AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The spectre was of course her mother. A ghost of a memory that had chased him from his home on the outskirts of the town of Bodmin, Cornwall, and hounded him across the Atlantic. For eight long years, Mina had watched her father flounder in a sea of depression, her young heart tortured by the clawing feeling of utter helplessness from knowing there was nothing she could do to help or, worse still, that she was the cause. He never said it. He loved her, adored her and lavished her with all the affection a father owes to his child. Yet she had seen it nonetheless. She had seen it in his eyes, in those pools of emerald green in the rare, unguarded moments when his walls came down and he did not see his daughter. When there was no love, emotion, or feeling in his gaze, only a question. Why? For she was the living reminder of the woman he had loved and lost, the shadow of the woman who had torn out his heart…
A deep rumble from her stomach shattered her contemplations. Suddenly very aware she hadn’t had any dinner, Mina shot a curious glance towards the food spread across the kitchen’s long rectangular island counter. It was the typical party selection- BBQ chicken wings, cocktail sausages, crisps, nachos and, around the large aluminium keg, a ring of pizza boxes that glistened with cheese and toppings. The sight enticed another complaining rumble from her stomach.
Unable to resist, Mina walked over and helped herself to a large slice of pepperoni pizza, her mouth watering with the first breath of its heady aroma. Taking a large bite, she moaned appreciatively as the forbidden morsel flooded her senses with flavours, and she turned around to find a raven-haired Adonis towering over her.
“Hey, you’re Mina, right?” Though noticeably quieter in the kitchen than the living room, he still had to raise his voice to be heard over the roar of the music. “Mina Carring, Mark’s stepsister?” At her perplexed nod of affirmation, he grinned, revealing two perfect rows of pearly whites. “Remember me?”
Taken aback, Mina took a reflexive step back before giving him a once over while chewing the delicious mouthful of bread, spiced meat, and melted cheese. While she couldn’t place where they might have come across each other before, upon closer inspection, there was something familiar about him. It wasn’t his face, though he was certainly comely, in a smouldering, clean-shaven, square-jawed, Hugh Jackman and Luke Evans sort of way. It was his eyes- she had seen them before. They were blue, flecked with spots of gold, and seemed to gleam with a mischievousness that she was sure had stolen a fair few hearts. Yes, she knew those eyes from somewhere. Over his shoulder, she glimpsed the blonde standing with her arms crossed, looking very put out and glaring at Mina with undisguised hostility.
A name formed on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach…
His grin never faltered. “It’s Daniel. Daniel Cornwell. You used to babysit me and Mark every Saturday.”
His words struck her like a lightning bolt and Mina had to resist the impulse to spit her mouthful of pizza across the floor. Forcibly, she swallowed the mouthful.
“What! No, you can’t be. Not little Danny.” She was almost certain her jaw must have dropped and her eyes glanced towards one of Mark’s old school year photos that hung on the kitchen wall, studying the dark-haired sprite standing next to Mark who had tormented her mercilessly every weekend. He may have grown taller, but there was no mistaking that impish grin. “Jesus Christ, you grew up.”
Daniel’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Yeah… well, I haven’t needed a babysitter for quite a while now.”
“So I see…” she almost purred, unable to resist noticing how his plain black polo-top stretched across his chiselled torso. Feeling suddenly warm, she tossed the partially devoured pizza slice back into its box before grabbing one of the nearby bottles of mineral water, unscrewing the lid and taking a long swig, washing the last of the dry bread down. The water was refreshingly chilled, however it did little to ease the warmth that spread through her abdomen. “So who’s your friend?” she asked after taking a second drink.
Daniel’s eyebrow arched, giving her a swarthy but quizzical look that would have had Roger Moore green with envy. Suddenly unable to muster the words, her throat as coarse and dry as sandpaper, she nodded towards the door leading through to the foyer before taking another drink from the water bottle. He followed her gaze just in time to watch the beauty he’d been speaking with moments before slink out of the kitchen.
Someone obviously can’t handle a little competition.
“Ooh, that’s Monica. We were friends in school and were just catching up,” he remarked in an innocent, offhanded tone that did not match the glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, if you say so…” Mina teased, her lips curling knowingly as she recalled how his eyes had been glued to the girl’s generous cleavage. Seemingly unaffected by her departure however, he never so much as blinked an eye when his would-be conquest grabbed another reveller’s arm in the hallway and proceeded to drag the stunned youth into the living room. “Well, she seems… special.”
