01 Winters Thaw (17 page)

“Ug. Seriously? These were the deciding factors that made her your first—and only—girlfriend?”

“I was seventeen years old, See. Sorry to say, sex was a pretty big deal back then.”

Her gaze drifted lower, her eyebrows lifting to indicate that fact didn’t seem to have changed much.

He grasped her hand and directed it to his lap, pressing her palm against his denim-covered erection. “You don’t have to be shy,” he teased.

“I thought we were talking.” She didn’t bother to move her hand away even though Daniel had released her.

“Don’t see any reason why we can’t do both.” The arm wrapped around her tightened.

“Were you close? In love?”

Daniel considered her questions. “We were kids. I walked her to class so I could sneak kisses in the hallway. We went out on the weekends, parked in the woods so we could have sex in my backseat. I’m sure I thought I loved her at the time. Maybe I really did.”

“Why did you and Jessie break up?”

“We graduated. She was going off to college and I was heading West.” His finger lightly traced the shell of her ear. She tried to ignore the pressure building in her pussy.

“Were you sad?”

He tilted his head. “Probably. For a little while. She was a nice girl. We got along. It just wasn’t our time.”

“What about now? There’s nothing stopping you from going home and contacting her.” Sienna cursed herself for the suggestion. She hated the thought of him leaving Compton Pass.

He reached over with his free hand, lifting her leg to place it over one of his. She should have protested. She was too open, unable to squeeze her legs together for that tiny bit of relief.

“She got married about a year ago, around the same time as my accident. I’d actually planned to go home for the wedding, but life got in the way again.”

He’d kept his hand on her knee, but as he spoke, it drifted higher on her thigh. What the hell was he going to do? She’d foolishly worn jeans. Tight jeans. From now on, it was nothing but skirts for her.

“So the two of you are still friends?”

He nodded. “I guess you could say that. Couple emails a year, occasional phone call to catch up. That’s it. I haven’t seen her since the day I hopped on the plane and headed to Denver seven years ago.”

She turned her head to glance around the crowded bar. While the booth was secluded, there was no hiding the fact that she was practically sitting in Daniel’s lap.

“Look at me, See.”

Her gaze returned to his handsome face. Sometimes at night, when he slept, she’d study his features, trying to figure out what it was that made him so fucking hot. There was a slight crook in his nose that indicated it had been broken once. Hell, maybe more than once. There was a razor-thin scar above his left eyebrow. His jaw was chiseled to the extent that it was almost too sharp, too pointed. His beard grew fast. Though she knew he shaved every morning, right now, his five-o’clock shadow was thick and black. And his eyes were dark, so dark she sometimes struggled to find his pupils amidst the deep brown.

Yet, somehow, when all those features were put together, the result was Daniel. And he—quite simply—took her breath away.

He was ready to leave, anxious to drag them out of here, to find somewhere private. She could see it in his eyes. It was hunger. Pure and simple.

“Is there anything else you would like to know?”

Unfortunately, there was. While she wanted nothing more than to escape to the Neverland of his bed, to shut out the world for another night, there was still one question burning in her mind. “Why hasn’t there been anyone else?”

“Time has a funny habit of creeping away. I’ve spent years, traveling around, never finding a place to put down roots. To try my hand at a real relationship.”

It was ironic when she considered it. Sienna had never wanted to be anything other than an adult. She’d tried to escape all the childish things in her rush to be settled. All of her attempts had failed. She was as inexperienced as Daniel. “Now that I think of it, I’ve never tried that mature relationship thing either.”

He tilted his head, studied her face for just a moment. “No,” he said at last. “I don’t think you have.”

His hand stopped moving on her leg, the conversation distracting them both. She was tired of games. Sick of pretending.

“I hear there’s a New Year’s Dance at the fire hall.”

Sienna nodded, surprised by Daniel’s abrupt change of subject. “Yeah. Vivi and Mom are on the planning committee. It’s all they talk about these days.”

“Go with me.” It was so like him. He never asked. Just demanded. She told herself she only let him get away with his imperiousness in the bedroom because it turned her on. Truth was it was fucking hot everywhere.

Still, she didn’t believe in making things too easy. “Is that a request?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m not taking a chance that you’ll refuse.”

She laughed. “So what is this? A date?”

“Yeah, Sienna. A date. I’d like to go out with you.”

Her heart pounded hard at his request as a tiny nugget of fear crept in. Dating wasn’t part of this. She was supposed to be going with the flow, not making more of those cursed future plans. Hell, she hadn’t fully shed the last boyfriend. Was she really ready to invite a new guy into her fucked-up life?

“When’s the last time you had a quickie in the front seat of a truck?”

Sienna laughed at his unexpected question. He always knew how to take her off-guard, surprise her. “Um. Never?”

Daniel reared back. “Seriously?”

“Josh has never driven a truck.”

Daniel grasped her hand, pulling her from the booth. “Well, you’re in luck. Because I am in possession of the ranch truck tonight. Spotted a little lane off the main highway on our way here. What do you say we refuse to grow up one more night?”

“How do we do that?”

“You and me are going to go parking.”

An hour later, Sienna lay on her back with her head resting in Daniel’s lap. The steamy heat of sex fogged up the windows of the truck, but she wasn’t interested in seeing what was outside. She stared at Daniel’s face, his eyes closed, his head pressed against the back of the seat.

Once again, he’d wiped away all of her inhibitions, anxieties, everything. When she was in his arms, the world disappeared.

Until tonight that release carried over, kept her going, made her strong.

Until tonight…

Now as she lay gazing at his peaceful face she could only think of one thing.

