“Deal!”
Daniel stared down at Josie’s text and smiled.
“He’s doing it again,” he heard Knox whisper loudly to Xander, but he didn’t comment.
“What do we think about the program the college wants us to work on?” he said instead. “It seems fairly textbook–nothing overly complicated–but…is that what we want to do? Aren’t we looking to have a more intensive clientele?”
“I agree,” Xander said, raking a hand through his blonde hair. “We can train their guys but I’m not going to water down the program for them. They can take the course and then be over-qualified for the college, but I don’t think we need to change what we offer for them. They’re campus security guards, but they can benefit from what we can offer.”
They were all in agreement and it was their last meeting of the day, so Daniel was more than ready to be done. He knew this was what needed to happen for them to get set up and get things going, but all this sitting around was killing him.
“Anyone want to hit the gym?” he asked. They now had their own state-of-the-art gym set up, but he’d only had the opportunity to use it a handful of times.
“Yeah, sure,” Knox said as he stood and stretched.
“I’m in,” Xander agreed, and the three of them walked to the locker room and changed in almost complete silence. It was kind of nice after a day of talking almost non-stop, but as soon as Daniel sat down on the bench press, questions came at him fast.
“Was that Josie texting you?”
“Have you talked to your brother yet?”
“Don’t you think you’re spending too much time together?”
“Do your parents still think she’s marrying Tyler?”
Groaning, he lay back and braced himself to lift.
And cursed the fact that he shared anything about his and Josie’s relationship with these two.
“Come on, Daniel,” Knox said as he sat at the leg press machine next to him. “You know we’re just worried about you. You went from being single and pissy to getting involved with your brother’s fake fiancée. Even you have to admit it’s a little weird.”
“I’m not admitting anything,” he murmured.
“Dude, come on,” Xander chimed in. “There are hundreds–possibly thousands of women–here in North Carolina that you can get involved with. Why fixate on this one?”
“I’m not fixating on her,” he argued as he kept his eyes on the dumbbell he was currently lifting. “You may not believe it, but we just clicked. I had no control over it, and honestly, we’re all fine with it.”
“Well…not all of you,” Knox countered. “You haven’t talked to Tyler yet, have you?”
He pressed the weights several times before answering with a low, “No.”
“So you can’t say you’re all good with it. From everything you’ve ever said about your relationship with your brother, he’s going to be pissed. Even though he has no feelings toward Josie, I can guarantee you he’s going to blame you for ruining this charade he’s got going on.”
On his other side, he could see Xander nod in agreement.
“And here’s another thing to think about,” Knox went on. “Josie was willing to marry your brother to help him out and she’s a wedding planner with one best friend who recently got married and the other who is about to get married. You don’t think she’s got weddings on the brain? That maybe she wants that for herself and that’s why she was willing to marry Tyler?”
“Um…”
“For all you know, she’s envisioning herself married to you!” Xander said with a small laugh. “Are you prepared to think about that?”
“Josie’s not thinking about marrying me,” Daniel argued again. “Trust me. We’ve never talked about it. It’s never come up. And if it did, I’d shut that down because I’m not looking to get married.”
“Ever?” Knox asked.
Good question.
“I mean…I don’t know about ever, but it’s certainly not something I want right now. With the business starting up and just coming out of the service, I’m not looking to get tied down to anything. I’d like to enjoy my freedom,” he grumbled, but for some reason, saying that felt wrong.
Really wrong.
Could he possibly be thinking about getting serious with Josie? That serious?
All his life, Daniel never thought much about getting married. Somewhere in the back of his mind he figured it was something he’d do, but he’d certainly never been in a rush to make it happen. After serving for a dozen years in the military, shouldn’t he be looking to enjoy his freedom? Sleep around? Experience the single life and all that goes with it?
But when he thought about what he looked forward to, it was dinner with Josie…going to a movie with her…going axe throwing…and sleeping beside her and waking up with her in his arms in that ridiculously feminine room of hers.
As much as he enjoyed hanging out with the guys, he enjoyed the comforts of being with Josie more.
But…was it Josie or the situation, though? Would he feel like this with another woman? Could he have been searching subconsciously for a more domesticated existence and simply latched on to Josie? Was that even a thing?
“I think we lost him,” Xander said as he tossed his free weights down on the floor. “I’ll bet if we asked him to go out with us tomorrow night to a bar or two, he’d tell us no.” He laughed and looked over at Knox. “And if he did, he’d probably have a curfew.”
Knox was laughing hysterically. “Now, now, now…let’s not make assumptions. For all we know, Josie will come with us to make sure he behaves.”
The dumbbell made a loud noise as Daniel dropped it back on the rack before sitting up. “You guys are assholes.” He jumped to his feet. “You want to go out tomorrow night? We’ll go out! No one has me on a damn string, there’s no curfew, and I’m done with this shit!”
