What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers)

by Sherri Hayes

  Plus, he had no idea what had transpired between her and Chris. He got the feeling there was a lot more to the story than he and the rest of the family knew. It wouldn’t be wise to rush into anything.

  His brain, however, hadn’t relayed that message to the rest of his body. The urge to pull the truck to the side of the road and kiss her again was strong, but he resisted. He had to spend the entire drive to the boat calming himself down. Otherwise, he’d be giving the rest of the boat’s passengers an eyeful.

  By the time they arrived at the marina, Trent was more in control. That was good given her reaction once she realized where they were. Abby grabbed hold of his arm and looked at him with wide eyes. “We’re going on a boat?”

  Trent nodded. “A dinner cruise.”

  She glanced at the paddleboat about fifty feet away. “I’ve never been on a cruise.” He wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to herself.

  “First time for everything,” Trent said as he pocketed the keys and got out.

  Abby was already standing beside the truck by the time he reached the passenger side. She hadn’t waited for him to open the door for her. Trent tried not to let it bother him. He’d been taught to open doors for women, especially women he dated.

  He could still hear his dad’s voice in his head. “It’s a sign of respect. And if you don’t respect the woman you’re with then you shouldn’t be with them.”

  “Shall we?” he asked, offering her his hand.

  She hesitated for a moment, and then linked her fingers with his.

  They walked across the parking lot and joined several other couples who were waiting in line to board. “That fancy job in New York doesn’t send you on business trips?”

  Abby shrugged. “Sometimes. But I usually don’t see much outside of the airport and whatever we pass in the car getting to our hotel and the office building.”

  “Sounds rather boring.”

  “Oh, really?” Abby gave him a look that made him chuckle. She hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

  “Yeah, really. I mean there should be some perks to being stuck in an office all day.” Trent squeezed her hand and winked.

  “What about you, big shot? Have you ever been on a cruise before?”

  They moved forward in the line and Trent dug out their tickets. “No. But then again, I’m a simple guy.”

  Abby snorted and bumped him with her shoulder. “Yeah, right.”

  He grinned and handed their tickets to the man standing beside the ramp leading to the boat. The man punched their tickets and gave them back to Trent. “Enjoy your evening.”

  The cruise wasn’t scheduled to begin for another twenty minutes, but by the looks of it, most everyone was on board already. There were a few kids about, but most of the other cruise-goers appeared to be couples. Since his brothers had all gotten married, Trent often felt like the fifth wheel. Not tonight. Tonight he had Abby beside him.

  She leaned her back against the railing, the wind blowing her hair, and looked up at Trent. “You’re thinking really hard about something.”

  Trent chuckled and rested his forearms on the railing beside her. “I was thinking how nice it feels having you with me tonight.”

  “Oh.” She turned her head toward the back of the boat.

  He’d made her uncomfortable again and he knew he needed to fix it. “You remember Gage, right?”

  “Of course,” Abby said, looking at him again.

  “He and his wife just had their first child.” She shifted to face him, so he went on. “A little girl.”

  “Wow. It’s hard to picture Gage all grown up with a family.”

  Trent raised one eyebrow. “You do know that Gage is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, right?”

  “I know he plays football.” She blushed. “I-I saw him on the cover of a magazine once, posing in his uniform.”

  Apparently, Abby wasn’t immune to his baby brother’s charms any more than the rest of the female population seemed to be. Even though he was now happily married to Rebecca, Gage still had to fend off female fans from time to time.

  Abby looked down, playing with the strap of her purse. “What about Paul and Melissa? Are they still together? They used to be inseparable.”

  “No. She . . .” Trent cleared his throat. “She died in a car accident about five years ago.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize—”

  “It’s okay. You had no way of knowing.” He moved a little closer to her, their arms barely touching. She didn’t move away, so he counted that as a positive sign. “Paul had some rough years, but he’s much better now. He recently got remarried.” Trent grinned. “To Gage’s wife’s sister.”

  Abby’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”

  Trent’s chest vibrated in amusement. “Nope. It’s a long story, but Megan was exactly what he needed.”

  It took her a few moments to digest all the information.

  For several minutes, they peered out at the water. Eventually, though, Trent had to address the elephant in the room. “You’re not going to ask about Chris?”

  She didn’t answer right away and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to talk about him, considering . . .”

  “Considering your history?”

  “Yeah.” She glanced over at Trent and held his gaze.

  He stepped closer and she turned her body to welcome him. Did she even realize that?

  “I’m a big boy. I can handle it. I was there, remember?” Trent slid the tips of his fingers down the side of her arm, making her shiver. “Cold?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  The look in her eyes drew him in. Trent had no idea what it was about Abby, but there’d always been something that had called to him. He tried to remember what they’d been talking about before.

  Oh, right. Chris.

  “My brother is married to a wonderful woman named Elizabeth. They live about an hour from here.”

