“I’m always honest,” she said.
Didier smiled. “Which is why I know you will win.”
Confused, she left the office. For a moment, she was tempted to cancel on Danny and go home to regroup.
But she couldn’t do it. She wanted to see him. She knew that if she saw him, she’d feel better. She wasn’t sure he’d be able to offer her any advice on how to get through the mediation, but she knew he’d offer her comfort, and that seemed like a good deal at the moment.
Was that love?
She thought about Jamie and Didier. The way both men had looked at her said very clearly they believed she had feelings for Danny.
Shedidhave feelings. But love?
He must have felt her wavering because her phone pinged with a text from him. She got it out of her bag.
Osei
I’m here waiting for you.
Osei
Naked.
As if he had a reset button directly connected to her, all her fatigue melted away, and she suddenly felt very much alert.
She went out of the building and tried to hail a cab, but the weather was dreadful and there weren’t any to be had. She looked up at the sky. She could probably make it. It was that or wait around for who knew how long until a taxi became available.
She didn’t want to wait.
So she started walking.
Halfway to his hotel, her feet started to hurt.
Three blocks away, the sky opened up and began to pour. She tucked her bag into her coat to protect the leather and then picked up her pace. She was already drenched—running and risking slipping seemed like a stupid idea. She wanted Danny to care for her tonight, not skinned knees.
She couldn’t wait to feel him. She had no idea how it was that he could feel sorightto her. She figured that was how Louisa felt with Connor.
She’d never thought she’d have the chance to feel the same thing.
She heard her mother’s voice. “Julie, Julian’s kisses make me believe in heaven. I’ve never felt anything like it before. For me, there’s only him.”
She stopped at the corner, at a red light, the sleety rain drilling her forehead. She understood that now in a way she’d never thought she’d be able to, but she was also confident that she’d never lose herself the way her mother had. She may have been born to her and Julian, but she had more Louisa and Connor in her.
Louisa and Connor had the kind of love that withstood anything.
Could she have that?
Did she want that?
By the time she arrived at Danny’s hotel, she was both clammy and soaked on the outside and sweaty and sticky on the inside from her eager pace. She glanced at herself in the mirrored elevator, cursing when she saw her mascara. She tried to tidy herself up as much as she could before the doors opened to Danny’s floor.
She was here.
It was exactly where she wanted to be, she realized. She went to his door and lifted her hand to knock.
The door opened before her knuckles touched it and Danny’s large, masculine hand reached out to pull her inside. Before she could say anything, the door was closed and she was pressed up against it, a long naked man blanketing her, kissing his way down her neck.
Groaning, she dropped her head back against the door and rubbed herself against his erection.