A Magnolia Friendship - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,50

nodded but didn’t stop as he led me out of the restaurant and over to the valet stand. The valet didn’t wait for instructions. Instead, he just nodded to us and disappeared through the door of the parking lot next to the restaurant.

Danny and I stood there in silence. He was holding my hand with more possession this time. As if he were no longer afraid that I was going to slip away. Instead, it was as if he wanted me to know his intentions, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to dissect what those intentions might be.

We were in his car and driving down the road before I knew it, and even though he seemed calm, I still felt confused as to what was going on. I thought my revelation would have had him running for the hills. But it seemed to have had the exact opposite effect. Or he was such a gentleman that he wanted to make sure that he took me home before he ditched me, never to be seen again.

Regardless, I couldn’t relax until he told me what was going on.

About ten minutes later, Danny pulled into a parking lot off the freeway and turned off the engine. He glanced over at me and smiled. “Come on,” he said softly.

I glanced around. The ocean was about a hundred feet from where we were parked. The moon was glistening off the surface. I opened my door, allowing the smell of salt and the feeling of crisp autumn air to surround me. “Is this where you kill me?” I asked as I stepped out and shut the door behind me.

Danny was digging around in the trunk, and he peeked around the car to smile at me. “Yes,” he said in a flirting way.

“I knew it.” I rounded the corner to see that Danny had what looked like tissue paper in his hands.

He slammed the trunk, shifted the items to one arm, and grabbed hold of my hand with his now free one. Shivers exploded across my skin, and I reveled in the feeling of his gesture. It was as if he were no longer shy about touching me. I liked that he seemed confident enough to take charge.

In fact, I kind of loved it. It made me feel special. It made me feel like a woman. And I missed feeling like that.

When we got to the beach, we took off our shoes even though the sand was cool. I had to quicken my pace to keep up with him as he led me to the water’s edge and stopped.

“What are we doing?” I asked as he set the items he’d been holding down next to him.

He glanced up at me with a mischievous smile. “You’ll see.”

I watched as he opened the tissue paper to reveal that they were in fact lanterns. The kind that you lit and they floated up into the air. He handed me one and then opened a second lantern and set it down on the ground next to him.

“What are we doing?” I asked as he opened a few more and lined them up.

He chuckled. “Have you heard of wish lanterns?”

“Wish lanterns?”

He nodded as he motioned to the one I was holding. “It’s said that if you make a wish and light the lantern, your wish will come true.”

I turned the lantern around in my hands. “Really?”

“It’s science.”

I snorted.

He shot me a look. “I’m serious. There is no documented wish that didn’t come true when wished with a lantern.” He wiggled his eyebrows and gave me a wink.

“Sounds accurate,” I teased. Then I waved to the five lanterns on the ground. “And you can do this over and over?”

He glanced at the lanterns and then back at me. “Maybe. Maybe not. But I figured why risk it? Give yourself numerous chances to have a wish granted.”

I liked his thinking.

Before I could respond, he neared me with a lighter in hand. Instead of pulling back when he got close, he leaned into it, hovering next to me so he could light the small circle in the middle of the lantern. His arm brushed mine. I could smell his cologne. I could feel his body warmth cascade over me.

It intoxicated me and awoke a desire that scared me. That made me want to pull away. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to be alone forever. Craig had proven to me that I wasn’t worth sticking around for. That there was an