“Looking for the best in people is one of the most admirable things about my mother,” Daniel said, “even if she hasn’t always gotten it right.”
“I’d love to be like her.” Admirable. “And like you—able to forgive. I’m just not sure I have it in me.”
“I know you have it in you, Tasha.” Daniel’s gaze, and his touch, were as gentle and sweet as only a strong man’s could be.
Then he kissed her until she wanted to believe him.
Chapter Nineteen
They returned in time to take the puppies for a walk, then Daniel fed Tasha another delicious barbecue dinner. When the evening turned chilly and the puppies crawled into their crate to sleep, Daniel piled pillows and an extra comforter in front of the fire.
The flames crackled soothingly, the wine he poured making her bones melt. But it wasn’t really the wine.
It was Daniel.
Their kisses by the lake had been beyond magical. But she still felt deeply conflicted about taking things any further when her life was still such a total and complete mess. How could he possibly want to get involved with a woman who came from a family of liars and con men, who had no job prospects, and who lived in a mountain shack?
“I should go,” she made herself say, though it was the last thing she wanted.
“Don’t go yet. I’m not done learning about you.”
She felt like he knew absolutely everything about her by now. She’d revealed the loneliness she’d felt these last months. How hard it had been to leave her adult friends behind, the same way she’d left friends over and over again as a child. The way her father’s words had ripped her in two back on that cold February day.
Daniel had helped her remember some of the good things she’d forgotten—fun, carefree times with her brother, how strong their bond had been as children. Daniel’s support was also integral to helping her find the courage to get online and start looking for her brother and father. He’d made her take a hard look at whether she truly was so bad, so blind, so foolish—and whether giving up her own happiness was really a necessary part of making reparations to everyone her family had hurt. He’d made her question whether her sins were truly the same as her father’s.
“Don’t think, Tasha.” Daniel obviously read her mind, recognized the panic rising close to the surface. Had he read the depth of her emotions for him too? “Just like I’m not going to think. Because if I do, I’ll see that everything’s going too fast for you. That you need more time to heal, to process, to trust again.” He stopped, her own thoughts reflected in the fire of his gaze. “Please don’t ask me to let you go tonight.”
It was clear what he wanted, but he was giving her the choice, not forcing her. Neither seducing nor coercing.
More than anything else, he was asking her to be honest with him. As honest as he’d been with her. And she’d been trying so hard to keep him safe from her that she hadn’t let herself admit how much she wanted him. How much she needed him.
Or how deep, how true, her feelings for him ran.
After everything they’d shared today, the thought of walking out that door tore something loose inside. Something he’d only just begun to help her stitch back together at the lake.
“I don’t want you to let me go tonight.”
His smile lit up the room, and in the next moment, he pulled her down, rolling her beneath him, whispering, “Are you sure?”
An answering smile bloomed inside her. “Completely sure.”
He stroked the hair from her face. “It’s still your choice. It will always be your choice. I will never take that away from you.”
“I know you won’t.” She laid her palm over his. “I choose to stay.” Though it felt totally unromantic, she needed him to know one more thing. “I’m on the Pill.” She hadn’t planned on being with anyone in the near future, but she’d kept the prescription for the other benefits, like regulating her cycle. “And I haven’t been with a man for a very long while.”
“There hasn’t been anyone for me for a while either,” he told her. “So you don’t have to worry about me.”
Trailing kisses across her cheek, he finally found her lips, teasing and tantalizing. He didn’t rush—he savored. He whispered between each kiss—sweet, sexy, beautiful things.
“Your skin is so damn soft, you make me crazy.” He angled, taking her mouth again. “I dream about you at night, how good you taste.” She melted into his words. “I see your smile. I hear your laugh.” He threaded his fingers through her hair. “And your tool belt drives me wild.”
She laughed, and it felt wonderful and free. Tonight, she would forget her fears, her inhibitions. Wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down, all that mattered was Daniel. His touch, his scent, his kiss.
He rolled her on top, and she kissed him until she felt drugged with his taste. Needy for more, she slid her hands beneath his shirt to feel bare skin against her fingertips. His muscles were taut, his body hard.
Then he switched it up again, taking her beneath him, one leg between her thighs, then the other, spreading her as though she were a feast. “I want to taste you everywhere.” His eyes glittered, dark and hot, but he paused to let her respond. To say no if she had to.
Or to beg if she couldn’t help herself.