Fate (Steel Brothers Saga #13) - Helen Hardt Page 0,18
her roommate. Something wasn’t right. She cleared her throat. “I promised Ennis I’d meet him and Dirk for a drink.”
“Oh. Okay. I guess it’s just me, guys,” Patty said.
I looked Daphne straight in the eye. “Cancel.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why should I?”
“Because I’m asking you to. Because I want to spend the evening with you.”
“I believe in honoring my commitments.”
“You’re not breaking a commitment,” I said. “You’re postponing it.”
“I don’t see why I should—”
“Do it. Please.”
Her gaze never wavered from mine. She was looking at me. Looking into me. Looking for something, and I wasn’t sure what.
“I…can’t.”
I got up from the booth and extended my hand to her. “Come outside with me for a minute. I want to talk to you.”
“We’re leaving anyway,” Daphne said. “You just paid the check. Thank you, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. Now come talk with me.”
“Go ahead,” Murphy said. “Patty and I are happy to hang here for a few.”
“Come on,” I urged.
When she put her hand in mine, sparks shot through me. She stood and I led her outside. We found a bench a few yards away from the entrance.
“Sit,” I said.
She sighed and sat down.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “I thought we had something special starting.”
“So did I.”
“Then what’s wrong? Did you change your mind?”
“I didn’t,” she said, “but apparently you did.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Patty told me you were with a woman last night.”
Shit. “That didn’t mean—”
She held up her hand to stop me. “Don’t. It doesn’t matter anyway. We just met. You’re way older than I am. I’d be a disappointment to you.”
“Daphne, you could never be a disappointment to me.”
“How can you say that? You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re beautiful on the inside and out.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Are you kidding? You love animals so much that you’re willing to give up eating meat unless it’s humanely raised.”
“That was Ennis’s idea.”
Ennis? Why the hell did she have to mention Ennis? Was she attracted to that Brit? I remained calm. “It was?”
“Yeah. I love meat. I don’t want to give it up. He told me to do something about it, and Patty had the idea of her family sending us humanely raised pork from the farm.”
“But the idea came about because of your love of animals.”
“Yeah, but I never did anything before.”
“You’re eighteen. No one does anything when they’re a kid.”
“It…is a good idea.”
I smiled. “It is. And I’ll do you one better. You’re welcome to all the beef Murph and I have. We couldn’t possibly eat it all, and I promise you we treat our animals well.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“I’m offering.”
“Offer it to your other women.”
“Daphne, I’m not interested in any other women. The girl at our place last night is from my past. She’s having a hard time letting go.”
Of course, I’d almost fucked her, but Daphne didn’t need to know that.
She bit her lip. “Like I said, I’d be a disappointment.”
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“I’m… I’m a virgin, Brad. I can’t give you sex.”
Her confession didn’t surprise me. I’d known instinctively that I had to go slow with Daphne. Something about the way she carried herself. Wendy and I had taken each other’s virginity long ago in high school when she was sixteen and I was seventeen. That had come with its own problems—none of which I wanted to think about at the moment.
“Who says I want sex?”
“You’re a guy, and you’re a senior in college. Of course you want sex.”
She wasn’t wrong, but for her, I was willing to forgo sex. For a while, anyway. Why? I couldn’t say. I just knew Daphne was something special, and the desire to protect her coiled through me in a way I didn’t fully understand.
“I’m not after sex with you.”
“What do you want, then?”
“Right now? I want you to postpone your drink with Prince Charles and spend the evening with me.”
She smiled at the Prince Charles remark. Her friend Ennis did sort of resemble the future monarch, with his wavy brown hair and blue eyes. He was better looking than the prince, though, which didn’t sit well with me.
“I wouldn’t feel right about that.”
I sighed. “All right. I tried. Keep tomorrow night open for me, okay?”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“I’ve never been surer about anything.”
Chapter Thirteen
Daphne
I didn’t actually have plans with Ennis and Dirk. I certainly didn’t care if I ever saw Dirk again, but I did like Ennis a lot. I truly felt we could be friends. He’d been nothing but a gentleman. Hadn’t