Her Surprise Engagement (Sorensen Family)

by Ashlee Mallory

  “I have it, if you want to let go.”

  “Have it?” she asked confused.

  He looked down to where their hands were still connected to the bottle, her gaze following. Instantly, hers fell away, dropping to her side, and he set the wine on the counter, sliding it to the center where it couldn’t be at risk of being tipped.

  She was still looking at him when he turned around, her eyes so dark and wide, seeming to reflect some of his own need, his own yearning for something he didn’t quite understand. She stood so close to him that he could smell the hint of citrus and soft femininity that wafted from her, something he suspected was equal parts bath oil and Daisy.

  An urge to draw this woman to him became almost irresistible. It would have been the most natural thing in the world for him to caress his hands against her cheek, tilting her face up so he could taste those lips. Feel her respond under his touch.

  But at the back of his mind, a warning light was flashing.

  This is not in the plan.

  And he never did anything, especially with the weight of his responsibilities on his shoulders, without weighing the impact those actions would have. Whether on his life, his daughter’s, his career, or even this woman and her family.

  He took a step back, breaking the spell that had fallen over them.

  Instantly, Daisy’s face flushed and she looked away.

  “You should head up to bed. I’m going to check in with Officer Rogers and confirm what time the cars will be ready to take us to the park tomorrow.”

  “Of course. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Even after she’d disappeared from his sight, Jack stood at the counter for a long moment.

  That had been close. Too close.

  Because as much as he’d wanted to give in to the urges that were sweeping over him when he was in this woman’s presence, he knew it would only complicate everything. Daisy was different, and it was precisely for that reason he needed to keep his head clear and not let his baser urges get in the way of doing what was right. What was necessary.

  Even if it just might kill him in the process.

  Chapter Eight

  “You’re sure these things are safe?” Daisy asked, tugging on Natalie’s harness, trying to ensure it was on tight.

  The idea of letting the kids climb the trees and zip through the sky had sounded nice in theory, but now they were here and looking up at the heights of the treetops, the foot bridges that soared above them, she was second-guessing her decision.

  “Absolutely,” the young ranger said. He grabbed one of the belay devices to demonstrate. “These two hooks essentially work in tandem with the other. One must always be hooked to the line for the other to release.”

  “This is going to be epic,” Paul said from behind her. “I can’t wait to tell Aiden that I got to climb around in the trees. I bet he never did that with his dad before.”

  “We’re going to swing through the trees like monkeys!” Natalie said, her voice high with excitement like her brother.

  Daisy rubbed her eyes, wishing she’d thought to bring a carafe filled with coffee, especially since she hadn’t gotten much sleep after she reached her room last night, her mind still buzzing from the memory of that last moment with Jack.

  When he’d looked at her with such naked need. She’d been almost certain he’d been about to kiss her, and she didn’t know if she would have had the strength or reason to resist.

  She cast a glance over to where he was helping Lily make some adjustments to her helmet, his face focused on his task and unaware of her attention. She had spent the morning avoiding his gaze, which was made easier when they had split into two groups as they loaded up into the black Suburbans at seven thirty. Now, she felt nervous—uncertain almost—as she studied him.

  Had she misread the situation? He didn’t seem half as affected by last night’s events as she did. Which was probably just as well. This whole thing was merely a business agreement. Not a relationship.

  Not a real one.

  Which was why she needed to get a grip. Needed to remember who she was, who Jack was. Nothing real could or would ever happen.

  Jack raised his gaze so quickly, she didn’t have time glance away before their eyes locked.

  Ka-Pow.

  Just like that, the heat hit her low in the belly, and she felt wobbly as she reached for the line in front of her. Jack didn’t seem the least affected as he grinned, his eyes flashing with something that told her he wasn’t wracked with the same uncertainty as she was.

  She swallowed, a strange ringing in her ears making it hard to hear what was going on around her.

  “I’m first!” Paul cried, and she looked to see her youngest in a battle for the lead.

  “I’m older than him, it’s only fair I go first. Right, Mom?” Natalie asked.

  “Actually,” Jack said, breaking their connection as he turned to the kids. “I think it’s a good idea to let Lily go first so she can help you guys out, and I’ll take the back.”

  Daisy felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she wasn’t going up with everyone, but she wasn’t ashamed to admit she was deathly afraid of heights. The thought of even climbing a single rung on the rope ladder left her in a cold sweat.

  Jack, fortunately, had assured her that he could handle them all, especially with Lily and Jenna’s help. But the closer they came to going up the ladder, the more Jenna’s face paled. Even now, she was biting her lip, white as a ghost.

  Daisy wrapped her arms around Jenna, squeezing her tightly the way her daughter liked it. “You’re going to have so much fun. Just remember how excited you were about doing this last night.”

  Jenna nodded, her face so solemn.

  “I think we’re ready,” Jack said. “Lily, want to head up? Natalie, you go next, and then you’re up, Paul.” He glanced at Jenna while the others started. “You doing okay?”

  Jenna didn’t say anything, her eyes wide as she watched the kids climb up.

  Then it was her turn.

