Daisy
I follow Tom home.He doesn’t see me. He doesn’t seem to see much of anything. He pauses once to lean against a tree, as if exhausted. I wonder again whether he got alcohol in his drink. Or he’s just tired from a long day. Either way, he must be feeling it too if he left his truck and walked. I make sure he gets into his shop. Then I stand there, watching the lights ignite, telling myself I’m just being sure he gets up to bed safely. Yet the lights go off, and I’m still standing there, still thinking and feeling and wishing.
I’m there for almost an hour before I feel like a creeper and head back. I’m halfway when a figure lurches from the shadow of a live oak. I spin, fists rising.
“Liam,” I mutter as he staggers out. His shirt is open and inside out, as if he just climbed from bed.
Great.
He continues forward until I can smell the booze on his breath.
“Frozen to the spot?” he says when I don’t move. “You aren’t going to scream, are you, Miss Daisy?”
“I don’t need to. Lay a hand on me, and you’ll be the one screaming.”
He grins. “I like the sound of that.” He tilts his head and purses his lips. “How am I doing? I’ve never menaced a woman before, and the dialogue seems a bit melodramatic. I’m not really feeling it, either. Let’s switch scripts to the playacting version. I’ll pretend to take you by force, and you’ll pretend you don’t want me to.” He grins. “Because we both know you’d be pretending.”
I consider the utility knife in my pocket. Consider where I’d like to sink the blade. I also consider vomiting on him instead.
“Am I supposed to be afraid of you, Liam? You’re as serious about this as you were about swapping keys. I figured you were just trying to insult Celeste, but she isn’t here, so I guess this insult is for me. Not sure what I’ve done to deserve it. Nothing, probably. You just get off on the faint chance that I’ll take you seriously and quiver in my sneakers.”
“Get off?” His brows arch in mock affront. “How vulgar. You give yourself too little credit, Miss Daisy. I’d have happily swapped bedrooms tonight, and I would happily indulge in a little fantasy role play right now if you’d like.”
He pauses, giving me a chance to jump on that offer. I snort.
He surveys me. “I would like to get to know you better. You do indeed have hidden depths. Hidden to Celeste, at least, and that knuckle-dragging grease monkey she fancies. Not hidden to me, though.”
“Lovely. Now, if you’ll please leave—”
“You don’t seem the least bit concerned by my hints.”
“I’m not.”
“No? Are you quite certain, Miss Daisy?” He pauses and meets my gaze with a shark’s grin. “Or do you prefer Ms. Turner? Ms. Celeste Turner.”
Celeste
I wake the next morning to find a hot, sweaty guy in my kitchen. The only thing that could make this picture more perfect is...
Tom turns, coffee in hand, and holds it out to me, smiling. “Thought you might like this.”
I might let out a sigh of girlish infatuation. Well, no, as a girl, I wouldn’t have been nearly as impressed by a tattooed, muscular, dirt-and-sweat-streaked man handing me coffee. As a grown woman, though? Oh, yeah. It doesn’t get any better than this.
“About last night...” I begin.
He scrunches his nose. “Don’t mention it.”
“I have to. Liam was an ass. I know I said that, multiple times, but I kind of brushed it off, too, when I should have put a stop to it. I’m not accustomed to hard liquor, and I overimbibed. I’m sorry for the way he behaved toward you.”
His cheek twitches, and I replay my apology, wondering where I’ve gone wrong. Then he says, “I was more concerned by the way he talked about Daisy.”
“She’s upset, isn’t she?” I sigh. “He was a jerk, but he wasn’t seriously suggesting bed-swapping.”
“That makes it okay? She’s a guest in your home. Your boyfriend joked about screwing her, like she’s a piece of pie in the fridge that he’s welcome to sample.”
I flinch. He has a point, of course.
Before I can answer, Tom shakes his head. “I’m snapping at you because the person I’d like to snap at is gone.”