Daniel's Desire - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,55
him. “See, no need for whipped cream. You taste incredible just as you are.”
“Good thing, because we were completely out of the stuff, and I, for one, am not about to call the front desk and ask for more.”
“Scared people will think we used it for something other than a garnish on the chocolate mousse?” he teased.
“I don’t think there was a doubt in Colleen’s mind about its intended use,” Molly said. “I think she was envying me because I was about to come upstairs and have wild, uninhibited sex with a very handsome man. I think our friend in the elevator felt the exact same way.”
“She must have been eighty,” Daniel said.
“Doesn’t mean she can’t be having a sex life of her own or a lot of very steamy memories,” Molly said. “I think we’ll still be having sex when we’re eighty, don’t you?”
Daniel gazed into her eyes at the admission that she saw a future for them. “That’s what I want,” he said seriously. “Sex or no sex, I want to be with you when we’re eighty.”
Molly sighed.
“Am I getting ahead of myself again?” he asked, even though she was the one who’d initiated the illusion.
“No, I want that, too, but I’m scared.”
Daniel brushed a stray curl back from her cheek and gazed into her eyes. “Don’t you think I’m scared, too? I’m terrified that I’ll get it wrong again. I don’t think we get but so many second chances in life. I want to make the most of this one. We have to make a vow to talk, Molly. If one of us is getting it all wrong, we have to get it out in the open. We can’t run from it.”
She regarded him with an unflinching gaze. “The way you did before.”
“Yes,” he said readily, more than willing to take responsibility for his own cowardice back then. “The way I did before.”
She grazed his cheek with her knuckles. “Then maybe we really do have a chance of getting it right this time, Daniel.” Her lips curved. “We could toast to that.”
He grinned. “A very good idea,” he said, getting the bottle of champagne. He popped the cork and poured them each a glass.
“To getting it right,” he said, touching his glass to hers.
The crystal made a sweet sound, and the motion splashed just a little of the champagne. Molly studied the droplets on his chest intently, then grinned. “Whipped cream, champagne, what’s the difference?” she asked as she put aside her glass.
Daniel groaned as she tasted him. She was going to be the death of him this afternoon, but oh, my, what a way to go.
When he was breathless and weak, she nudged him with her knee.
“What?” he asked.
“We need to get back.”
“I don’t think I can move.”
“Of course you can,” she said. She wafted the plate of now-cold steak under his nose. “Meat will give you your strength back.”
“You can’t just toss meat at a man you’ve all but destroyed and expect him to revive like some half-starved animal,” he protested.
She grinned and set the plate aside. “You used to have more staying power, Devaney,” she scoffed.
“No, you used to be demure.”
She laughed at that. “Never. That must have been some other woman.”
He pretended to think about it. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Must have been. I’ll have to go through that endless list and try to figure out which one it was.”
Molly smacked him with a pillow. “No more women. Not ever.”
“None,” he said, crossing his heart. He’d never wanted any other woman the way he wanted Molly.
Molly snagged his hand and met his gaze. “I’m serious. This time we’re aiming for forever, right? We’re going to do whatever it takes to make it work.”
Right this second there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. “Absolutely,” he said with confidence.
He would die before he ever let Molly down again.
Chapter Twelve
When Molly finally got back to Jess’s, she kissed Daniel goodbye in the parking lot, then walked inside to face a quartet of worried faces all lined up on bar stools. Retta’s scowl was mild compared to Patrick’s. Alice’s expression and Kendra’s were more neutral.
“What did my brother do now?” Patrick demanded, obviously assuming the worst since Molly had returned alone.
Molly fought to suppress a grin. “You want details?”
His frown deepened. “Not those details,” he said at once.
“Well, thank goodness for that,” she said. “I’m not sure I’d be comfortable sharing them with you, especially with a teenager present.”
“Where is he?” Patrick said. “Did you have a