Good with His Hands (14 page)

The idea didn't bother her as much as it would have a week ago. After all, noticing Bryce had led her indirectly to Sean. Despite the convoluted path, she was inclined to feel grateful. “Your parents won't mind a total stranger horning in on a family night?”

“Are you kidding? My mom will be
thrilled
.”

She returned his smile, suddenly very eager for Tuesday and way too many tropical photos. “Then it's a date.”

* * *

“D
O
I
LOOK
OKAY
?”
Dani wanted to look nice, but not overdressed. She'd pulled her hair into a curly ponytail and paired a deep green short-sleeved top with black jeans.

Sitting at the foot of Dani's bed, Meg laughed. “I can't believe how nervous you are about this. The guy's completely smitten with you. You could show up in a burlap sack and flip-flops, and I'm not sure he'd even notice.”

“I don't know about that. Besides, it isn't just Sean. It's his parents.” When he'd asked her to go with him to their house, she'd been so eager to see him again that she'd automatically agreed. But now she was second-guessing herself. Who agreed to meet the parents on the second date?

Then again, not everyone got naked on the first date. Lord knew, she usually didn't. “Everything about this relationship seems out of order. Chronologically, speaking.”

Meg shrugged. “You did everything in normal, logical order with Tate. Maybe it's good you're shaking things up.”

A knock sounded at the door while Dani was fishing through her jewelry box for earrings.

“I'll get the door.” Meg stood. “It's a perfect opportunity to give my ‘hurt her and I'll end you' warning.”

“You already did that,” Dani reminded her. “On Saturday.”

“Oh.” Meg's forehead crinkled as she tried to remember. “Well, now he can hear the sober version.”

Dani chuckled. Meg had been making more jokes over the past couple of days and seemed to be regaining her appetite. She was definitely doing better her second week post-Nolan than she had her first.

In the next room, Meg and Sean exchanged pleasantries. Just the sound of his low voice made Dani quiver inside. Even during the weeks when she'd told herself she shouldn't be thinking about him, she'd never been successful at banishing him from her mind. Now that she'd given herself permission to pursue something with him, he was always there, at the forefront of her thoughts.

She frequently found herself smiling for no reason. Although no one at work had said anything directly, she knew they'd noticed a change in her demeanor. And at softball practice, when the volunteers split the girls into two groups to work on different skills, one twelve-year-old had declared, “I want to go to the station with the happy coach.”

That's me. The happy coach.

A broad smile on her face, she went into the living room, loving that everything she felt was mirrored in Sean's expression when he saw her.

“Have her home by eleven,” Meg teased. “It's a school night.” She then disappeared into the kitchen, giving the two of them a chance to greet each other with more than smiles.

Sean crossed the living room in two long strides, and her pulse quickened. He crushed her to him, his hands sliding beneath the hem of her shirt and along her lower back as he kissed her. Shivery pleasure danced up her spine, and she gave in to the impish urge to grab his butt.

He pulled back with a raised eyebrow. “Keep that up, and we will be
very
late to my parents' house.”

She grinned. “Complaining?”

“Begging.”

She was still laughing when they left her apartment. They talked about work during the drive. She told him about a subdivision she'd been to today, and he sniffed in feigned derision.

“Sounds like an okay place if your clients want substandard. We both know Magnolia Grove is superior.”

“It definitely has a sexier builder. But I'm not sure my clients are going to factor that into their decision. By the way, if Lydia Reynolds shows up again, you might want to discreetly let her know you're taken. That woman has designs on you.”

Sean gave her a purely male smile, self-satisfied and irresistible. “Taken, huh?”

“I don't share.” While it was impossible to know where seeing each other would lead, as long as they were dating, he was hers. “Probably an only child thing.”

“Not necessarily. I grew up with a brother, and I have that selfish streak, too. Want you all to myself.” The look he flashed her from the driver's seat was so hotly possessive her breath caught.

“Stop it,” she muttered. At this rate, she'd be too turned-on to manage conversation with his parents.

“What am I supposed to stop doing, exactly?”

“Looking...” So sexy that she wanted to lick him up with a spoon? “At me,” she finished weakly.