  She put her hands on the ladder but stopped, almost frozen.

  “It’s completely safe, sweetie,” Daisy said, repeating what the guide had told her minutes before. “You saw how the belays work. One has to be attached to the rope at all times before the second one will detach. And Jack and everyone else will be there to help you head down if you need it. But…you should at least try it. I know if you don’t, you’ll be mad at yourself later.”

  Jenna took one rung and pulled up. Then suddenly clung to it with both hands. “I can’t. I can’t. I’m so scared. Why can’t you come, too, Mom?”

  Daisy took a deep breath, her heart racing erratically at the thought of willingly placing herself so far up there. She wanted to say no, that maybe she and Jenna should just stay on solid ground, watching everyone else as they ascended.

  But what kind of example would she be setting? Letting her daughter believe it was okay to let her fear stop her from taking risks, from experiencing new adventures?

  She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and nodded. “If you want me to…I’ll gear up and we can go together.”

  Up above them, the kids started waving and shouting. “Come on. Hurry up, guys.”

  “Are you sure?” Jack asked, his brow creased with concern as he studied her.

  She met her daughter’s gaze. “What do you say, Jenna? Are you and I in this together?”

  Jenna nodded.

  “I’m sure then,” Daisy said with a confidence she didn’t quite feel. “You go ahead with the kids, and we’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

  Half an hour later, Daisy could feel the perspiration dripping down her shirt. Not because she was hot.

  No, the cool temperatures up in the trees was almost freezing.

  Her sweat was because soon she would be taking both feet off the makeshift platform under her as she stepped out into the air. Flying through the trees on a contraption that everyone told her—including herself—was perfectly safe.
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br />   From below she saw Jack, Natalie, and Paul waving up at her and Jenna. Jenna was going first, and Daisy was behind her, offering encouragement even if all the while she wasn’t sure how she was going to take that final step out into the abyss.

  “Okay, Jenna. You got this, baby. Think about the bridges we just crossed. How you didn’t let your fear stop you and you pushed right on. That feeling you had when you reached the end. This is no different. Lily’s already waiting at the other side for you. We’re all here for you.”

  Jenna nodded and took in a deep breath. Daisy knew the moment her daughter made that decision to take the step, her face hardening in determination before she grabbed the bar and put her weight into the seat of her harness and let go.

  Daisy couldn’t see Jenna’s face after that, only heard the loud sound of the zip line as she crossed it but the whoops and hollers from below as everyone cheered her on was almost enough. It wasn’t until her daughter reached the end that she heard it.

  Jenna’s laughter, mingled with Lily’s.

  Instantly, some of Daisy’s tension lessened.

  “Okay, Mom. You’re up.” It was Jack who said this, though.

  That’s right. Now it was her turn to do what she’d spent the better part of the last twenty minutes convincing her daughter to do. This whole trip was about experiencing new things, right?

  So why wouldn’t her legs take the step forward they needed to?

  She didn’t know how, but she was suddenly aware of Jack’s presence next to her. He must have climbed the ladder, but it hadn’t been long enough for him to get here…or had it?

  “You don’t have to do this if you’re that scared.”

  “Of course I do,” she snapped. “I just told my daughter how she shouldn’t let her fears control her life.”

  He grinned. “I know. Now prove it to them and yourself that you’re not going to let your fears get the better of you. Take that step.”

  He placed his hand on her shoulder, something that shouldn’t have felt as good as it did. Especially not right now when she was a million feet up in the air possibly about to step to her death.

  “How do I know the system is equipped to hold my weight and size?”

  He smiled at her indulgently. “Because I just did this same line not fifteen minute ago and I easily outweigh you by two.”

  That earned her own slight smile. “How much do you weigh?”

  “One eighty-two.”

  Cute the way he thought she weighed only ninety pounds.

  “Now,” he continued, “if it can hold me, it can hold you. I promise.”

  She nodded, somehow finding the courage to take the tiniest step forward so her toes were past the ledge. Then stepped right back.

  “Hey. Look at me,” he said. She glanced over her shoulder, meeting his steely blue gaze. “If it’s one thing I know about you, Daisy Sorensen, you will take that step one way or another. You’re not going to let your kids see you give up. Whether it’s now or in twenty minutes or in one hour. Because you don’t walk away from a challenge. You’re a fighter and no matter what obstacles have been put in your way, you’ve pushed past them to be the amazing mom and woman you are. This”—he nodded toward the empty air—“this is nothing compared to the last two years of hell your ex put you through. What your life put you through. Here’s a chance to embrace the unknown. You can—and will—do this.”

  Something in his tone told her he meant every word he’d said. And despite her fear, she found his belief in her…empowering.

  She looked down at her kids waving. Up ahead she could hear Jenna and Lily calling for her to go.

  The only one stopping her right now was her.

  Everyone else knew she could do this.

  Taking a deep breath, she took that step and lifted her other leg, and felt her body falling forward.

  …

  “Did you see how fast I whipped down that last line?” Jenna asked excitedly, her earlier fear now forgotten as she grabbed some fries and stuffed them in her mouth.

