had Ginny to care for, Stone didn’t even want to think about the path he would have wound up taking.
Feelings were exhilarating, but they came with a price and he really didn’t want to pay that price a second time.
But no matter how much he reasoned with himself, it felt as if he had no choice in the matter. Deliberately sabotaging his intent to do his job and leave before Danni came home, he caught himself lingering at her house longer and longer each evening, adding finishing touches on areas already finished, just so that their paths might briefly cross.
Just so he could see her before he went home to his daughter and his life. And even perhaps, just to touch her in passing, although the last time had resulted in not just an impersonal touch but a caress. A slow, languid caress along her jawline as he looked into her eyes. It had been on a pretext of removing a stray hair from her cheek. But there’d been no hair.
Only sizzle.
Sizzle that in turn lingered as well. Lingered because he kissed her—although he wouldn’t have been able to reconstruct the logistics if his life depended on it. One second, they were talking and he was saying, “Good night,” the next, for a brief, shining, wondrous moment, their lips all but fused into one another, creating, among other things, their own personal bonfire.
But the next moment, they’d separated, each diving for cover behind inane words and cardboard sentiments they both knew didn’t have a lick of truth to them.
He was later getting home than he’d ever been.
The funny thing was neither Ginny nor Virginia complained about his lateness. They hadn’t even said a word when he began coming home later and later.
Ginny had always complained when he left her to see Elizabeth, but this, somehow, was different for her. Most likely it had to do with the fanciful desserts Danni began sending home with him right after they’d observed her taping that Saturday.
It got to the point where his concern wouldn’t stay under wraps. He felt the need to share it with Ernie Walsh, the retired construction worker, now part-time handyman he utilized on occasion to speed up a job.
This job, he decided in a moment of raw honesty, needed speeding up. If only to get done faster because the sooner they were out of each others’ lives the sooner things would go back to normal for him. Dull, but normal. Every treaty had an unpleasant part, he thought philosophically.
“Ginny acts like a kid in a candy store, waiting for me to come home,” he told Ernie as they painted the renovated downstairs bathroom a shade of icy blue. “The minute I walk in through the door, she runs over to me and checks both my hands to see if I brought her anything.”
Ernie dipped his roller into the tray, removing the excess paint before beginning to apply what was left on the roller onto the wall.
“And?”
“Usually, I have,” Stone said with a somewhat helpless shrug.
Ernie paused, as if trying to get his facts straight. “So the woman whose house we’re working on bakes for your daughter?” Ernie asked, momentarily taking a break—something he did with a fair amount of frequency.
Stone could hear the laugh in Ernie’s voice. The handyman probably tho
ught the woman slaved for hours making these edible “gifts” she was sending home with him. The way to a father’s heart is through his kid, right?
“It’s not like it’s a hardship for her. The woman’s a chef—”
“Wait, back up. You said her name was Danielle Everett?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“You talking about Danni Everett?” Ernie asked, saying her name as it if was revered in his household. Or at least revered by him.
“Yes,” Stone replied.
“As in Danni’s Desserts to Die For?” he asked in disbelief. His voice quavered a little. “We’re talking about the woman on the cable channel?” Ernie’s voice rose a little higher with each sentence.
“Yes.” Ernie was looking at him as if he were utterly starstruck. “I take it you’ve seen her show.”
“Seen it?” Ernie repeated with a harsh laugh. “I never miss it. That woman cooks on all four burners and I’m not just talking about the stove.” His laugh turned almost lusty. “That’s who you’re working for? Oh man, you lucky devil,” Ernie crowed gleefully. “Anyone who looks like that has got to be able to really cook outside the kitchen, if you know what I mean.” The man winked at Stone in an exaggerated fashion.
“My wife thinks I’ve developed an interest in her programs,” he continued, chuckling. “I let her think whatever makes her happy.” He scrubbed his hand over his face as he obviously envisioned the encounters between his one-time protégé and the woman who in his mind deserved a golden spatula. “So what’s she like in person?” Ernie asked eagerly.
“She’s nice.” Stone thought that was a good, safe description, certainly not an offensive one and not one that could be regarded as giving away how he really felt about the woman.
“Nice?” Ernie echoed, then jeered. “Nice? An apple is ‘nice,’ a spring breeze is ‘nice.’ This woman is nothing short of hot. And if she’s sending desserts home with you for your kid, that means she likes you,” Ernie pointed out. “I mean really likes you.”
Maybe he shouldn’t have shared this, after all. He liked Ernie, but the man, now that he thought of it, wasn’t exactly the last word when it came to being discreet. “I think you’re reading too much into this, Ernie.”
“And I think you’re not reading enough into it,” the handyman scoffed.
“Ernie, Danni and I have a professional relationship, that’s all. I’m renovating her house and she’s paying me to do it. End of story,” he said firmly.
But Ernie remained unconvinced. He rolled his applicator down the wall one time, then paused again. “Huh. Nobody ever sent desserts home with me for my kid.”
And there was a very good reason for that. “You don’t have any kids, Ernie,” Stone reminded him.
But Ernie was not about to be diverted from the stance he’d taken. “You’re missing the point here, boy,” he said impatiently.
There was no convincing the man tonight, Stone thought. The sooner he got him out of there, the sooner things would go back to normal—at least for the evening.
“And you’re missing a spot,” Stone said, pointing out a small section of the wall that Ernie’s roller had skipped over. “Now stop making prophesies and finish that wall so we can get started on the upstairs bathrooms before she decides to hire another contractor.”
“Will you introduce me?” Ernie asked.
