asked around a loud yawn.
“Sometimes.”
Turning her head, she looked up at him and Malcolm noticed she didn’t have on a stitch of makeup and, if anything, she looked even more beautiful than she normally did. “Well, what would you be watching if you were home?”
Shrugging, he replied, “I don’t know. I kind of just channel surf until something catches my attention. But we can probably find another one of those home shows if you want.”
“Mmm…” she hummed. “Okay.”
Within minutes, they were settled in and casually commenting about the pros and cons of the home that was currently being featured. When the show went to a commercial, Dani turned to him again. “Malcolm?”
“Hmm?”
“I had a really great time tonight.”
Smiling, he said, “Me too.” He could tell she had something else to say, so he waited her out.
“I want you to know, I realize this wasn’t like…you know…a real date, but it was the best date I’ve had in a long time.” Then she sat up a little straighter and kissed him softly on the cheek. “I think I’m going to crawl into my bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Right then and there, he knew he wasn’t going get a wink of sleep.
3
“Do you want to grab breakfast down in the coffee shop or should we just hit a drive-thru on our way out of town?” she asked as she zipped up her suitcase the next morning.
“Uh…” he cleared his throat and she could tell he was a little uncomfortable.
Good.
She was glad she wasn’t alone.
Mortification kept Dani burrowed under her blankets until she heard Malcolm go into the shower this morning. She hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours all night because she had been kicking herself for her behavior last night.
The only problem was that she couldn’t decide which she was more upset about–the fact that she had all but crawled into bed with Malcolm without being invited and then kissed him, or the fact that she had been a complete wuss and chastely kissed him on the cheek instead of doing what she really wanted to do.
“Who am I kidding? I’m pissed I didn’t straddle him and kiss him until he couldn’t remember his own name,” she mumbled beneath her breath.
“You say something?”
With a small screech, she jumped. Hand over her heart, she turned and faced him. “Geez, Mal! Don’t do that!”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Do what? Talk to you?”
“Ha, ha, very funny.” Grabbing her suitcase, she carried it over to the door before walking around and making sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. When it was clear they had everything, Dani smiled at him. “So…breakfast. You know I’m not a big breakfast person, but if you’re hungry, we should probably eat before we hit the road.”
“Uh…yeah,” he finally said. “Sure. Sounds good.”
He wouldn’t look directly at her and once they were in the elevator with several other hotel guests and standing close together–very close together–she could feel how stiffly he was standing. She took advantage of the opportunity to study him. His jaw was stubbled and scratchy and she wouldn’t have minded kissing him again and lingering there all morning if given the opportunity.
Down in the lobby, he announced that a drive-thru was just fine and quickly made his way out the front door. Chuckling to herself, she took care of checking out before meeting him out by the truck. She found him examining the car and making sure the tarp over it was secured.
“It’s a gorgeous day, don’t you think?”
He nodded.
“We have an eleven o’clock appointment with Devlin Bennett in Savannah. It’s only an hour away so there’s really no rush, right? Maybe we can do a little sightseeing before we have to meet him?” she suggested.
Without looking away from what he was doing, he said, “I’m not much for sightseeing.” He didn’t sound angry or annoyed; he was simply stating a fact.
Typical Malcolm. Nothing seemed to ruffle him.
A slow smile spread across her face as an idea came to her. Maybe it was time to push some boundaries, leave her own comfort zone, and see if it was possible to…ruffle him.
And boy-oh-boy would she love to ruffle him.
Repeatedly.
For hours.
Down, girl…
“What about…?” But she never got to finish. Malcolm grabbed their luggage and placed it in the truck and held the door open for her to climb in. Before he could close it, she kicked her foot out to stop him. “Hey,” she said softly.
He looked up at her questioningly.
“We’ve still got quite