Danni Rose (The Sherwood)

“What?”

“Will you be all right?” Danni asked.

“I will,” he promised.

“Okay.” Danni was satisfied with that response and was quiet after that. He didn’t hear another peep out of her.

Chapter 3

In the morning, Danni showered and went to the living room where she found Walker sprawled across her sofa. The blanket barely covering him. Outside, he slept in his jeans and inside he had felt comfortable enough to sleep in his boxers or else he was too warm. She could see the edge of them beneath the blanket. His jeans were on the floor by the sofa.

She perched on the edge of the coffee table, just to watch him for a moment. She couldn’t help herself, she touched him, running her finger down his bicep. She watched the trail her finger made on his skin.

Her eyes went to his face. He didn’t stir. Danni got braver. She ran her finger across the curve of his jaw covered in sharp whiskers. He hadn’t shaved in days either. Then she captured a strand of his hair between her fingers and let it slide between her thumb and forefinger.

He slept right through this. She knew she shouldn’t, but she peeked beneath the blanket and that is what woke him. He grabbed her wrist in an iron like grip so hard, he would have been hurting her had she not looked in his eyes. They were intense. “What the hell are you doing, Danni?”

She smiled at him. “Being nosy,” she teased him. “Does Walker Wild wear tighty whities?”

He threw her hand away from him. Danni rubbed her wrist. “Well don’t,” he said sitting up and pulling the blankets up with him. Danni almost laughed at Walker’s attempt at modesty.

“Are you hungry?” She asked.

“No, don’t you need to shower or something?” He asked. His tone brusque and showing his irritation at her.

“I already did,” she informed him.

Walker scratched his head. Danni was enjoying his discomfort. “See, my Hal’s Garage. I’m ready for work.”

“Then why don’t you go to work?” He snapped.

She laughed at Walker. “Because I need to eat.”

“Then go to the kitchen and eat, Danni.” He pulled the blanket up higher, clutching it to his chest.

“Walker are you afraid of me?” She asked.

He scoffed. “Danni Rose, I’m afraid of no woman.”

Danni tugged on the blanket covering Walker and he slapped her hand away. She laughed, and he scowled. “Go get your breakfast before you’re late for work.”

She got off the coffee table feeling a bit of a spring in her step because she had gotten under Walker’s skin. Maybe he wasn’t as immune to her as she thought he was. Maybe he wasn’t looking at her and thinking Matt’s little sister, Danni Rose.

In the kitchen, she made some scrambled eggs, enough for two. Then she laid his on a plate on the other side of the island. She turned knowing he was there, dressed and ready to leave with her when she left for the garage.

Instead of making him uncomfortable, Danni stayed on her side of the island and ate her eggs standing up. She could almost see the relief in Walker’s eyes.

“Working with Matt today?” She asked between bites.

He nodded.

“Tobacco almost in, now?” She asked.

“Yep,” he replied.

She thought Walker was mad at her for teasing him. She shook her head and finished her eggs. Then she put her plate in the dishwasher. He would get over it. She wasn’t about to apologize.

Danni wanted Walker to see her as more than the little girl he used to pick up when she fell. The one who made her feel better when the mean boys teased her. The one she loved when her brothers were being brats because he never treated her the way they did sometimes.