the lake. Even here, his laugh was magical. “Still not going to give me your name?”
She loved how her subconscious recreated their little banter. A brave smile lifted the edges of her mouth. “I’m hurt you forgot already.” Her gaze went back to roaming the calm waters before her, the sun beginning to set on the horizon.
The wooden bench creaked as he leaned toward her. With the back of his hand, he slowly moved her hair off her shoulder, causing long tendrils to cascade down her back, and intensifying the shivers the sweep of his hand caused. Whispering in her ear, his lips were almost close enough to feel. “Never.” His breathy response caused the shiver to run deliciously to her center.
“Never?” she asked, not daring to turn her head toward him. He still hadn’t moved away.
“No, Grace, never.”
At the mention of her name, she smiled. “Good.” She relaxed a little, settling a little more into the bench. “Why are you here?”
Darius mimicked her movements, making himself comfortable. “To see you.”
“What about Red?”
“Who?” He sounded genuinely confused.
“The tall, beautiful redhead I saw you with at Latté Da’s?”
Another magical chuckle rolled from his chest and bounced along the lake. “Oh, her. She’s a friend, more like a sister. No one you need to be worried about.”
Grace shrugged. “Okay.” Unlike in her normal life, here she didn’t worry about a thing.
Before long, the sun set completely behind the lake, the darkness deepening until a blanket of stars was revealed above them. Overflowing with an abundance of confidence, she shifted her body and leaned to face him. “Why did you come to see me?”
In his eyes, she saw all pretense fall away—the cool facade and aloofness gone. He was just himself. “Because I can’t shake you.”
“Do you use that line on all the girls?” She laughed quietly.
“Only on you,” he said softly, grabbing her hand. Not taking his eyes away from hers, he lifted her hand slowly to his mouth, brushing his lips across her knuckles. The stroke of his lips sent a quiver up the length of her arm that caressed and burned simultaneously. If he tried to kiss her, she knew she would let him. She crossed her ankles, and smiled to herself, hoping he would try.
His eyes blazed brighter, and the color deepened. “I’ll see you soon.” The intensity of his stare seemed to burrow straight through to the center of her, touching the very essence of her being. It left Grace breathless. He lifted himself off the bench and slowly walked away without looking back. Suddenly she knew she was in trouble, even here. The kiss on her hand left her wanting more, and she trembled with equal parts longing and fear.
The torture she’d watched her mother go through when her father left was horrendous—beyond heart-breaking. Since the moment she met Darius, he was all consuming. All she could think of was him … still. Every fiber of her being sensed he could cause a great pain that could mirror her mother’s, and that frightened her more than anything. As she watched him disappear, she vowed to find a way to avoid him—even in her dreams.
Grace stirred, giving in to the relentless pull of reality, and opened her eyes. The flat screen was lit with that DVD bright blue; the movie was over. Wiping a bit of embarrassing drool from the corner of her mouth, she reflected on the dream she’d just had. It disturbed her, made her feel uneasy, so she pushed it from her mind.
By mid-afternoon, Quentin still hadn’t made an appearance, and Grace had chewed her nails to nubs waiting to talk to Emily. Laney had gone outside to check the mail and walked past the family room.
“Hey, Mom.”
Laney trotted backward a couple of steps, stopped in the middle of shuffling through the mail, and stood in the archway. “Yeah?”
“Would you be willing to get my cell phone for me? I need to check on Emily and Leah.”
“Sure,” she said. “Where is it?”
Grace tried to think back. She couldn’t recall where it was. “I don’t really know. You can try my purse, or the top of my nightstand.”
“If I can’t find it, I’ll bring you the house phone.”
“Okay.” Grace hoped she found it, because she couldn’t remember Emily’s cell number off the top of her head.
Laney came back minutes later, cell phone in hand. Grace took it from her, smiled, and gave her a quick thank-you.
She remembered Emily’s broken arm and decided not to text her.