by Ashlee Price
“I wouldn’t mind going. I was looking forward to going home this weekend. How about I go with you to the concert and then you come riding with me on Sunday?”
“Compromise. I like that. You got a deal.”
“No, this is a date.”
Chapter 5
Davina shouldn’t have felt as nervous as she did Saturday morning. She was supposed to be going out with Marcel later that day, but she was a bed of nerves. All she could think about was the lingering look he had given her the last time they were together. There had been something in his eyes when she had agreed to go out to the country with him. It was clear to her that he wanted her to see where he came from and she liked that he wanted to share that with her. Now she just had to figure out what she was going to do with him. He was her boss, but she wanted something more and even without any pushing, it seemed to be naturally going somewhere else.
She changed her outfit more times than she cared to admit and ended up with a light sun dress in a bright white that seemed to make her hair and eyes pop. It wasn’t something that she would usually wear in the office and that was the point. Davina wanted her boss to see her in a new light as she was starting to see him in a different light.
It was the longest day of her life and it was only half over before it started getting good. He finally called her a few minutes before he was supposed to arrive and her heart started slamming in her chest. She had to stop herself from getting worked up, not wanting to be breathless and void of brain when he finally came.
The buzzer finally went off and she was putting on some red lipstick in the mirror. Going to the panel by the door, she buzzed him up and opened the door a crack before going back into the bathroom to smooth her hair down and give herself just the last few seconds that she needed to get herself together.
She heard him call her name out as he pushed the door open. “I am in here, I will be out in a minute, just make yourself at home.”
Davina smiled at herself through the reflection. He was finally there. Walking out, he was sitting on the edge of the couch and he didn’t look very comfortable at all in the low-slung futon. He immediately stood up and his dark brown eyes darkened further. His dark hair was slicked back and he was looking damn good. Davina increased the wattage of her smile, unable to help herself. He was looking really good. The suit was more casual, but tailored to fit him perfectly.
“You look amazing Davina.”
“You too.”
They both just looked at each other for a few more beats and then she walked into the kitchen, asking him if he wanted a drink. “Since I have a driver tonight, yes, please.”
“Are you having a bad day?”
He shook his head. “No, just seems like I was waiting all day to see you.”
She stopped pouring the whiskey and met his eyes. It was the exact way that she had felt, that time was conspiring against her in some way to make her wait even longer. It wasn’t fair, and all she could do was agree. “Yes, the day did seem extra long.”
“I am glad it wasn’t just me.”
Davina finally finished pouring the drink and slid it over to him. “Sorry it’s not that good. I like my liquor cheap and effective.”
“I am no judge. Last summer I got ahold of a batch of moonshine and that was about all we drank on the drives.”
“Drives?”
“The cattle drive.”
She gave him a look that told him that she had no idea what he was talking about. He tried to explain it, but it became clear that it was not something that a city slicker was going to get. “You will get it more when we get to the ranch. Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
“Years ago my grandmother had one. I haven’t in a long time though, so I am looking forward to that more than I am this concert.”
Marcel looked at her a little surprised. He had her pegged moments before for a girl that was hopeless. “How can you ride and not know what a cattle drive is?”
Davina shrugged, “I don’t know. I rode the horse and there were no cows around to move I guess. I only got to ride when I went to visit her, so like I said, it has been a long time. I miss it, the quiet nights out there, but I don’t know if I could live out there. It is so quiet.”
His heart had rose and fell in the same minute. He was hoping to change her mind about the country, knowing that it was where she needed to be. It was where he needed to be. “There are good things about both places. I just don’t think I could think if I lived here long. I am already trying to block out the noise with ear plugs.”
“You just have to embrace it. It’s alive.”
“I am just going to take your word for it and use the ear plugs.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“No, just different.”
“Different can be good sometimes.”
“It definitely seems that way.”
Davina found herself blushing and she took a quick drink of the fiery liquid.
“So are you ready?”
He nodded and finished off his glass before helping her downstairs with a hand on her elbow. Davina liked the way he treated her. Marcel didn’t treat her like most men did. Most men could only be bothered to get in her pants and he had never been that way with her, even if sometimes she wished it were so.
Marcel held the door open for her and waited patiently for her to get in before he got in beside her. He was not used to being driven around, but it was better than driving in the madness. He knew that he had to love her if he had agreed to stay even an extra day that he didn’t have to. But all he had thought about since meeting her was Davina and the spell that she had put over him. It wasn’t natural and even though he wanted to know what more was there, he still wasn’t sure if his advances were wanted.
The concert was loud and they didn’t get to talk much, but when Marcel did have something to say to her, he was leaning in to say it in her ear. He had to be close enough that she could feel his breath on her earlobe and she shivered as he pulled away just from asking if she wanted something to drink. She had declined, but wished that he would ask her something else.