His dramatic exit would have been better if the sound of laughter didn’t follow him back to the locker room.
So much for working out for a little while.
Not that it mattered. He wanted to get home because he and Josie did have plans for tonight and they were a lot better than doing anything with his damn friends.
It was no surprise that neither followed him and he was able to walk out without saying another word to anyone but that didn’t mean his head was clear. Was Josie thinking about marriage? Was she seeing what they had as being more serious than what it was?
Although, if he were being honest with himself, he’d say they were pretty serious.
They spent practically every night together and he had zero interest in meeting other women. He was happy with her–really happy with her. But again…did it mean that he was falling in love with her or that he was simply enjoying their time together? That was completely possible. He’d dated plenty of women where it was just about having fun together. Of course, most of those relationships were before he enlisted and the women he dated while in the service were all short-term but that didn’t matter, did it? If he had wanted more, they could have done the long-distance thing.
“No,” he murmured. He hated the thought of that kind of relationship, and he never even considered that sort of thing before, but…he might consider it with Josie–if it were necessary. “But it’s not.”
He hated how his friends got into his damn head. Now he was going to be obsessing about his feelings and what was going on with him and Josie and that wasn’t what he wanted. All day long he’d been looking forward to just going home and seeing her and he was afraid that now he was going to be overanalyzing every word, every touch and…
“Shit.” Turning up the radio, he refused to think about anything but the music until he got home. When he pulled into his driveway, he spotted Josie pulling into hers and contemplated pretending he didn’t. After all, he’d be seeing her in an hour; there was no reason for him to walk over and say hello right now. He did have some self-control. But when he climbed from the vehicle and glanced over, she w
aved to him and it was like the only thing he could think of was going over to see her.
An image of him with a fishing hook in his mouth and Josie reeling him in came to mind but he ignored it.
“Hey!” she said as she walked over and kissed him. “How did all your meetings go?”
“Good, but boring.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“I hate this part of the job. I’m anxious for us to get started and get the place open. I know this is all part of what has to be done, but…I’m not the guy who likes to sit behind the desk and talk to people. It’s one of the main reasons I went into the Navy. If I had stayed home, I would have dealt with the pressure to do something like my dad or my grandfather.” He shuddered. “That is totally not my thing.”
“I get that,” she said as she unlocked her front door and led them in. “It’s one of the reasons I love what I do. I can handle sitting down for consultations and planning meetings as long as I know I’ll get to run around and get my energy out on event days.” Tossing her keys and purse on the kitchen counter, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Want something to drink?”
“Um…sure.”
Josie handed him a bottle of water and frowned. “You sure you’re okay? You look a little tense.”
Letting out a long breath, he blurted out, “I’m going out with the guys tomorrow night! I know we had plans but…I’m going, okay?”
Her eyes went wide as she stood frozen in place.
Now he felt like crap. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout it like that.” Raking a hand through his hair, he sighed again. “I just…the guys invited me out and then started giving me shit about how they think I won’t go because you won’t let me and…I don’t know. I guess it pissed me off more than it should have.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Daniel, you have nothing to be sorry for. If anything…if you had waited another three minutes you wouldn’t have had to say anything.”
“Why?”
“Lea thinks she’s found her wedding gown and she wants me and Skye to go with her tomorrow night to see it.” Her shoulders sagged. “I told her yes and I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I’m bummed that your friends are giving you grief about me.”
Now he really felt like crap.
Taking her hand, he led her into the living room so they could sit down. “I shouldn’t have said anything,” he began. “I’m sorry.”
“Ugh, stop saying that! It’s obvious it’s bothering you and I would hope you’d feel like you can talk to me about stuff like this. I wasn’t trying to monopolize your time. Honestly, I didn’t think I was, but it seems like they do so I’m the one who’s sorry.”
This was…almost too easy.
Like he was expecting more of a fight about the whole thing.
“So…wait. You’re okay with me going out with them tomorrow night?”
“Of course!”
“And not just because you need to go out with Lea and Skye?”
“One has nothing to do with the other,” she told him. “We’re not joined at the hip. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with you, and it is seriously the highlight of my day, but I’m also okay with the nights we don’t get to see each other. We’ve both had nights where we’ve worked late and I’ve had some events that took a lot of my time and we’re still fine, right?”
He nodded and wanted to strangle his friends for getting in his head like this.
Then since he figured they were already on the subject…
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He took a minute to think about the best way to say what he wanted to say and knew no matter what, it was going to sound awkward.
“How do you feel about Lea getting married?”
Her expression turned wary. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…I remember when you told me part of your reasoning for agreeing to…the thing you agreed to with Tyler and was curious if having another one of your best friends getting married was…bothering you.”
I loathe myself.
Honestly, Daniel expected her to lash out and get defensive. He did not expect her to burst out laughing.
