Dangerous to Know & Love (34 page)

“Sure,” said Daniel, glancing at Lisanne, guessing she’d known about the sleeping arrangements but not told him. “Yeah, a cot’s fine, thank you, Monica,” he answered politely.

He decided not to tell her that if he could sleep on a thin mattress in a police cell, he could sleep anywhere.

That kind of shit didn’t go down well with parents, he figured.

“Lisanne, if you could show Daniel where he’ll be sleeping, I’ll make you both a drink. Iced tea okay for you, Daniel?”

“Um…” he hesitated, throwing an appalled glance at his girlfriend.

“I think Daniel might prefer coffee,” said Mr. Maclaine.

“Uh, yeah, great,” said Daniel, blinking in surprise.

“Coffee for the men folk, honey. You ladies can stick to tea.”

Even Lisanne looked surprised, then she enveloped her father in a hug.

“Thank you, daddy.”

“Sure, baby,” he said, sounding pleased.

Daniel shut out the fact that Lisanne’s dad called her ‘baby’, as well. That shit was too weird.

Lisanne led Daniel up the stairs and opened a door on the left.

“Um, this is Harry’s room,” she said.

“You knew about this, didn’t you?” he said, accusingly.

Lisanne shook her head.

“Not exactly. Mom didn’t say. But I was thinking about it on the way up and I figured it would be either this… or they’d put the cot in the living room.”

He sighed.

“Guess I’m lucky it’s not in the backyard.” He looked at Lisanne. “I want to know where
your
room is.”

She laughed nervously, and showed him into a room across the hallway.

It wasn’t the frilly, girly room Daniel had half expected. The only word to describe it was peaceful. It wasn’t large, but it felt comfortable. There was a closet by the far wall, a chest of drawers, a bookshelf filled with musical scores and ratty paperbacks, and a full-size bed, covered with a pale yellow quilt.

“Nice,” he said approvingly, and laid her backpack on the only chair in the room, which was standing next to a simple desk. He stood looking out of the window into the backyard. It was neat and tidy with a freshly mown lawn, and trimmed flower beds. He could see a basketball hoop fixed to the garage wall that formed the edge of the large patio.

Daniel turned to see Lisanne watching him.

“Your folks have got a nice place.”

“Thank you,” she said, unable to read his expression.

She walked toward him and he looped his arms around her waist, then leaned down to kiss her.

It felt strange kissing him here, in her bedroom, and she pulled away.

“What’s the matter, b… Lis?”

She shrugged, and he looked at her warily.

“You… you’re not regretting inviting me, are you?”

Lisanne shook her head immediately, and tightened her arms around him.

“No! Of course not. I just… I feel like I don’t know how to behave in my own home. It’s hard to explain.”

Daniel nodded.

“I get it. I felt like that the first time I came back from boarding school. It took a while to feel like home again – I’d changed and I noticed small things that had changed around the house. It was the same but different. It felt weird.”

“Yes, exactly!”

She was relieved. He understood.

“Hey,” he said, a wicked gleam in his eye, “have you had a guy in your room before?”

“I haven’t
had
a guy anywhere before I met you, which you know very well!”

He laughed. “So that’s a no?”

“Yes, that’s a no.”

He smiled his sexy smile, and Lisanne felt her knees tremble. He leaned down and kissed her, his tongue seeking permission.

She opened her mouth and he claimed her.

She knew that’s what he was doing, here in her family home, in her bedroom.

But then all thought fell away and she allowed her body to react the way it craved. She grabbed the front of his t-shirt and lifted it up, so she could run her hands over his hard stomach.

He groaned and deepened the kiss further, but then Lisanne heard her mother calling and she pulled away again.

Her face was flushed and Daniel was breathing heavily.

“Mom’s calling,” she said huskily.

“Can we ignore her?” he whispered, licking her neck.

Lisanne shivered, and pushed him away for a third time.

“No. She’d send a search party.”

“Tonight,” he said.

It wasn’t a question.

When they reached the kitchen, a tall skinny kid was sitting at the table drinking a soda.

“Hey, loser,” said Lisanne, with a smile.

“Hey, nerd,” said the kid, without turning around to look.

Daniel hadn’t heard the response, but Lisanne’s greeting made him smile.

