“You got it.” They said goodbye and Daisy dropped the phone on the counter. “Take it.” She laughed.
He surged forward and caught her around the middle, pulling her body flush with his. The undercurrent became the current and carried them both away to a quiet place without cell phones and bosses and dinners.
He pressed his lips into the crook of her neck, swaying side to side as if there were a song only they could hear. Daisy moved with him, instinctively reaching up to run her nails lightly through the short hair at the base of his head. He moaned, his lips vibrating against her skin.
“Beck,” she whispered. “What are we doing?”
“I’m kissing you,” he murmured.
She didn’t have a chance to answer, because he moved his lips along her neck and to her jaw and her thoughts broke into tiny particles. She turned her head and his lips found hers, his large hands flat against her stomach.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Quinton’s voice got louder with each “whoa.”
Daisy whipped around to stare in horror at her brother. He was all dressed for work in navy scrubs that she’d insisted would look great with his coloring. Right now, his coloring was a deep shade of angry.
Beckett didn’t let go of Daisy. His arms tightened around her and he rested his chin on her head. “Morning.”
Quinton glared. “How long has this been going on?”
“About two minutes,” quipped Beckett.
Daisy elbowed him in the gut. Quinton turned his dark gaze on her. “What is going on?”
All of the tiny particles of thought sucked back together like watching an exploding planet in reverse. She folded her arms over Beckett’s. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Wha-at?” Beckett laughed uneasily.
Quinton planted his feet. “Talk—before I call Dad and tell him you’re living with your boyfriend.”
“You’re the one who invited him,” Daisy fired back.
“I didn’t tell you to kiss my best friend.”
“You didn’t even tell me he was coming. And it’s not like you wouldn’t kiss my best friend if you had the chance.” Daisy held her breath after throwing that verbal dart across the room. She shouldn’t have said anything at all, especially after what Vivian had told her about complications. Shoot!
The color drained out of Quinton’s face so fast it looked like someone pulled the plug in the bathtub. “Ho—how did you know … about that? Did she tell you I tried to kiss her?”
“You did?” Both Daisy and Beckett leaned forward as one.
“No!” He studied his shoes. “Maybe.”
Aw, crap.
“And she shot you down?” asked Beckett, quietly.
“After the fact.”
Daisy’s head spun. “You mean you kissed her and then she broke up with you?” She was going to shake Vivian!
Quinton looked up and ran his hands down his face. “She said it wouldn’t work out between us. There were too many hurdles.”
“There’s no such thing as hurdles in a relationship. There’s only situations you have to work around,” Beckett said.
Daisy turned in his arms to face him fully. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“So you don’t think the fact that you’re about to leave the country is a hurdle we’d have to get over or jump or whatever you do with hurdles?”
He shook his head. “You’re friends with 11 million people. I think you and I can figure out how to have a relationship even if I’m in South America and you’re here.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She pondered the possibilities. Her schedule was off, early mornings and evenings, but that wouldn’t matter as much if he was in a different time zone. And if his calls with Kelly were any indication, he was already in the habit of video calls. And she was used to talking to a camera lens. What seemed too tall to overcome suddenly seemed like a rock they had to step over.
“Great! You two live happily ever after worlds apart while I die alone with the woman I want to be with living less than five miles away.” Quinton scraped his keys off the counter and stormed out.
“That didn’t go well at all.” Daisy slumped against Beckett.
“On the contrary, I think it went just the way I’d hoped.”
“Excuse me?”
“I got you in my arms and the house to ourselves.” He ducked down and began kissing her neck again. His beard was soft and smelled like the barber’s shop—kind of spicy with wood undertones.
“But Quin …”
Beckett pulled back to look her in the eyes. He gently brushed an errant strand of hair off her cheek. “He needs some time to lick his wounds and cool down.”
“I want to fix this for them. They’d be good together. Vivian said one of the reasons she didn’t want to date him was because she and I are friends.”
“You know what would blow her argument right out of the water?”
“What?”
“If you and I made it all look easy.” He began rocking to that rhythm they shared.
“That would actually be a good idea. Maybe, if we all hang out and she sees that it’s not weird between you, me, and Quinton, then she’ll come around.”
“Sure. Invite the whole gang.”
“Even Trent?” she teased.
“Even Trent. I’m not a sore winner.”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “Pah-lease. You’re the world’s sorest winner.”
“Says who?”
“Says me—the Monopoly champion.”
“You’re relentless.” He ticked her sides. “Come to think of it, I should have known you’d turn into a MyHeartChannel mogul.”
“Right?” She laughed until Beckett kissed her. She felt like laughing and singing and bouncing all over the house as pieces from her childhood, teenaged years, and adult life all meshed together. Somehow, laughing with Beckett and kissing him and sharing their lives made her feel like the best parts of herself shone through. She loved that about him. She might even love him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Beckett entered Quinton’s vet clinic through the front door. He’d spent a lot of time in the back lot putting together the barn kit, but he didn’t feel like he could walk in the employee entrance. Not without Quinton’s permission. After what happened in the kitchen … he wasn’t sure Quinton would let him in at all.
