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“That’s not okay. My feelings are mine. Just like hers should have been her own.”
“I know. Or I should know that. It got lost somewhere over the years of pretending like everything was fine.”
She felt a pang of anxiety. “Daniel, I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Does pretending with me bring up bad feelings? Am I somehow triggering anything?” She would feel like the worst kind of person if it did.
“Not all of it,” he answered. “Some of it is completely different. You’re not forcing me to be here or anything. But I don’t know how you handle your bad emotions, and I’m used to how Lucinda handled hers, but that isn’t your fault either.”
It took the wind out of the beginning of a panic spiral. “I don’t even want to have bad emotions, I just—”
“You’re human. Why wouldn’t you have them?” The words felt like a punch to the gut. “Besides, you’re not yelling at me in private, so we’re good.”
“Yell at you? I would never. She sounds like a—” Amelia managed to stop herself for all of one second before the word came tumbling out. “—like a bitch.”
He let out a chuckle. “You’re right. But I am sorry about Target. And that I don’t know how to be perfect for you.”
“I don’t need perfect. I’m definitely not that, so why would I expect you to be?”
“That’s a very good point. You’re pretty good at unraveling my thoughts.”
That was funny because she could say the same thing about him. “I have a few talents.” She gave him a smile.
He looked up, brown eyes meeting hers. “That’s more like you.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words. It would be so easy to throw their pretense out the window and make this real, especially when he’d handled today so perfectly.
“We should go get ready,” she said. “You’re wearing white, and I doubt that’s going to go well at a taco shop. This place is delicious but messy. You know what?” She eyed the unbuttoned shirt layered over his T-shirt. “Lose the top layer entirely. Go in just the T-shirt.”
“Isn’t that a little informal?”
“It’s vacation, Daniel. And a taco shop. It’s all informal. Come on. I’m doing you a favor here.” She stepped closer. “If you take off this layer, you might be more comfortable.”
Her hands came to rest on his shoulders. She was supposed to be anxious still, but her mind was moving far too fast for that. Now, it was solely focused on removing fabric from his firm shoulders.
Daniel looked down at her, one corner of his mouth raised. “The only way this shirt is coming off is if you take it off.”
“I can work with those terms.” She slid the fabric away from him. The button-down came off easily.
But it almost didn’t feel like enough.
Daniel smiled, as if she’d done exactly what he’d wanted her to. Her heart pounded in her chest. If she leaned in just a few inches . . .
“Ready for tacos?” John’s voice was loud, breaking her out of her trance.
“Y-yeah,” she said. “Always ready for tacos.”
Maybe it was a good thing that her brother had interrupted. Because if he hadn’t, then she might have made things far more complicated.
***
The thing about going to a live music night at a taco bar was that it was loud.
Amelia winced as they approached. Daniel put a hand on her arm, raising his eyebrow.
“Should we bail?” he asked, but she could barely hear him over the music.