  Abby blinked as if awaking from some sort of trance. She licked her lips, and it took everything in him not to kiss her. Luckily, the captain’s voice came over the intercom, announcing that they would be getting underway in a few minutes.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Yes. That sounds good.” She pushed away from the railing and began walking to the front of the boat where dinner was being served.

  Trent caught her arm before she could get too far. She stared up at him, a wary look on her face.

  Splaying his hand along her lower back, he held her as the other guests abandoned the back of the boat in favor of food. He waited until they were relatively alone, and then leaned down to brush his mouth against hers. “I don’t care about Chris or your history with him, okay? Tonight is about you and me. This is about you and me.”

  Her eyes fluttered open. He could see her mulling over what he’d said.

  “Do you like me, Abby?”

  She swallowed hard. “Yes.”

  “Good,” he said as he went in for another kiss.

  Chapter 7

  Abby felt slightly drunk even though she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol. Her lips were still tingling and her heart was beating a little faster than normal. All of it was Trent’s fault. Although the kiss outside her apartment had been pretty spectacular, the one he’d given her moments before as they stood with the gentle breeze blowing off the water had her forgetting the people around them. It was a good thing he’d retained his sanity and ended the kiss, because she was moments away from embarrassing herself.

  Thinking about how her body reacted to him had her blushing again.

  “I love it when you blush. I imagine you’re thinking dirty thoughts,” Trent whispered in her ear.

  Of course that only made the color on her cheeks darken.

  He chuckled and pressed his lips to her temple.

  They got in line and filled their plates with the wide array of food. Everything seemed to have a tropical theme, down to the lit
tle umbrellas in the drinks. A DJ was playing music that transported Abby to a faraway beach somewhere, away from work and life and all the worries that came with it. She closed her eyes and sighed.

  “That’s a good sigh, I hope.”

  “This all makes me want to be whisked away to a tropical island.” She smiled and speared a bite of fish. “It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a real vacation. Max doesn’t take much time off.”

  “He’s a slave driver, huh?” Abby noticed Trent sobered a little when she mentioned Max.

  “He can be.” She concentrated on her food for a few minutes while she tried to gather her thoughts. “You don’t like it when I talk about Max.”

  Trent took a sip of his drink. “If I’m being honest? No, I don’t.”

  At least he hadn’t denied it. “Why?”

  He looked out at the water, and then at her. “I know you said you’re just friends, but it’s hard to wrap my head around.”

  “What? You don’t have any female friends?” she asked.

  “Not really. I mean I guess you could say Trinity and I are friends, but we don’t have much interaction outside of work.”

  Abby remembered the feeling of unease she’d gotten when he’d taken that call from Trinity. She wondered if he was experiencing something similar when it came to her interactions with Max.

  “He seemed rather possessive when I delivered the proposal last Friday,” Trent said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

  She shrugged. Abby didn’t want to get into the reasons why Max was so protective of her, but she knew Trent deserved some sort of answer. “It’s not you. Some things happened back in college and he was there for me. I’m sure if you had a sister, you’d be the same way with her.”

  Trent raised both eyebrows. “So you’re saying he thinks of you as a little sister.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is he gay?”

  She would have laughed if he hadn’t asked with such a straight face. “No. Max is most certainly not gay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure. I walked in on him once when I forgot a file at the office. Lucky for me they were still covered from the waist down.”

  Trent mulled that over. “I don’t get it.”

  “What don’t you get?”

  He put his fork down and scooted closer to her. She could smell his cologne as he took her hand and brought it to his lips, waiting until she met his gaze. “You’re gorgeous, Abby. I have a hard time believing that a red-blooded heterosexual male wouldn’t be trying to get in your pants.”

  “And is that what you’re trying to do, Trent Daniels?” she asked.

  He turned her hand over and ran his lips along the inside of her wrist. “Most definitely.”

  There was a twinkle in his eye as he lowered her hand to her lap and went back to his food.

  She rolled her eyes. “Nice.”

  “Just being honest,” he said. “I wouldn’t want you to mistake my intentions.”

  “And your intention is to sleep with me.” She really couldn’t believe they were having this conversation amid a boat full of people.

  “Among other things.” Where they were didn’t seem to be having any effect on him.

  “What other things?”

  He wiped his mouth and leaned forward in his chair. His eyes were sparkling. She could see flecks of gold mixed in the soulful brown depths. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Trent—”

  Before she could finish that sentence, he stood and held out his hand. “Dance with me?”

  She glanced down at the food on her plate.

  “The buffet’s open until nine. I promise I won’t let you starve.”

  When she looked up at him again, heat pooled in the pit of her stomach. Without stopping to think, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her onto the small dance floor. Trent circled his arms around her waist and held her close.

  As they swayed back and forth to the gentle island music, Abby realized this was the first time in years she’d been so relaxed on a date. Most of the time she ended up being bored out of her mind or things became awkward. This didn’t feel like either of those. Trent held her just right. She felt safe, protected, and loved.