Sienna waved hello from behind the receptionist desk. Typing while talking on the phone, she flagged Beckett to go towards the back rooms. He headed for the recovery room, where the last of the puppies lay alone in the kennel. Beckett headed straight for him, squatting in front of the door. “Hey there, little guy. You want to come out?”
The puppy sat up and halfheartedly wagged his tail.
“He’s going through separation depression.”
At Quinton’s words, Beckett lurched to his feet.
“Which is what Daisy will go through when you pack up.”
Beckett turned back to the kennel, taking in the sadness in the puppy’s big brown eyes. His whole body seemed sad, from his droopy ears to his limp tail. “Is there anything we can do for him?”
“We’re doing all we can.” Quinton washed his hands in the sink and dried them with a paper towel out of the dispenser. “Here’s the thing. If you leave, Daisy will hurt—and not just the first time, but every time. And I’m going to start to hate you for making her go through that.”
Beckett reached up to tug at his beard, only to grab air. Instead he unlocked the door and held the puppy close to his body. “What are best friends for?”
Quinton scowled. “Not that.”
“Look.” Beckett stroked the dog’s soft fur. He wouldn’t mind having a pet. Maybe he could get a dog for Daisy. “I know it’s not ideal, but we’re figuring this out. We’re taking it one day at a time, going slow.”
“It didn’t look like you were taking it slow this morning.”
Beckett checked his grin. “You could learn a thing or two from
me.”
“Like what?” Quinton scoffed.
“Like my seventeen-step program to woo a woman in fifteen years—give or take three years. Step one: Help her climb tree houses.”
Quinton laughed and his angry shell cracked. “Have you really liked my sister all these years?”
Looking back, there wasn’t at time Beckett could remember knowing Daisy and not liking her. Sure, there were moments when she played the annoying little sister card, but at the end of the day, there wasn’t a girl he’d rather have more than her on his Nerf gun team. That had to mean something. “I think a part of me has been in love with her since the day you all moved in.”
“You had to get all mushy on me.” Quinton smacked him on the back, telling Beckett he was over the whole argument. “You’re so whipped.”
Beckett smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. “Don’t knock it till you try it.” He almost made a comment about the perks, but was able to bite it back at the last second. Quinton was still Daisy’s brother.
And it looked like he was officially Daisy’s boyfriend. He walked taller as he left the office, his new title giving him an extra lift in his step. He hadn’t been this happy to be someone’s boyfriend since sixth grade when Tori Yates kissed him on the playground and told him not to tell anyone or she’d punch him in the face.
Ah, love.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EveryDayGlam! Beauty Tip
Temporary lip tattoos will dissolve in oil. You can use olive or coconut oil to get them off without having to scrub. This makes using lip tattoos on a daily basis so much easier. Of course, it also means Mom can check to see if a tattoo is real or not. Don’t mess with Mom!
Daisy grabbed her makeup day-bag and checked for brushes. Last year she forgot to pack them and ended up using her finger to apply eye shadow in the bathroom. Thank goodness it was during Madelyn Stewart’s class and the bathroom was a ghost town. Everyone wanted advice from the owner of the Hart to Heart channel
She couldn’t afford even a small mistake this year. “It’ll be fine. Everything is going to turn out just fine … as long as I find my raspberry lip gloss!” She tore apart her samples drawer, searching for the one shade of gloss that didn’t clash with her shirt.
“Aha!” Tossing the tube into her oversized purse, she double-checked for her laptop with the class slides and headed out the door.
Vivian stood in the kitchen, one arm crossed over her body. Jason ate a bowl of the sugary cereal Vivian wouldn’t buy him but Daisy kept in the pantry just for mornings like this. She took her keys out of the bowl by the door. “We have to pick up my mom on the way, so we need to hurry. Jason, how close are you?”
“Five bites.”
It was cereal, so bite equaled spoonful, but whatever. That was not enough time to make a smoothie. She glanced at Beckett’s lumpy form on the couch. He hadn’t moved, so she guessed he hadn’t made her breakfast. Oh well. She could get a cup of something to fill her tummy at the conference.
“You’ll have to go without me.” Vivian took up occupancy on the empty barstool. “My sitter fell through.”
Quinton stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes. He had on a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a tight T-shirt that accentuated his frame nicely. Vivian’s eyes about popped out. She quickly busied herself smoothing Jason’s hair down.
Daisy clamped her teeth together to keep from yelling, “Caught ya!” She glanced at Jason and then back to Vivian. “You have to come. KPaka will be there and they’re taking your class. You represent EveryDayGlam!” Besides that, MyHeartChannel was recording every class. They’d been promoting Daisy and Vivian’s segments for weeks now. If Vivian didn’t show up, the world would know about it.
“I know, but I don’t have another place for him to go.” She gave Daisy a please-don’t-talk-about-this-in-front-of-him look. The last thing either of them wanted was for Jason to feel like a burden. He wasn’t. He was a blessing and deserved to feel like one every day.