When it was over, she invited him over to her place for a night cap, but he had other plans. “Why don’t we just drive down there tonight and you can stay in the guest room? That way I can take you to the bluffs to see the sunrise in the morning. It really is the best part of living out there.”
“I don’t have anything packed.”
“It’s fine. We will drive back to your place, pick up what you need and then we can be on our way. It takes a few hours to get there, but there will still be all day tomorrow. Can start fresh with a beautiful sky.”
She giggled. “You really want to go tonight don’t you?”
“Yes. I know you will love it as much as I do. There is an extra room, better than a hotel.”
“That’s fine. It will be nice to get away.”
“Good,” Marcel was grinning and he looked boyishly handsome to her in that moment. Davina had a feeling that she was going to see a part of him that she hadn’t seen before and she was ready for something new.
Chapter 6
The drive was longer than she had expected and she fell asleep on his shoulder. Marcel tried to go slower as to not wake her. He liked the way she felt against him and when he looked down at her, he knew that there was nothing he wanted more than the woman beside him. Marcel hoped that everything would go well while she was there. The fact that she was already in love with horses was a start and he felt like it was a good sign. Now if he could just get his brothers to behave themselves, it would be even better.
“Davina.”
He said her name softly, waiting for her eyes to pop open. When he saw her blue depths he smiled at her in the dark. “We’re here. Let’s get upstairs and get you settled in a bed so you don’t have a kink in your neck tomorrow.”
“Thanks. I can’t believe I went to sleep. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry. I was hoping that the trip wou
ldn’t be too much for you.”
“I can see why you stay in the city for the week. That would be an impossible commute every day.”
Marcel nodded and opened his door. Holding his hand out, he helped her out and up to the house. He left the bags to retrieve once he had her settled, but true to the form of his usual life, it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. Leanna’s family was staying in town and they were using up the guest room. That left his room for Davina and Marcel had to find his own place to sleep. The couch was short and not very comfortable, but he was home and was asleep fairly soon after laying down.
When the morning came, his body had him awake before the sun came up. It was the way it had always been and now instead of coffee on the balcony as the city woke up, he was able to make a cup and go to the front porch. He wanted Davina to watch the sunrise with him. It was his favorite part of the day and Marcel wanted to share that with her.
As he made his way to his room, he knocked softly and waited for an answer. After a few moments of silence, he pushed it in slowly, calling her name out. He liked to see her first when she woke up, her face and expression still open. Those eyes are what made him want to stare. They were dark and mysterious, even before she had woken up fully. Marcel hadn’t wanted to see a woman so mussed before, wishing that he could wake up to Davina every morning. Instead of waking her from her bed alone, Marcel thought of a time when he would be beside her.
He tried to push the thoughts away, blaming Elna for putting them in his head to begin with. What he wanted now was he wanted it all. Marcel had never really wanted marriage and a family, until he had met Davina. When she opened her eyes and finally answered in a soft voice, that was all Marcel could think about was what it would be like to have it all with her.
“It’s time for the best part of the day.”
Davina’s eyes traveled down his body, the jeans she hadn’t seen before and the button-up shirt still undone, showing her his hard chest. “Um, what is that?” Her mind was on anything but the weather outside at that moment.
“Sunrise, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Just give me a second to get dressed.”
He seemed to notice then what she was wearing or the lack of cover on her bare shoulders. His face got a little hot as he excused himself, moving out of the room in a flash. Davina swallowed hard and got out of bed. It was still dark with the beginnings of light streaming through the slats in the blinds. She hadn’t seen much of the place the night before, being half asleep and the darkness.
Getting up, Davina got dressed and tried not to think of the hard body she had just seen. She had not seen that coming. Who would have known that he would be so hard underneath, his muscles not from working out, but real work that men used to do. Davina smiled to herself and checked her hair in the mirror. She looked tired, but hoped that he could look passed the lack of makeup. She really just couldn’t be bothered. That had to be one of the fine points in country living.
Marcel seemed to like the ensemble when she came out and he handed her a cup of coffee. “I think I almost like that look better than last night.”
“Really?”
His eyes swept down to her jean shorts and T-shirt tied at the bottom. The only thing that would have been better was if he was actually able to kiss her like he wanted to so badly in that moment. That was the only way that it could all somehow be better. “Definitely.”
He made her blush, becoming something of a pattern. “So are you ready?”
“Where are we going?”
“Just out front. You don’t have to go far for a view out here.”
She walked beside him and then behind as they made their way out to the front porch that wrapped around the front half of the house. He urged her over to the porch swing, lined up perfectly to watch the first rays come over the horizon. Davina was still sleepy and used that for a reason to put her head on his chest. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Marcel leaned back, loving the feel of her against him. “Not at all.” She felt right laying on him like that.
