Something in the Way He Needs (Family 1)

Asher raised his hand and flipped Oliver off without taking his eyes off Daniel. He swiped his thumb over Daniel’s plump lip. “Thanks, sugar.”

Chapter 18

“I’LL have a large decaf vanilla latte with skim milk. Cold,” Shirley said.

“A venti iced latte decaf non-fat add vanilla,” the barista repeated.

“I refuse to speak their made-up language,” Shirley whispered to Daniel as she handed over her money. “Plus, it’s fun making ’em squirm when I say skim instead of nonfat.”

He started laughing. “You’re funny!”

She wrapped one arm around her belly and held the other out to the side as she took a bow. “Why, thank you, monsieur.”

“De rien, madame,” Daniel responded with a curtsy.

Shirley cracked up. “You’re all right, Danny.” She picked up her drink and took a sip. “I didn’t know you spoke French.”

“I don’t, really. Just a few phrases here and there that I picked up when I worked on a cruise ship. We had a lot of European passengers.”

“Mmmm, sounds sexy,” she said dreamily. “I bet the French men were romantic and debonair.” She sipped her drink and sighed wistfully. “Okay,” she sighed. “Are you ready to hit the shops?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Where do you want to go first?”

“Let’s go to Union Square. With all those stores, we’re bound to find something.”

Two hours later, they still hadn’t found anything and Shirley was coming out of another dressing room chewing on her bottom lip and frowning. “What do you think of this?”

“I love that sweater. The cowl neck is really flattering and the purple works with your hair and skin tone.”

“Yeah?” Shirley asked, sounding relieved.

“Totally. Now we just need to find you some pants. I saw a pair of gray wide-leg pants near the front. They’ll be perfect with that sweater. Tell me your size and I’ll grab ’em for you.”

“Thanks, Danny. I’m a—” Shirley stopped and tilted her head to the side. She narrowed her eyes appraisingly. “What size do you think I am?”

No way was Daniel walking into that trap. “Uh, why do I feel like a giant horse just knocked on my gate?”

“Sorry.” Shirley slumped down into an empty chair next to the fitting room. “I wasn’t trying to trick you. It’s just—” She sighed. “Did your brother tell you what he got me for my birthday?”

“He said he got you a gift certificate,” Daniel said.

“Yup.” Shirley nodded. “He got me a gift certificate to a boutique called Petite Chateau. Care to guess what they specialize in? Spoiler alert—it isn’t castles.”

Daniel froze. Shirley was really pretty. Long, wavy red hair, alabaster skin, sparkling blue eyes, and a curvy body he was sure straight men appreciated. What she wasn’t was petite. Though he refused to engage her in the guess-my-size game, Daniel would have put her at around a size sixteen. Plus, she was about an inch or so taller than his five feet eight inches. Nope, not petite.

“All right, so the confused look tells me you get the picture. Needless to say,” Shirley said, “I can’t even get one boob into their shirts. I don’t mean to be ungrateful or bitchy, but don’t you think the man who plans to marry me should have some idea of what I look like?”

Daniel sat next to her. “I’m sorry, Shirl. I know Ollie’s not the most sensitive guy around.”

“No, he isn’t. But—” She took in a deep breath. “Do you think he actually wants to be with me? I know some guys have a low sex drive, but….” Daniel must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights—it was sure as hell how he felt—because Shirley stopped talking, squeezed his arm, and smiled weakly. “Never mind. It wasn’t fair of me to ask you that. He’s your brother.”

“I once dated a guy who called me into the bathroom to look at his turd because he swore it was shaped like a dick,” Daniel volunteered.

Shirley’s eyes widened and she was silent for several beats before she started laughing. “I had a blind date with a guy who called me ‘babe’ within ten minutes of meeting me. Plus, he was in his forties, lived with his mother, and he wore Iron Man underwear.”

“Oooh, totally dodged a bullet with that one. Umm, okay, I’ll raise you babe and cartoon briefs and throw in emotionally unavailable and herpes.”

“Seriously?” Shirley asked.

“Swear. The worst part was that he’d use the herpes as an excuse to never have sex. To hear him tell it, he was in a constant outbreak.”

“Ugh. Sucks.”

“Not well,” Daniel said. “But, you know, aside from all that, he was a great catch.”

“Right,” Shirley said drolly. “I went to bed with a guy who fell asleep with chewing gum in his mouth. I woke up and it was all over the sheets and my hair. Have you ever tried to get gum out of hair?”