Their mother, on the other hand, was less impressed.

“Honestly, you two! What sort of impression will you give Daniel?”

“The right one,” said Lisanne.

“Who?” said the kid.

Lisanne rolled her eyes and poked him in the back.

“This is my brother, Harry.”

“Hey, man,” said Daniel, holding out his hand to shake. “‘Sup?”

Harry stared openly at Daniel’s pierced eyebrow and tattoos.

“Jeez, Lis. I thought you only liked nerds.”

Daniel smiled and raised his eyebrow at Lisanne. She was about ready to thump her little brother.

Looking all types of gangly and awkward, Harry shook hands with Daniel.

“Is that your Harley out front?”

“Yep.”

“No way!”

And Harry insisted on talking motorcycles for the next 15 minutes.

Lisanne sighed. She wished her dad were as easy to please.

Mr. Maclaine re-entered the kitchen and Daniel stood up abruptly, making Lisanne jump. Her father seemed surprised, too.

He nodded at Daniel, who looked about ready to make a run for it – or swing a punch – Lisanne wasn’t sure which, but his tension was making her nervous. Her mother looked at them both sympathetically.

“Um, I brought this for you, sir, ma’am, uh, Monica,” said Daniel, thrusting the plastic bag at Mrs. Maclaine.”

“Why, that was thoughtful of you. But please sit down, Daniel: you’re our guest. We want you to relax. Don’t we, Ernie?” she said, throwing a meaningful look at her husband.

Lisanne’s dad grunted in reply.

With an exasperated sigh, Monica opened the bag and took out a rather squashed box of chocolate covered pralines.

“Crap,” said Daniel. “It’s melted. Shit. Sorry.”

His ears went red when he realized he’d just sworn twice – in front of Lisanne’s parents.

Monica’s face was a little tight, but Lisanne thought it was because she was trying not to laugh.

“Um, yeah, they were my mom’s favorites, so I thought…” his words died away.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Monica said with a heartfelt smile. “And I think this is for you, Ernie,” she continued, passing her husband a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“You’re not old enough to buy liquor,” he barked.

Daniel’s face closed down. “My brother is,” he said quietly, neither admitting nor denying that he’d bought the whiskey.

“Ernie!” Monica hissed.

“Hmm, very thoughtful,” Lisanne’s dad bit out.

Lisanne wanted to drop her head in her hands. She thought Daniel had had the best idea, when he looked like he wanted to make a run for it.

She held his hand under the table and squeezed his fingers.

“Should we go for a walk?” she said.

What she really meant was: should we get the hell out of here so you can have a cigarette before you blow like Krakatoa?

Daniel nodded, gratefully.

“Yeah, thanks, baby doll.”

Lisanne’s father didn’t look very happy at hearing his daughter’s nickname, but after a stern glance from his wife, wisely decided to say nothing about it.

“We’re going out for a while, mom.”

“Of course, honey. I’m sure Daniel would like to see the lake. Why don’t you take my car? Dinner’s at six.”

“Thanks, mom,” said Lisanne, kissing her mother on the cheek.

Daniel almost sprinted to the front door as Lisanne collected her mom’s car keys. He’d already lit a cigarette by the time she closed the door behind them.

He blew tension out of his body along with a lungful of smoke. Lisanne stroked his back, as if calming a wild animal.

He shook his head.

“Fuck!”

Lisanne gave a small laugh. “It could have gone worse.”

“You think?”

“Yes, they could have walked in on us having sex.”

Daniel burst out laughing, relieved that Lisanne wasn’t pissed at him for swearing, or the way he’d behaved.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t have gone down well.”

Lisanne wound her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. She looked up as he blew another puff of smoke away from her.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

He smiled as he stubbed out his cigarette.

“‘S’okay, baby doll. Come on, let’s go see this lake.”

Monica’s car was a red Honda hatchback and Lisanne couldn’t help luxuriating in the wide, comfortable, cushioned seat. So different from Sirona’s questionable charms.

She pulled her seatbelt on and waited, while Daniel worked out how to shift the seat back and make room for his long legs.

“Oh God!” she said, as she turned on the engine.

“What, baby?” he said, frowning at her, as she pulled onto the road.