***
Davina didn’t know what she felt, but after their morning together and the moment she had thought he would kiss her, she was feeling some kind of way about her boss. There was no making it something that it wasn’t. She wanted him badly and though he didn’t seem to realize how much, she was going slightly mad with need.
Marcel was ever the gentlemen. Helping her whenever he could, but the touch would only last as long as needed. When he helped her up on the horse for their ride, his fingers only lingered long enough for him to get her squared away and then he had moved back, putting distance between their bodies. It drove her mad and the ride itself didn’t help when they stopped for a rest. He was hot and took his shirt off and not only was she jealous that she couldn’t do the same, but she was also dying to touch the bare skin revealed.
He had seemed to not realize the affect he had on her and she had tried her best not to show it. Davina didn’t know how good of a job she did, but she did know that he had driven her to the point of insanity and her body wanted him to stop being such a gentleman and take her like his eyes told her he would.
“Are you ready to go Davina?”
She looked up and smiled at the man on her mind. He was constantly there and she wondered how the week would be different now that they had spent so much time together, sharing so much about themselves to one another.
“Yeah, though I can see why you don’t want to leave this place.”
“It grows on you, doesn’t it?”
“It does. I wish we could stay longer, but it’s back to work in the morning.”
He sighed with her and then shrugged. “There is always next weekend. The way my mother is acting, she is already itching to get out of the bed and back to work.”
Davina nodded and packed the last few things in her bag. She was going slow, not wanting to admit that there time together was almost over. She didn’t want it to be over. She wanted to stay there with him forever, but that was not to be. Davina reminded herself that she was independent, had a good job and couldn’t throw everything away for a man, even one as wonderful as Marcel.
“Will you be leaving as soon as she is back?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation from him. He couldn’t get out of the city fast enough and he was still convinced that he was going to lure her back home with him. The way the day had went, Marcel felt like he was on his way to making that happen. “I can’t wait till I don’t have to leave the ranch. This is where I grew up and where I want to raise my family one day.”
Davina liked when he talked about the future. She wanted her own family and the backdrop was idyllic there at the Callahan Ranch, but something held her back from even thinking of a life like that. “It would be a good place to grow up for children. I certainly wouldn’t want to raise a family in the city. That’s why I have waited till I am older and have fulfilled myself with my career first.”
“Your career means a lot to you?”
She nodded and didn’t catch the sadness that took over his eyes. Davina was still young and not ready to settle down. Marcel was. He was several years older and with renewed pressures for him to do just that, it almost made her off-limits. Marcel didn’t have ten years to wait for her to do what she wanted to do in the business world.
“It does mean a lot. I guess I always figured if you have kids early, that takes away chances of ever getting anywhere.”
He shrugged, not sure what to say. “I never had that drive, though I guess I didn’t have to. I will always have work here and it is what I like to do. It doesn’t get much better than that for me.”
Marcel grabbed her bag and started out of the room with a frown on his face. She wasn’t ready yet and he couldn’t get over that disappointment. He cursed Elna for putting the hurriedness into him. Marcel hadn’t worried about women and marriage before, but now it was all he could think about. Maybe he was just projecting and the feelings he felt were just
him trying to feel something.
As soon as he thought it though, his mind rejected the idea. Davina was someone special and maybe he just had to learn to be patient.
Chapter 7
“Davina, I just want to talk to you.”
She played with her hair, the side effect of her nervousness. She was always nervous when it came to Donnie and now that they were split up and hadn’t talked in weeks, it was strange that he was calling then. Davina had always suspected that men like him had a radar. It was like he somehow knew that she had moved on and he was there to spoil it and make her wonder if there was a chance for them.
“What is there to talk about Donnie? I think everything or enough was said before.”
“I miss you.”
Davina closed her eyes and sighed. She missed him to, until she had met Marcel and he had made her almost completely forget about him and the very reason they weren’t together anymore. “I just got in from the weekend and I am tired. I just want to have a glass of wine and relax before work tomorrow.
“Well how about we go out for lunch tomorrow? That is unless you want to get together tonight.”
She shook her head to an empty room, more to herself to solidify her no. Her body was jacked up with need because of the closeness with Marcel. It was tempting to have him come over, love her and take her like she needed. But it wasn’t Marcel and would not be what she truly wanted. She didn’t truly want Donnie anymore. She was over him and that very fact told her that he had never been the one to begin with.
“I will see you for lunch. Where do you want to meet?”
“Anywhere. How about Tony’s?”
It was there place naturally, the place they had had their first date, as well as the couple of anniversaries after that. Of course he would pick that place, she thought to herself. Of course he would want to flaunt all of their memories and feelings, making it hard for her to forget him.