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He kisses me back with so much passion that I know he meant every word.
9
Lincoln
After breakfast, I grab some bandages and fill a plastic basin with water before kneeling down in front of Daisy while she sits on the couch. Carefully, I wash and dry her burn, adding more antiseptic before redressing it. It already looks a lot better than yesterday, and I’m relieved to see it. Daisy watches me from the couch as I work, looking painfully adorable in one of my t-shirts.
My perfect girl.
I meant it when I told Daisy I wasn’t ever letting her go. Now that I’ve made her mine, I’ll do anything it takes to keep her, even if it means losing Brett. He’s one of the few people I care about, and he’s always been a great friend to me. He was there for me when my mom was sick, and I’ll never forget it. But I won’t let him stand between me and the woman of my dreams. If he doesn’t like me being with his younger sister, then tough shit.
I still don’t feel good enough for Daisy. She’s so much younger than me. So sweet and pretty. But hell, I’m just gonna have to be good enough because I’m not letting her go. I might be old and grumpy and scarred, but Daisy makes me feel like everything is perfect. She deserves the world, and I want to give it to her. I want to make sure she’s happy and confident, and I won’t hesitate to defend her from assholes like Jake who try to get in the way of that. I’m still furious about what he said. Talking about my girl like she’s a piece of meat, making bets over sleeping with her. It makes me sick to my stomach, and part of me still wants to go and punch his lights out. But I know Daisy is stronger than she thinks, and if she says she wants to handle it herself, then I’ll respect that.
“Thank you,” she says once I’m done tending to her burn.
“I told you, don’t thank me. It’s my fault, remember?”
Daisy grins teasingly. “You could have just told me you liked me. You didn’t have to set a trap to capture me like that.”
I grunt and press a kiss against her forehead. I still feel awful that she got hurt because of me, but at least it brought her to my door. If she hadn’t fallen into that snare, we wouldn’t have spent that amazing night together and she wouldn’t be here in my cabin right now, looking at me with those pretty eyes. I’m about to pull her into my arms and carry her back to bed when a ringtone blares from her phone, startling us both. Daisy grabs the phone, chewing her lip nervously when she sees the name on the screen. I can make it out from here.
Brett.
Shooting me an anxious glance, Daisy answers the phone.
“Hello?”
“Daisy? I got your text. Are you okay?” His voice is muffled, but I can still hear him okay in the silence of the living room.
“I’m fine,” Daisy says. “Sorry I didn’t text you earlier.”
“Where are you?”
Daisy’s eyes widen. “I’m…I’m just at home.”
There’s silence for a moment. “Well, I’m sitting in your living room right now, so that’s news to me.”
Daisy runs a hand over her face, realizing her mistake. “Uh…” She sighs, looking at me apologetically. “I’m at Lincoln’s place.”
Another pause.
“Lincoln’s? What the hell are you doing there this early?”
Daisy opens her mouth like she’s about to speak, but no sound comes out. The silence lasts for a beat too long, and I hear Brett’s voice again. “Wait there. I’m coming over.”
The call ends and Daisy sets her phone aside, burying her face in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I just told him the truth.”
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close. Her warm, curvy body melts against mine, and I press a kiss against her soft cheek.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I tell her. “He’s gonna need to find out sooner or later, baby. We have nothing to hide.”
I hold her tight, listening to her shallow breathing until she springs up from the couch to pull on her clothes from yesterday. A few minutes later, we hear Brett’s truck pull up outside.
“Oh, God,” Daisy whispers, more to herself than to me.
We listen as Brett’s heavy footsteps crunch through the snow outside until there’s a sudden pounding on my door. I press a quick kiss on Daisy’s forehead before I get up and head for the door. I’m ready to tell Brett the truth—I just hope things don’t turn ugly. For Daisy’s sake.
I open the door and Brett walks inside before I can say a word.