She’d forgotten the rules of spontaneity and kicked the concept of going with the flow to the curb.

She’d done something she’d never done before.

Jumped from the safety of the reliable frying pan straight into the raging, uncontrollable fire. There was no way she wasn’t going to get burned now.

Chapter Ten

Daniel watched Mark Parker tug Sienna into his arms as they danced way too close for his comfort. His temper had been on a slow burn all night, but jealousy was seriously kicking in now, adding fuel to the flames. He stood near the edge of the dance floor, forcing air into his lungs. It wouldn’t do for him to march over to the couple, drag Mark away from Sienna and punch the guy’s lights out.

For one thing, he and Sienna weren’t a couple. Though they’d come to the dance together, he’d heard her tell more than a few people they were just there as friends. When Daniel called her on it, she said it was to protect his job. Fuck his job. He’d stuck by the decision to remain silent about their affair more for her than for him. Seth wouldn’t fire him for his affair with Sienna. While his boss might not be thrilled, Daniel knew Seth well enough to realize he was fair, a straight shooter. Her father would probably issue a warning, threaten to take a slice out of Daniel’s hide if he hurt Sienna. It wouldn’t matter because Daniel had no intention of hurting Sienna. Not now. Not ever.

No. There was something else driving her desire to keep him a secret. And he aimed to find out what it was. That was…if he could get within ten feet of her.

Unfortunately, more than a few of the young bucks at the dance had taken notice of a very sexy, very free Sienna, and the sharks had started to circle. No doubt Mark had caught wind of Sienna’s “Daniel and I are just friends” bullshit and felt safe to issue his invitation to dance.

What the fuck was she doing? Daniel had made it clear at Spurs this was going to be a date. His jaw tightened. He knew what he’d done. He’d scared her off. For a second, at the table, he thought he’d spotted a flash of panic when he dropped his guard and asked her to be his date tonight. Rather than address the concern, he’d tried to brush it aside, dragging her out to the truck and reverting to form. He’d been a dumbass, thinking he could fuck away her fears.

Now Sienna was running scared. If he could keep his shit together, he’d pull her aside and they’d find a way to work this out…without bloodshed. Mark’s hands drifted lower on Sienna’s ass.

Fuck it. No, they couldn’t.

Daniel had only taken two steps onto the dance floor when Sterling blocked his path. “Easy there, cowboy.”

He shook his head. “Get out of my way, Sterling.”

“No. I think you need to take a deep breath. Maybe go outside for some fresh air. Think about what you’re about to do.”

He tried to play off his anger, but Sterling was too savvy to be fooled. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m about to do.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me what you’re planning.”

He gestured to Sienna and her dance partner. “I’m going to go over there and break Mark Parker’s neck.”

Sterling grinned. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. I’m not going to let you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re too close to succeeding with See to fuck it all up now.”

It was the only thing Sterling could have said that would have stopped him. “I’m close?”

“Yeah. You are. So dance with me.” Sterling lifted her arms, making it impossible for Daniel to refuse.

He accepted her invitation and led her out onto the floor. “How do you figure I’m winning Sienna over? She’s danced with three different guys tonight and flirted with at least half a dozen more.”

Sterling glanced over at her cousin briefly, then lifted her gaze to him. “She’s in freak-out mode.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I can only guess you got too close, so now she’s initiating a full-out retreat. Jade said you two seemed pretty chummy the other night at Spurs. And you showed up here together.”

Daniel grimaced. “She’s been avoiding me since we walked in the door.”

Sterling nodded. “So I noticed. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

It was the first time anyone had come straight out and asked the question. “Yeah. I am.”

“I think she’s starting to feel the same way about you.”

Daniel glanced over in time to see Sienna laugh at something Mark said, her hands clinging to the other man’s shoulders a bit too tightly. “I can see that.”

His tone was pure sarcasm, but Sterling didn’t take offense. “We’ve spent years telling Sienna she should date other guys, not to settle for her first love. Now she’s taken our advice, but she’s falling for the second man. If one guy wasn’t enough, what makes two the magic number?”

He shrugged. Sterling’s comment sounded logical in his head, but his heart wasn’t interested. “I have no idea what makes it right. It just is.”

Sterling paused, studying his face. He wasn’t sure what she saw written there, but she dropped her arms. “Okay. So I was wrong. You should go with your instincts.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of that. His impulse had been to beat the hell out of the guy Sienna was dancing with. Surely her cousin didn’t intend for him to do that. Fortunately, the song ended.

Sienna glanced around the room, smiling when she found him. He let the fact that she was looking for him soothe his anger.

Sterling excused herself as Sienna approached.

“Hey,” she said. “It’s almost midnight. You having fun?”

He nodded stiffly, struggling to find his voice. His temper was too close to the edge. He tried to count to ten, tried to take Sterling’s words to heart. Both things failed when Sienna pointed out a blonde in the corner, suggesting that he ask her to dance.

It was the last straw.

“Come with me.” He wrapped his arm around her waist tightly, despite her desire to shrug him off.

“Daniel,” she said in a hushed, annoyed tone. “Let go of me.”

“No.” He continued to propel her forward until they reached the hallway. There was a coat closet on the left, a women’s bathroom on the right. It was too close to midnight. Too many of the older people would be searching for their coats, ready to take their leave, and there was another bathroom. It made the decision easy. He needed time.

Spying a broken, old-fashioned drinking fountain, he reached for the Out of Order sign taped to the front. Change came slowly to places like Compton Pass. The fire hall had been built well over fifty years ago and was badly in need of an overhaul.