Daisy gave her a please-come-please-please-please look right back. Normally she was the world’s most understanding boss when it came to putting Jason first, but this was huge and she needed Vivian to blow it out of the water today. A no-show was unprofessional and not at all the image she wanted to send to KPaka.
Quinton’s head bounced back and forth between them. He threw his hand up like he wanted the teacher to call on him. “I’ll take him.”
Vivian blanched.
“Hey, Jason, wanna go to work with me?” he asked before Vivian could politely refuse him.
Jason dropped his spoon in the bowl. “With all the animals? Do you still have puppies?”
“We have one puppy.”
“Can I, Mom?”
“I don’t know …” Vivian rubbed her forehead. “It’s too much to ask Quinton. He’s working.”
Quinton placed both hands on Jason’s shoulders. “And I could use a good assistant.” He waited a beat while Vivian debated. “I’m taking that as a yes.”
“Yes!” Jason did a fist pump. “I’ll get my backpack.”
“I’ll get dressed.” The two ran in opposite directions.
Daisy sighed, wondering how on earth Beckett could sleep through all this. He was probably used to jungle noises and stuff. She blew him a kiss, not wanting to disturb his slumber, and ushered Vivian out the door. She caught Jason on his way in and gave him a hug and a kiss goodbye.
Daisy rubbed Vivian’s back. “You okay with this.” If Vivian wasn’t, they’d bring Jason with them and trade off watching him. He’d be bored beyond measure unless they could find the Montana Mountain Man. Jason loved watching him fish and hunt and tromp through the woods like he owned them.
Vivian paused like she was scanning feelings. “Oddly enough, I’m okay with Quinton taking Jason.”
Daisy nodded once and climbed behind the wheel. Vivian made progress today. That was a good sign, an omen that things were going to go their way. She backed out of the drive full of optimism. Today was going to be a great day.
Four hours later, Daisy wrapped up her class, held in an extra-large room to accommodate her subscribers, full of applause. She let out a sigh, releasing a week’s worth of stress. A sense of accomplishment mingled with a performer’s high allowing her smile to be genuine and fresh instead of tense as it had been before the class. Teri, the KPaka rep, was one of the first people in the room. She’d walked in wearing black slacks and a charcoal blouse. A thin, diamond bracelet set in silver graced her left wrist, and a liquid silver chain bounced against her chest as she walked. But what Daisy noticed most was that she didn’t wear any makeup. Had she shown up in one of Daisy’s signature looks that she’d created for her channel, Daisy would have felt secure in her future with KPaka. However, the woman was Switzerland with no loyalties. She sat on the front row to the far left.
During the class, Daisy outlined her journey from awkward teen with a laptop camera to MyHeartChannel star, explaining the steps she took along the way. Some of the attendees wanted to jump from first upload to sponsorship, but there were dues to pay and an audience to build before the larger corporations would even take a look at your channel. She’d done what she loved for the sake of following her passion and the money followed. That was the secret formula that get-rich-quick channel owners didn’t want to acknowledge. They thought she’d scammed the system or that she’d gotten in before there was so much competition and therefore had an edge. Maybe. But that didn’t make the process any different. She’d worked hard and continued to work hard at what she did.
And she loved it.
She breathed in through her nose as if what she did for a living had a smell she could savor. At times like this, when she could look her subscribers in the eye, an overwhelming sense of love and responsibility filled her up. The applause died down and women surged forward in a semicircle, trapping her against the projection screen.
Mom arrived to unhook Daisy’s laptop and organize her things, just like Daisy had done all
those years ago for Mom. She was still a known face for MyHeartChannel and several women paused to talk to her as she worked.
“Can I get your autograph?” asked a woman wearing Daisy’s signature Business Day Eye and her Wowza Lips.
“Sure.” Daisy took the 5 x 7 glossy photo MyHeartChannel had placed inside attendees’ gift bags. She used a metallic sharpie to sign her name with a flourish. If a fan emailed her, she wrote them a personalized note, but that would take all day and the organizers needed this room. “I love that eye shadow on you, by the way. It’s a beautiful match with your skin tone.”
“Thank you!” the woman gushed, pressing the picture to her chest. “I watch your channel every day.”
“Thanks!” Daisy gave her a quick hug and moved on to the next eager face.
This woman wore the Halloween Hopeful eye shadow. The purple matched a streak in her black hair. Though the heavy shadow was fun for Halloween, not a lot of women could pull it off as a day face. She’d sat in the exact middle of the room, hiding behind her hair through most of the class.
“You are rockin’ that look, girl.” Daisy hugged her hello. She felt the lady relax into her as if the physical contact were a healing balm.
They chatted for a moment about makeup removal. “I’m going to tag a short segment on the end of that video about using olive oil on the eyelids. Thank you so much for stopping to talk to me today.”
The woman, Trudy, went in for one more hug and then she left the group with her chin high, her hair falling gently to the side.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.” Felicity, the conference committee member who was in charge of making sure Daisy got to all the right places, elbowed her way through the group. She was a full head taller than anyone else, which made it easy to follow her progress. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that exposed an inch of brown roots, and she had smudged the green eyeliner on her left eye.
EveryDayLove!: A MyHeartChannel Romance Page 12