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“I would love nothing more than to spend the day with you. Except I can’t.”
Her smile fell into a frown and her eyes shadowed with pain.
Right now was a prime example of why he wanted her smile bottled for his to release.
“Unless you don’t mind joining me at my parents for supper. It’s my mother’s birthday.”
There.
Done.
He finally asked.
“I would love that.”
The beautiful smile on her face lit up his heart with joy. Filled his soul with contentment. Made him think life was perfect.
Until he realized he might never see her again once she met his father.
* * *
She squeezedDane’s hand and attempted to keep a serene smile on her face. A forlorn frown wanted to take its place with ferocity. Because the tension emanating for Dane was almost unbearable. And she had no idea why.
It started right after they got out of the shower—together. Best shower she had all weekend. But that’s when the phone calls started from his brother. By the third one, Dane shut off his phone.
Not that she didn’t believe him—because she had—but she didn’t doubt him when he said he stopped looking at his phone when his brother wouldn’t stop bothering him.
The question she burned to ask was, why? For some strange reason she couldn’t explain, she didn’t dig deeper. She didn’t ask any questions about why he was ignoring his brother. She figured she would, too—the disgusting pig.
Ugh. She still couldn’t get his smarmy smile out of her mind and the way he tried to come onto her as if she’d fall for his lame ass charm.
She should tell Dane about the encounter. Except they barely had time for small talk. There was never a right time to tell him.
After grabbing a quick breakfast burrito at The Corner Bar—where Dane apologized to Rick for mistakenly calling him Brick, who laughed and said he liked the nickname—they went shopping.
What an experience.
Dane did not like shopping.
Nor did he know what to get his mother for her birthday.
She suggested flowers. When they first met, their first trip down the elevator to grab a coffee, he had asked her what kind of flowers to get his mother.
All he said in response was, “Not good enough. We can get flowers, but I need something else, too.”
They did stop at a floral shop and bought her a bouquet of white lilies. After that, they went from shop to shop, browsing, perusing, and passing on everything. He couldn’t make up his mind.
When she asked if his mother was particular about her gifts, he eyed her funnily and said, “Of course not. She’ll love whatever I get her.”
Which further confused her. Why was he having such a hard time picking a gift if she’d love whatever he gave her? Since she didn’t want to add to the tension already vibrating off him in waves, she followed him with a supportive smile on her face.
They finally found a gift at the most peculiar store that had things from antiques to some very naughty sexual items. The tension switched from icky, I’m-about-to-have-a-mental-breakdown to let’s-get-it-on very quickly. Dane even delivered the most intense kiss in the back of the store surrounded by dildos, whips, and edible delights.
They didn’t buy any of the items, though. Because as soon as he eyed the perfect present for his mother, the bad tension returned full force.
From there, they went their separate ways to get ready. He said to dress nice.
She had no idea what nice meant. Casual nice. Formal nice. Nice nice. Like,nicecould mean so many different things. That time, she did ask her question because she didn’t want to dress the wrong way. His parents did have a lot of money. She figured it’d be more on the formal nice side of things.