Daniel turned to face her, and Mina felt her stomach tighten as his blue eyes looked into hers. Suddenly all traces of the boy she’d known so long ago were gone and instead, a man stood before her, wild and untamed with a fierce intensity in his gaze. For a moment, he was silent, but his eyes held her captive. He reached out to touch her cheek, his fingers rough against her softer skin. When he spoke, his voice was low and deep. “I’d forgotten just how beautiful you are.”
The kitchen felt very warm. Her heart quickened and she opened her mouth to speak, but the words stuck in her throat and her voice trembled beneath his gaze. His head began to dip forward, closing the gap between them. He had a very nice mouth, Mina decided, perfectly shaped. Drawn to his lips, she edged forward, her eyes growing heavy as she inhaled his strong, masculine scent. He smelled of salt and sand.
A loud splash shattered the moment, followed by roars of laughter and a slurred curse. Mina's heart jumped into her throat and her head snapped round. One of the jugglers, a ruby-faced youth with short sandy hair and a squat build, had mistaken his drink for one of the empties, hurling it into the air only for it to turn end over end, spilling the amber contents upon his head. Drenched from head to toe, with his clothes clinging to him and beer running down his face in rivulets, he performed an exaggerated bow as the sight had his friends doubling over in fits of laughter.
“Oi!” Daniel barked, his voice bristling with such naked anger that all three went stiff as he moved past Mina with his white-knuckled fists clenched at his sides. The kitchen fell silent, the music playing in the living room fading into the background. At once, all eyes turned on Daniel. The floor and walls seemed to tremble beneath the heavy thump of each slow, purposeful stride.
His height dwarfed everyone around him and when he finally came to stand over the three, Mina’s stomach tightened. She couldn’t tell if it was with arousal or fear, or both.
“This is not a fucking frat party,” he growled. His voice was low and he pronounced each word with deadly emphasis. “Now, I’m going to say this only once. If you want to clown around, then fuck off because I’ll ram these cups down your throats if I see you pulling this kind of shit again.” Coming to a stop barely a stride from them, he glared down at them, towering over the tallest by more than a foot. “Do I make myself clear?”
Only one, the drunkard dripping with beer and wearing a bemused grin, dared meet his gaze. He swayed slightly, shifted his weight between his feet, opened his mouth to speak, then lost his nerve as Daniel arched a brow. His hard eyes bore into the drunk kid's droopy sockets, and the youth turned his eyes down to the floor. All three nodded meekly.
He dismissed them with a curt sideways nod, sending all three bolting for the dining room, stumbling and tripping over each other in their haste to escape. Mina could barely keep her grin at bay as she watched them go. The ruby faced juggler fell flat on his face in the doorway and Mina glimpsed Daniel’s hard expression suddenly blossom into a broad smile. The sight had her heart fluttering in her breast, like a bird soaring to the heavens.
Oh God, what am I doing? Her stomach wound into knots. This is crazy! He’s Mark’s friend for fuck’s sake! The thought had her cheeks burning bright crimson. Forcing her attention back to the now, she found Daniel standing over her. Yet she saw only the mischievous-eyed boy. Hmm… Interesting. Where did that come from?
“W-well, that was… impressive.” Her voice was shaky, her lips tingling with the ghost of the kiss that almost was. “So, what are you doing with yourself now? Do you have a girlfriend or… something?” she stammered, desperate to distract herself from the smouldering fire burning through her centre, the words flowing from her without much thought. Realising what she’d asked, Mina’s cheeks burned all the fiercer and she took another draught from the almost empty bottle, hoping to drown in its clear depths.
Daniel’s grin broadened, the muscles beneath his skin stretching the left corner of his mouth almost all the way back to his ear. Then the golden flecks in his eyes glinted, and he took the bottle from her hand, tipped his head back, and began to drink. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched, eyes wide and mouth hanging ajar, entranced by the subtle motions of his stubble-roughened throat, his jugular rising and falling each time he swallowed, draining the bottle.
Hopelessly entranced, it was only by pure chance she glimpsed him watching her through the clear plastic out of the corner of her eye. Like a deer in the headlights, Mina stood rigid, her feet rooted to the floor. She should have been embarrassed, ashamed of being caught staring at him so brazenly. Yet the look in his eyes, so full of mischief and zealous confidence, sent a tingling rush surging through her centre.
Get a grip, girl! You can do this.
She held his gaze regardless, forcing herself to don the calm, stoic mask she displayed during auditions, determined not to betray any hint of the effect he was having on her.
Screwing the lid onto the empty water bottle, Daniel tossed it over his shoulder into the half-full rubbish bin. A single drop of water rolled down his chin, but he brushed it away casually with the pad of his thumb. The gesture left a slick trail across his jaw that Mina longed to taste.