  Jack would never have guessed this happy, confident girl was the same girl who’d been white as a sheet as she clung to the rungs of the ladder a couple hours before.

  “You weren’t as fast as me,” Paul said across from her at the picnic table where they’d stopped to eat lunch. He slurped the last of the contents from his juice box through his straw.

  “Or me,” Natalie said, the new contest apparently being who could out-do the others as the fastest. Lily only rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile before she took a bite of her burger.

  “You were all faster than speeding bullets,” Daisy said wryly. “Now finish your lunch.”

  It was hard not to be impressed by this woman who, in the face of her sheer terror, had put those fears aside to set an example to her daughter that she shouldn’t let fear get in the way of things she wanted.

  “I wish Ollie was here,” Paul said.

  “Oh, Ollie is probably napping with Aunt Glenda, reserving their energy for you kids,” Jack said, referring to the charity event they were expected to attend later that night.

  An event that he normally would be attending only out of a sense of duty, with little excitement or interest. But with the prospect of an entire evening alone in the company of Daisy Sorensen, he was finding it difficult not to count down the hours and minutes before he had her all to himself.

  Whether that was a rational desire in the face of last night’s near debacle wasn’t something he was going to overanalyze.

  “How come you and Jack get to go to the ball? Why can’t we come, too?” Natalie asked.

  “I’m afraid it’s only for grown-ups,” Jack said, reaching over to grab some of the kids’ fries, having eaten all of his own. “Besides, it’s bound to be boring and stuffy with fancy food that no one eats anyhow.”

  “Kids, if you’re done eating, why don’t you throw what’s left in the garbage, please,” Daisy said, her own half-eaten cheeseburger still in front of her.

  “Then can we go swing on the playground?” Paul asked.

  Where do they get the energy?

  Daisy glanced at her phone. “You have fifteen minutes.”

  There was a flurry of activity as the kids tossed their wrappers and leftover food back in the bag and took off, Jenna and Lily following more slowly as they stared at the electronic screen of Lily’s iPad in front of them.

  “I know I should probably tell them to turn that off and just enjoy being out in the great outdoors. But they are making progress and, after Jenna’s morning, she could probably use the downtime,” Daisy said just as her phone buzzed, drawing her attention.

  “Anything wrong?” Jack asked.

  “I hope not. It’s the garage. They left a message to call them back.” She chewed on her thumbnail as she hit callback and waited for them to pick up.

  Jack gathered the bulk of the garbage and carried it over to a trash can, giving Daisy a moment of privacy. When he returned, she was just hanging up, not looking pleased.

  “That bad, huh?”

  She tried to smile. “Well, the good news is the car is almost ready. We can pick it up on Wednesday, after the Fourth. Bad news, it’s ten percent more than they initially thought it would be for labor.”

  “Are you going to be okay?” Jack asked, his face drawn in concern. “I’d be happy to lend you the money to cover the—”

  “No, but thanks. I have it.”

  “All right. But just say the word and I’d be happy to lend it to you.”

  “Sure,” she said in a tone that told him the chances of that ever happening were remote. She took another nibble of her cheeseburger. “Before I forget, I wanted to thank you for today.”

  “No problem. It was actually a lot of fun.”

  “You know what I mean. About your little pep talk up on the platform while I suffered a minor panic attack?” She had a slight smile on her face as she said this, and he noticed a dab of mustard still lingering on the corner
of her mouth.

  “You would have done it eventually.”

  “Maybe. If only because someone finally pushed me off.”

  He chuckled. “Well, I had considered that possibility,” he said, and without thinking, leaned forward and wiped at the mustard spot with his thumb.

  She looked stunned at the contact, her mouth opening the slightest bit.

  “Sorry. You had some mustard and I—”

  At that moment, a flash of light from the corner of his eyes drew both of their attention over to where a guy with a wide-angle lens camera was snapping away.

  It took a few seconds for Daisy to react, seeming to take a moment to let it sink it that she was the object of this guy’s attention.

  “It’s okay. Don’t panic,” he said, keeping his tone calm. “Once he gets a few photos, he’ll be gone.”

  She nodded, even if her eyes told him she was fighting the urge to flee. His finger was still inches from her mouth, and instead of pulling it away, he reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair back from her face.

  It was a show of intimacy that he offered with little guilt. This was, after all, why they’d agreed to stay together at the house. To sell the idea they were engaged.

  He smiled, wondering for a moment if it would be pushing his luck to lean forward and place a kiss on her still stunned and open mouth.

  Probably. Instead, he grinned, enjoying the array of emotions that flitted across her face.

  From the playground, there were shouts of laughter from the kids as they raced to the top of an eight-foot climbing wall. Daisy seized on the distraction of the moment and stood.

  “Okay, kids. Time to go.”

  What would she do when she didn’t have the kids around to serve as a distraction?

  He was looking forward to tonight and finding out.

  Chapter Nine

  “Paul, don’t talk with your mouth full, dear,” Glenda said as Daisy made her way down the stairs, careful not to trip over the hem of the long gown. The last thing she needed was to break an arm or leg because she couldn’t remember how to walk around in a pair of shoes higher than an inch.