“Sure, why not? I’ll introduce you.” Stone played his ace. “But only after you finish painting the bathroom.”
“On it!” Ernie gleefully declared, putting some muscle into it.
Shaking his head, Stone got back to what he was doing.
Chapter Thirteen
Danni saw the truck from a distance as she turned down her block.
At first, she thought maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part, or she was seeing a truck that was actually sitting in the driveway next to hers.
But as she drew closer, she realized that it was her driveway. Stone’s truck was still there, despite the fact that it was past six o’clock.
A smile curved her mouth as she pulled her car up next to the truck. Taping this week kept hitting snags and running way over the usual time, with her afternoons bleeding into her evenings.
Danni’s sense of responsibility trumped her desire to get home early so that she could exchange a few words with Stone before he left for the day. She wanted to talk to him about how work was going, about how his daughter was doing.
About anything at all actually.
Lately, she found that she looked forward to seeing him. And never more than today.
Ever since he’d kissed her, she found that her mind kept straying at the most inopportune times to thoughts of Stone, to the way his laugh set off a reaction in the pit of her stomach.
The familiarity of that set off more chain reactions inside her.
So far, she and Stone, as well as his daughter, had spent several Saturdays visiting every conceivable store that carried tile, floor coverings and/or bathroom fixtures and accessories, within a forty-mile radius. She’d finally made all her selections, thanks to Stone’s advice and guidance. But, he’d warned her, just because she’d placed the orders didn’t mean that it was smooth sailing from then on. Not everything was arriving in a timely fashion as originally promised. There’d been delays and mishaps, and consequently, seven weeks into the remodeling she was still making do with a hot plate, a microwave and a plug-in grill.
When Stone apologized, she told him she knew it wasn’t his fault and that she was getting used to “roughing it.” The smile he gave her in return was well worth what she had to put up with.
If she didn’t know any better, she would have said she was falling for the muscular contractor. But of course she knew better. Love took time. Time to cultivate, to develop. Stone had only been in her life for seven weeks. That might be long enough for a fruit fly to fall in love, but not a woman, right?
Despite her sensible reasoning, Danni caught herself hurrying up the walkway to see Stone. However, she told herself it was for an entirely different reason than the fact that he made her pulse race.
Danni stopped at the door, forcing herself to take a deep breath. She needed to collect herself.
You’re acting like a teenager hoping to ambush the school hunk, she chided herself. But the truth of it was, she had to admit, she did feel like a teenager. The idea of seeing Stone caused her pulse to pick up speed and anticipation to corkscrew all through her.
It had been a long time since she’d felt like this, she thought, opening her front door and walking in.
Even though she didn’t see him, she could feel his presence—and right now, that was a very good thing.
She didn’t want to be alone.
“Hello?” she called out.
“In here,” the deep male voice called back. It was coming out of the kitchen.
Danni told herself not to pick up speed as she went through the house, but she did anyway. She stopped just short of the kitchen. Crossing the threshold, she made her way over to Stone. There he was carefully placing small tiles one at a time on the back wall, creating what would eventually be the backsplash over the new cooktop she’d selected last week.
“You’re still here,” she observed, pleased.
“Looks that way,” he quipped. Then he glanced over his shoulder at her. “I felt bad about the kitchen still not being finished so I thought I’d stay longer to do some more work. I figured it was okay because you weren’t home yet.” Finished for now, he brushed his hands off on the back of his jeans. “But you’re here now and you probably want the house to yourself, so I’ll go.”
She didn’t want him to go, not yet. Rattling around the house tonight would feel exceptionally lonely to her. “Don’t rush off on my account. I can always have the house to myself later,” she told him. She needed to have a plausible reason to ask him to stay, otherwise, she would just seem needy to him. Danni fell back on a tried and true method. “Have you eaten yet?”
Stone nodded, thinking she meant had he eaten that day. “Had some kind of sandwich Virginia threw together for me for lunch—don’t ask me what. I tend not to pay attention to things like that when I’m working.”
That sounded like a typical male, Danni thought. Her father had been like that, eating without paying attention to what he was consuming.
“I can make some dinner for you,” Danni offered, going into the family room where her old refrigerator was currently housed.
Stone knew better than to point out that she still had no stove. He’d watched her work miracles on her hot plate. She cooked better on the hot plate than most women did with a state-of-the-art stove.
Still, he didn’t like putting her out on his account. “That’s okay. Virginia probably has some takeout waiting for me.”
The more the merrier, Danni thought. Especially tonight.
“Tell her to come by with Ginny,” she said, impulsively extending an invitation to the rest of his family. “It’s important for a little girl to eat dinner with her daddy.”
Something in her voice caught his attention. A sadness he hadn’t heard before. Granted he hadn’t known her for that long, but he’d noticed that usually Danni was incredibly upbeat. And while there was a smile on her face right now, it appeared to be taking some effort on her part to maintain.
“Something wrong?” he asked her.
“No,” she said quickly. “I just think that fathers and daughters should spend time together if they can.” When they can, she added silently as another pang skewered through her.
“You’ll get no argument from me, but Ginny’s not neglected, if that’s what you’re thinking.” And then he paused. Those were tears shimmering in her eyes even though she’d turned her head away quickly, he could swear to it. “There is something wrong, isn’t there.” It wasn’t a question anymore. “Maybe it’s none of my business,” he acknowledged. “But I’m a pretty good listener if you want to talk.”
She wanted to talk, but she didn’t know if the words would even sound coherent when they came out. People endured loss all the time and went about their lives. For the most part, she’d gone on with hers, but there were just times, like now, when the loneliness threatened to undo her.
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