“I can’t believe mom is listening to this radio station! The music is so…”

Lisanne choked on the words when she saw Daniel’s face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Daniel…”

He nodded at her apology and stared out of the window. Lisanne reached over to turn off the radio, but he placed his hand over hers and pushed it back.

“Lis, I don’t expect you to live without music just because I’m around.”

“I don’t, I…”

“I’ve seen you do it, baby doll. I’ve seen you turn off your iPod and stop talking about bands while I’m around. I know music is important to you. Shit, I totally get that. Don’t stop listening to music because of me. Fuck, if anything, you have to listen to it for both of us.”

Suddenly Lisanne’s eyes were too full of tears for her to carry on driving in safety. She pulled over to the curb and covered her face with her hands, sobbing.

Daniel unclipped his seatbelt, moving across to pull her into his arms.

“Don’t cry for me, baby doll. Please don’t cry.”

He spoke the words into her hair as her tears soaked into his t-shirt.

For several minutes, Lisanne cried out all the stress and tension of the day, and the pain she felt from Daniel’s words.

He was right, of course. She
had
avoided listening to music or talking about music when he was around, because she hadn’t wanted to hurt him, to remind him of what he’d lost. She felt bad enough that he picked her up from all her rehearsals, and had come to all her gigs.

When she was finally hiccuping the last of her tears, Daniel hitched up his t-shirt and wiped her eyes.

“Better, baby?”

She nodded.

“Sorry.”

He kissed her hair again. “Don’t be. Not for me. Not for caring about me.”

Finally, she was composed enough to drive again, but they didn’t do much walking when they reached the lake – they simply found a shady tree to lie under. Lisanne rested her head on Daniel’s chest, and he drew lazy circles on her shoulder with his fingers.

It was a moment of much needed peace.

Eventually, Lisanne struggled into a sitting position and Daniel opened his eyes, smiling up at her.

“There’s a place near here, a sort of outside mini-mall, where we can get a coffee if you like?”

“Yeah, I could definitely go a coffee. This is your home town. Let’s see the sights.”

Lisanne laughed. “Well, we’re sitting by the lake – that’s about it. Unless you want to see the golf course?”

“Wow, life in the fast lane,” Daniel deadpanned.

Lisanne smiled shyly. “Small town girl, that’s me.”

He sat up and kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Wouldn’t have you any other way, baby doll.”

At the mall, they strolled hand in hand to the nearest coffee shop and sat down outside, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

Lisanne was hoping that some of the girls she’d known from high school would just happen to walk past. Daniel looked so hot sitting with his Ray Bans covering his eyes, and his t-shirt tight across his muscular shoulders and back. Just once she’d have liked to have been envied by the girls who never gave her the time of day – just for a change. Completely shallow – and she didn’t care.

But when the waitress started flirting with Daniel as if Lisanne didn’t exist, she changed her mind. It must have been so obvious he was out of her league, that the waitress didn’t even try to be subtle.

“What can I get for you folks?” she said, as her eyes roved up and down Daniel’s undeniably hot body.

“Lis?”

“Um, I’ll have a caramel Frappuccino, please.”

“And what can I tempt you with?” said the waitress, sucking her pencil suggestively.

Daniel raised his eyebrows as he replied. “Black coffee, please.”

“Oh, I so agree,” giggled the waitress. “I can’t stand all those fake drinks – I prefer my coffee straight up.”

Daniel reached over and took Lisanne’s hand in his.

“Yeah? My baby doll likes her drinks sweet – just like her.”

Lisanne blushed bright red, grateful and delighted by his public display, but the waitress turned away with an annoyed huff.

“Wow, I can’t believe she was hitting on you right in front of me! I mean, come on!”

Daniel gave her his sexy smirk.

“Told you I was irresistible, baby doll,” he said, immodestly. “But I only want you.”

Lisanne’s body began to overheat, so she was relieved when the waitress returned with her iced coffee.

“You folks let me know if I can help you with anything else,” she said, sullenly.

Daniel winked at her, which sent the waitress away with a smile on her face.

“You’re so bad!” hissed Lisanne.

Daniel shrugged. “Didn’t want to ruin her day.”

Chapter 15

They sat for a while longer, enjoying their drinks and the sunshine. Much to Lisanne’s disappointment, none of the girls from her high school seemed to be around.