“Not a chance. It's my new favorite pastime.”

“Okay.” Since she felt the same about him, she couldn't really complain. “But do you have to keep looking at me like you're picturing me naked?”

His smile was wolfish. “You're not always naked. Sometimes there are shoes. And corsets.”

She filed that information away for the next time she was in Meg's shop.

Whenever Dani arrived at a house she'd never visited before, it was habit to evaluate the curb appeal. The Graysons' modest ranch home sat on a well-maintained lot. The grass was verdant and freshly cut, and although the time-worn porch could use some TLC, potted flowers and a set of padded wicker chairs added an attractive splash of color.

“My brother's car isn't here,” Sean said as they rolled into the driveway. “Maybe we'll be lucky, and he won't show.”

“The two of you really don't get along, huh?”

He removed the key from the ignition. “A month ago, I would have told you that we get along in a strained sort of way. We weren't fighting, but we hardly spoke. The day I met you, I was leaving a birthday present in his office. Looking back, it feels like it was my last ditch effort to close the gap between us. I don't even know if he liked it. Things are getting worse lately. We argue more.”

She considered this. “Are you sure that constitutes ‘worse'?” At his puzzled look, she added, “Arguing involves talking. It's a kind of communication.” Very loud communication, if the periodic disagreements between Rafferty siblings were anything to go by.

“That's an optimistic way of looking at it.”

Grinning, she opened her car door. “I've been in a much more optimistic mood the past few days.”

As they walked up the sidewalk, fingers interlaced, Sean said, “Usually, Mom doesn't even wait for me to get to the front door. She just meets me on the porch. This is her showing restraint because I've brought a guest. She's probably going out of her mind with curiosity on the other side of the door.”

Sure enough, his knuckles had barely touched the wood when the door swung open. A woman with silver-streaked hair and youthful eyes beamed up at them.

“Hey, Mom.” Sean bent down to kiss her cheek. “Dad knocked down any walls lately?”

Before she could answer, Mr. Grayson joined them in the foyer. He was as tall as Dani's father, which was saying something, had graying blond hair and hound-dog eyes, the kind Dani thought gave people an indefinably sad expression even when they were perfectly happy. Physically at least, husband and wife were polar opposites.

“Danica, these are my parents, Steve and Keely Grayson. Mom, Dad, this is my...Dani.”

“It's so wonderful to meet you.” Keely shook her hand enthusiastically. To her son, she said in a stage whisper, “The flowers worked?”

Dani grinned. “The flowers were lovely.”

Behind them, there was a quick rap at the door, then Bryce stepped inside. “Hey, sorry I'm—” He drew up short at the sight of Dani, obviously not expecting to see her.

Keely waved everyone into the kitchen. “Dinner's almost ready. To get us in the mood for the Hawaiian pictures, I made pineapple-glazed pork. Dani, you aren't vegetarian or anything, are you?”

Thinking about the steak salad she'd polished off for lunch, she almost laughed. “No, ma'am.”

They all pitched in to help carry dishes to the table and fill glasses. It was a different dynamic than the boisterous family dinners Dani had experienced with the Raffertys, and not just because Meg had a bigger family than Sean. There were no introverts in the Rafferty household. Everyone was talking and laughing and, occasionally, arguing at once. Here, it quickly became clear that Sean and his mother were used to carrying conversation. Mr. Grayson listened, his affection for both of them obvious, but didn't contribute much. Bryce was quiet, too.

“So, Dani,” Keely began, “how did you and Sean meet?”

Dani swallowed her bite of homemade roll with a gulp. “I, uh...I work in the same building as Bryce.” Across the table, the architect was studying her with an unreadable expression. Surely he wouldn't mention that Dani hadn't been able to tell the twins apart?

Sean squeezed her shoulder. “I had the good luck to run into her when I was dropping off a birthday present.”

“Which I've been meaning to thank you for,” Bryce said gruffly. “It...means a lot to me.”

Next to her, Sean went rigid with surprise. “You're welcome.”