“Oh my God! Are you serious right now?” she laughed. “Why would you even ask me that?”
I’m going to kill those guys when I see them tomorrow…
“Okay, look…I was just wondering if maybe you might be…you know…thinking about it.”
“About what?” she asked, sobering.
“Getting married!” he replied with a huff. “Sheesh, wasn’t that obvious?”
With a sympathetic smile, she rested her hand on his knee. “For the record, I think it’s very sweet that you asked, but…” Pausing, she let out a soft huff of her own. “I don’t know, Daniel! I’m always thinking about weddings because it’s what I do for a living. I mean…listening to Lea talk about hers and seeing how happy Skye is, of course I think about…you know…my own wedding. But I don’t want you to freak out, okay? There’s no pressure here. I’m not going to start dropping hints or try to put you in the role of groom.”
“Oh. Okay.” He was relieved.
Or…kind of relieved.
No, that wasn’t right. He was…insulted.
Why wasn’t she picturing him as her groom? If she was wondering about her own wedding and he was the one dating her, why not him? How was it so easy to imagine Tyler as her groom–even as part of a fake deal–but not him?
Wait, why I am upset about this? This is exactly what I wanted! I’m not ready to get married! I just got out of the Navy, for crying out loud!
“Um…Daniel? Are you alright? I feel like you zoned out there.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m good,” he assured her. “No biggie.”
“Are you sure? You look like you’re about a heartbeat away from a panic attack.”
“No. No,” he repeated more firmly. “It’s nothing.”
“If you say so…”
“So…wedding dress shopping tomorrow,” he said, hoping to change the subject–sort of. “I’m sure the three of you will have fun.”
“We definitely will! We know the girls who own the bridal shop so it will probably be more like a party than anything else. There will be champagne and cookies and…depending on whether or not Skye can handle being away from the baby, it will be the first time it’s just the three of us since Bella was born.”
“She’s having a little separation anxiety, huh?”
“Big time. She was very weepy about it today and I felt really bad for her, but I also totally understood where she was coming from. I don’t think I’d be able to leave my baby alone on the days when we have back-to-back events and are gone for fifteen hours.” She shook her head. “And I can guarantee Lea feels the same way.”
“Do you think about that? Having a baby?” he asked, going for casual but his voice sounded a little more like a croak.
She eyed him suspiciously again. “Yes, Daniel. I have been known to think about someday having a baby. Is this something else the guys are giving you grief about? Are they joking about my biological clock? How you need to watch out because I’m going to start badgering you for weddings and babies and everything that goes with it?” Her voice got a little louder with each word and he realized that this probably wasn’t the right time to get into this.
“It was just a question, Jos. I swear.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I really wasn’t trying to start a fight.”
That seemed to make her relax. “Oh. Okay.”
“So, Skye’s having some reservations about coming back to work?”
She nodded. “We’re talking about hiring someone to start out as an assistant to her but with hopes of them eventually becoming a full-time planner. Just not a partner.” She took a sip of her water before standing back up. “Weren’t we going to go to that Mexican place for dinner tonight?”
With a nod of his own, he stood. “We talked about it. You hungry?”
/> “I am. But I need to get changed first and I’m sure you need to go home and do stuff too before we go, right?”
She was dressed in a navy pencil skirt, white blouse, and heels, and the thought of stripping her out of all of it was more important than anything he might have to do at home.
Taking the bottle of water from her hands, he placed it on the coffee table before anchoring his hands on her hips. “How about this,” he said, his voice low and gruff against her ear. “We go upstairs, and I help you get undressed and maybe get us both a little dirty before taking a shower together. Then we can get dressed and go get something to eat.”
Her head fell back as his lips trailed a path down the side of her throat and to the opening of her blouse. “Or,” she replied breathlessly. “We go upstairs, and I let you undress me and then I lie back and watch you get naked before we get very dirty. I have that frosting I told you about in the text.”
“Mmm…I forgot about that. Go on,” he urged.
“Then we take that shower together before going back into the bedroom and calling for dinner to be delivered. I’m suddenly not interested in going out.”
“I love the way you think,” he growled before picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder. She let out a small shriek before laughing. His arm secured her to him as his hand rested on her bottom. He walked back to the kitchen. “Where’s the frosting?”
“In my purse,” she told him around a laugh.
He grabbed her bag before taking the stairs two at a time.
And hours later, as they lay in bed eating nachos Daniel thought, “Screw those guys.” If his friends wanted to mock him and this relationship, let them. They had no idea how much better and more satisfying this was than going out to a bar, shooting darts, and trying to find someone to go home with. Glancing over at Josie, he smiled. He had someone to come home to. And the fact that she wasn’t pushing for them to get married and have a baby was just the icing on the cake.
And now he felt like he could finally relax.
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You May Kiss the Groomsman: A Meet Me at the Altar Novel Page 17