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Chapter Eighteen
Reese was finished washing the last dish when Darren joined her in the kitchen. “Buster took off to make a few phone calls and get ready to leave tonight,” she said with her back still turned to him.
Darren surprised her by walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her. His breath warmed her neck as his clean spicy scent washed over her and through her. Her knees went weak, but this time for a different reason. With her back flush with his muscled chest, all kinds of tingly sensations lit up her sensitized skin.
“Who was on the phone?” she asked, wondering if the call had anything to do with the sudden display of affection. Actually,affectionmight not be the right word for it. This seemed more like he was holding on to her to gain strength.
“Stacie,” he said with a tone that said the call was anything but enjoyable.
“She heard about the fire,” she said.
“Yep,” he admitted, but there was a whole lot more to the story based on the dread in his tone.
“Your former in-laws must be awfully riled up if Stacie was calling to check on you and maybe smooth things over,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that was the exact reason for the call, but yes.”
“What then?” Reese asked, her curiosity spiked.
“Let’s just say, you were right about her,” he admitted.
“She asked you out?”
“A little more than that,” he continued.
“What’s more than...oh. She asked you to marry her?” Reese asked, mortified.
“Threatened me if I didn’t is more like it,” he said and then laughed. It wasn’t funny, but Reese laughed, too.
“What in the actual hell?” she asked when she finally stopped laughing. “Did she think you would go along with a threat?”
“I guess she believed I could be swayed with the right words,” he said. Then he continued, “We did go out on a date once. But to the restaurant where her sister worked. Hazel and I met, and ended up talking. I took Stacie home and that was it.”
“Stacie is out of touch if she thinks what she just asked is reasonable,” Reese said with a little more emotion than intended.
“She says it’s for the girls,” he explained.
“Because, yes, you being forced to marry someone you don’t love would be in the best interest of those babies,” Reese said, incredulous. Some people had a whole lot of nerve. “Please tell me that you would never be that desperate.”
Reese turned around in his arms until they were face-to-face.
“I don’t feel like this when I’m around her,” he said, feathering a kiss on her chin. “Or doing this.” He moved lower and pressed his lips to the spot on her neck where her pulse was racing. Darren was thunder and lightning, an electrical storm of impulse.
“Good,” she said. “Because I haven’t felt like this with anyone in a long time.”
Those words stopped him. He took in a deep breath, like he was breathing her in for the last time. And then he took a step back.
“Need any help cleaning up?” he asked, changing lanes faster than an Indy driver on a hot track.
“I’m finished now,” she said, wondering what she’d said that was wrong. Then, it dawned on her that he must think she was referring to his uncle. Rather than backtrack and end up making the situation worse, she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from talking.
“You lied to me earlier,” he said with a serious voice that made her dread what might come next.
“How is that?”
“You said you couldn’t cook,” he said, but his voice was robotic. He was forcing himself to be polite. At least she was able to read him a little bit better now. When they’d first come in contact, she’d had no idea what he could be thinking. They were easing into a rhythm and she was very clear on the moments he shut down on her. Walls came up and walls came down, just not all the way.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” she said. “Besides, you had the right ingredients.”