There was a pause, as if even Keely didn't know what to say. Or maybe she was so glad to see her sons share a courteous moment that she wanted to savor it. But then she asked if Dani had ever been to Hawaii, and conversation turned to vacation stories, including the ill-advised Grand Canyon road trip when Major Yates had thought ten days in a car with his preteen daughter was a good bonding opportunity.

When they were done with the meal, Sean volunteered himself and Dani to clean up the kitchen while his mom readied the picture presentation. “It's the least we can do, since you cooked.” Beneath the table, his hand dropped to Dani's thigh and she knew he was trying to get a few minutes alone with her.

“Oh, I can't ask Dani to do dishes,” Keely protested. “She's a guest.”

“I really don't mind,” Dani said.

Keely beamed. “And here I was afraid he'd never meet a nice girl. Sean, you feel free to bring her back anytime.”

Their bid for a few minutes alone went awry when Bryce didn't follow his parents to the living room. Instead, he remained in the kitchen with them, awkwardly silent.

Sean and Dani exchanged glances. “Doesn't Mom need your help hooking her computer to the TV?” Sean prompted.

Bryce shook his head, looking distracted. “I only had to show her how the first time. She's got it now.”

Dani had heard Sean talk about his brother being “the smart one,” but it occurred to her that Bryce was pretty damn clueless in some matters.

“I really did like the print,” Bryce said, handing his brother an empty casserole dish.

“So you mentioned.” There was a note of suspicion in Sean's tone, as if he questioned why his aloof twin was suddenly being nice. “Something on your mind, bro?”

“Some
one
. I've...I can't stop thinking about a woman I met.”

Sean broke into a wide grin. “Really? It's hell, isn't it? No offense,” he told Dani.

“None taken.” She arched an eyebrow. “You think
I
was overjoyed when my brain turned into the all-Sean, all-the-time channel?”

“I still can't believe you forgave him,” Bryce mused. “After the way he—”

“She was there,” Sean interrupted. “She doesn't need the recap.”

“Sorry.” Bryce leaned against a kitchen counter. “My point is, there were obstacles and you overcame them. I've never done anything unkind toward this woman, but she said she shouldn't even talk to me. That's not a good sign, right?”

“So you need my help.” Sean looked equal parts flabbergasted and smug over this turn of events. “Advice on how to win her over?”

“No. Actually, I was hoping for Danica's help. It's your friend,” he told her. “Meg. We chatted at the charity dinner.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?” Frankly, she couldn't imagine Bryce, the architect of few words, casually chatting with anyone—much less her extroverted friend who'd erred on the side of inebriation that night.

“She's beautiful. And funny.” He didn't smile, but the corners of his eyes crinkled. “And very loyal to you. It's obvious the two of you are close. Would you be willing to give me her number? Or, at the very least, her last name?”

Was that such a good idea? Meg had been through a rough time already. And she'd dated more than one guy who'd decided her effusive personality was too much for him. Bryce was naturally reserved and skewed toward the judgmental.

“I don't know.” The disappointment in his expression gave her a moment's guilt, but her allegiance was to Meg, not him. Inspiration struck in the form of a compromise. “I'll tell you where she works, though. Vivien's Armoire. You can find her there just about every day of the week.”

If he was man enough to track her down amid the push-up bras and crotchless tap pants, then maybe he deserved a shot.

* * *

“I'
M
GLAD
YOU
came with me tonight,” Sean said as he turned into the parking lot of Dani's apartment complex. “My parents really liked you.”

No kidding, she thought numbly. At first, she'd appreciated how welcome Mrs. Grayson made her feel. But by the end of the evening, Keely had been dropping unsubtle hints that, when Dani got married, Hawaii would make a lovely honeymoon destination. Even hearing the word
honeymoon
, so soon after the one she hadn't taken, was discomfiting.

She'd debated telling Sean's mom they weren't that serious—tonight was only their second date!—but it didn't seem like a reminder that should come from her. So she'd waited to see if Sean would good-naturedly ask his mom to knock it off. He, on the other hand, hadn't seemed bothered. Perhaps he was just more laid-back on the topic of weddings, not being the one who'd recently returned a bunch of bridal-shower and engagement gifts, but she'd suddenly wondered if they were both on the same page.