A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity - Victorine E. Lieske Page 0,29
creep her out or anything.
He debated for a quick second, then thought it was best just to let her assume, and handed them to her without saying anything. That way it wasn’t exactly a lie, right?
“Oh, my goodness, that’s the sweetest thing. Thank you. I can’t believe you got me flowers. They’re beautiful.”
She continued to gush for another minute before the guilt rose so much, he couldn’t take it anymore. “Let’s go do something. I’m going a bit crazy sitting around all day.”
“Sure. Can it involve food? I’m starving.”
“Not surprising. You’re always starving.” He hadn’t meant for it to come out like that, and he waited for her to get upset at him for implying she was always eating.
She put her hand on her stomach, her face showing she took it in jest. “Yeah. I am.”
“How about we grab something to eat and then look for something fun to do.” Anything to take his mind off the gnawing boredom he was facing.
“Sure, let me quickly get changed.” She pointed to the housekeeping shirt she wore.
He nodded and sat down on the couch while she gathered clothes and then headed into the bathroom. It didn’t take long before she came out. She’d changed into a light blue T-shirt that she’d tied a knot in by her hip.
How she managed to look cute in clothes purchased from SaleMart, he wasn’t sure, but she pulled it off. Maybe they should hire her for their advertising posters. They’d probably sell a million T-shirts.
Dani curled a piece of hair behind her ear. “There’s a miniature golf place down the street. Does that sound like something fun?”
“Sounds perfect. I minored in miniature golf.” He winked at her, and then immediately felt dumb. He was so lame.
Dani laughed and then stopped and turned to him at the door. Her gaze traveled over him, and she squinted. “Wait, how good are you?”
He smiled, relieved she didn’t react to his stupid wink. “My uncle owned a miniature golf place growing up, and he let me play as much as I wanted for free. So, when I wasn’t practicing football, I was practicing my putt-putt golf skills.”
Football. Why did he mention that? Part of him didn’t want her to pick up on what he’d said, yet another part of him wanted to just get it over with and tell her the truth. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to notice, or at least didn’t comment on it.
“Hmm. Maybe we shouldn’t go then. I don’t want you to totally cream me.” They left the room and turned to walk on the sidewalk. She tossed him a frown, which he could totally tell was fake.
“You’re not afraid of some friendly competition, are you?”
“What if you get bored waiting for me to get the little ball into the cup thingy? I could take a while.”
Bored? Hardly. He wasn’t worried about being bored when he was with Dani. She’d proved to be a much-needed distraction. He was more worried about becoming too enamored with her. A problem which was quickly becoming reality. He grinned at her. “I can cope.”
“All right then. If you promise to go easy on me.”
“I promise.”
Dani calculated the space between her ball and the wall she needed to hit in order to make the shot. She had to keep control or she could hit it too hard and miss the hole. After a couple of practice swings, she hit the ball with her club. It sailed perfectly, striking the wall and winning her a hole in one. “Ha. I got another one.”
Austin rolled his eyes and pointed at her. “You totally hustled me.”
Dani laughed and picked up her ball, enjoying the evening. They’d found a small out-of-the way restaurant that had amazing burgers for dinner. And now they were on the fourth hole of a well-lit course, the night breeze carrying the smell of the nearby sea. She elbowed him good-naturedly in the ribs. “Maybe.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “How is it that you’re better at this than me? Surely your uncle didn’t own a miniature golf place as well.”
“No, we have a small course on our property. I spent a lot of time on it, trying to perfect my game.”
“Ah, well, then I don’t feel so bad. You’ve obviously practiced more than me.” He swung his club onto his shoulder.
“Yeah. I had many hours to myself growing up.” She tried not to make it sound too depressing, but the way Austin raised one eyebrow gave away that he’d picked up