  That last part brought her up short.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered in her ear as he twirled them around.

  Abby thought about denying it, but when she felt his arms tighten around her, she knew she couldn’t. “Where is this going, Trent?”

  “Well, since we’re on a boat, probably not far. Not unless you’re in the mood for a swim.”

  That made her laugh. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.”

  He continued to dance, so she waited. Abby needed to know what he expected to come from this.

  However, he surprised her by asking a question of his own. “Where do you want it to go?”

  That was a loaded question. If he were anyone else besides Chris’ brother, she wouldn’t even think twice about them spending time together. But he was Chris’ brother and no amount of wishing would change that. “I don’t know.”

  He took her hand and led her from the dance floor. They weaved through several groups of people until they were once again at the back of the boat. The sun was beginning to set, sending a soft glow over the deck. It was beautiful and heartbreakingly romantic.

  She tried not to think about that as he guided them to the railing. Abby looked out over the water as if it held some great wisdom.

  Trent moved to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him once more. She was surrounded . . . trapped. She should want to get away, put some distance between them, but instead all she wanted to do was burrow deeper in his embrace. Abby hadn’t felt this content since before she’d left for college.

  Thinking of that time in her life brought Chris once again to the forefront of her mind. She tensed and, of course, Trent noticed. “Talk to me.”

  “I can’t.” She wanted to, though, and that was perhaps the scariest part of all.

  “Is it about my brother?”

  She nodded.

  Trent hesitated for a long moment, which wasn’t like him at all. He seemed to be debating whether or not to voice his thoughts. “Are you still in love with him?”

  Abby turned around to face him. She probably shouldn’t have been surprised at his assumption. “No. I haven’t felt that way about him for a long time.”

  He placed his hands on her face, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. Her eyes drifted closed as she sank into the feeling his fingers evoked when he touched her. “Then what’s the problem?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t—”

  Trent pressed his mouth against hers and a quiet moan bubbled up from her throat. He gathered her close as he licked and sucked at her lips with a sweet seduction. It felt surreal. As if this was happening to someone else and not to her. Every argument, every rational reason why being with Trent was a bad idea fled from her mind.

  “You make it easy to forget where we are,” he murmured.

  She opened her eyes to find him looking down at her in such a way that did nothing to cool the fire in her belly. “You’re the one that keeps kissing me.”

  He hummed. “I do, don’t I?”

  Abby grinned. Things should be complicated with him, but instead they felt so easy. Natural. The way they always had.

  ***

  Trent couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy. After watching the sunset with Abby, they’d gotten themselves a little more food and enjoyed the remainder of the cruise. They’d talked more about her life in New York. She had him laughing as she told him how she’d missed her stop on the subway and somehow ended up in Chinatown.

  It was the best date he’d had in . . . well, ever.

  His euphoria began to fade when he parked in front of her apartment complex. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her yet.

  Following her up the sid
ewalk, Trent waited while she dug her keys out of her purse.

  She shifted her weight and looked up at him with hesitant eyes. “Do you want to come in?”

  “If I come in, you know what will happen. I don’t think you’re ready for that.” Maybe that made him sound arrogant, but given their kisses earlier, he didn’t think it would take much for them to end up in her bed.

  She didn’t dispute his assertion. At least that told him he hadn’t been misreading her. She was feeling it, too.

  They stood there for several moments. The longer they stood there, the more he wanted to forget his good sense. “You need to go inside, Abby, or I’m going to forget that I’m a gentleman.”

  The fear he saw flash across her face reaffirmed that she wasn’t ready. “Good night, Trent.”

  “Good night, Abby.”

  He waited until she closed the door behind her and flipped the lock before heading back to his truck. Resting his forehead against the steering wheel, he tried to remind himself why leaving her at her door was a good idea. It was a hard argument.

  Trent sat in the cab until he saw her turn on her upstairs light, then he started the vehicle and drove home. He’d bought the three-bedroom ranch a few years ago and he loved it. Usually. Tonight as he ambled through his house, it felt as if something was missing.

  They’d only been on one date and he was already thinking of her in his home. Would she like it? She’d always had a knack for design. What would she think of his hand-me-down furniture and bare walls?

  He grinned. She’d want to change it, of course. She’d want to spruce it up with knickknacks and all sorts of other girlie things. And he would let her, because it was Abby.

  After stripping out of his clothes, he strolled into his bathroom and hopped into the shower. The water pelting down on him did nothing to dispel his thoughts of Abby. The sight of her standing there with her back to the sun, her hair blowing in the wind, would be etched into his memory forever. He knew he’d be counting down the hours until he was able to see her again.

  As much as he would have enjoyed seeing the look on Abby’s face on Saturday morning if he showed up on her doorstep, he had work to do. The sprinkler issue on Monday had taken him off another job, and he was already stretched thin due to the addition of the Collins properties.