Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Chapter 2

Dani

I performed my morning routine by rote, the movements now so automatic that I could do it in my sleep. In fact, I was pretty sure I had at some point or another, but that didn’t diminish the enjoyment I received from doing it, no matter that sometimes, the tasks were less than pleasant.

Kind of like this one. I grimaced, making an exaggerated face as I fastened a clean, new diaper to the wiggling little body lying on the bed in front of me. I grinned at the giggle it elicited, my heart full to bursting with competing emotions, just as it always did every time I looked into his beautiful little face.

Once I had him fully dressed, I kissed his plump, rosy cheeks and lowered him into the playpen with a few of his favorite toys before I straightened everything up and got myself dressed for the day.

I stared at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, wondering how I didn’t look as exhausted as I felt. I had expected to see gritty-looking, heinously red and dark circled eyes, but they were just their normal, pretty, hazel color that complimented my red hair (hair that started out as more ginger, but darkened as I got older, though it’s still very, very red) perfectly. My hair was piled in a messy knot on top of my head, making me look younger than my 28 years (and taller than my 5’5”), but when it was down, it fell halfway down my back in soft waves that looked relatively good without having to do a lot to them. I guess I got lucky that way.

I shrugged at myself and then sighed as I yawned again, like I had all morning. I knew I would pay for my late night last night (later than usual given the fact that I’d tossed and turned all night, too), but I didn’t feel the usual regret that I would have.

And there was only one reason I didn’t.

His name was Calland.

I turned away from the mirror, finishing up what I was doing and then sliding my feet into my shoes. In short order, I had my little man loaded up and we were headed to find some breakfast for myself, since he’d already dined on a delicious bottle and some baby cereal with banana baby food. Fine dining baby style, right? But when it came to feeding myself, the one downfall of living at a hotel for the moment was that I had limited kitchen resources, even though the room had a kitchenette. It’s not like I could prepare gourmet meals with a two burner stovetop, microwave, and an apartment-size fridge, all of which were crammed in with little to no counter space. Thankfully, the hotel provided a decent breakfast every morning, but I didn’t want to eat waffles and bacon every day. Personal preference, I suppose.

But, even as I pulled into a fast food joint and ordered, my thoughts kept circling back to the man I met last night. He would be trouble, with a capital T, but my God, he looked like he’d be fun and absolutely delicious in every sense of the word.

He was around my age, I’m guessing; tall, had to be at least 6’3”, broad shoulders, muscular but lean build, flat stomach that I just knew would have a six pack, with short, dark hair, and bright green eyes, a combination that had me wanting to stare at him, even though I had been trying my damndest to put him off. I had an agenda, a reason for even coming all the way out here, and I couldn’t let him deter me.

No matter how much I might want to. Especially with that damn smile of his…

It wasn’t too long before I was back at the hotel, lugging everything up with me, including a happy little boy strapped into his infant seat. He was cooing and gurgling, and every now and then he’d screech and cry, “Ma-ma-ma-ma!”

That was a sound that warmed me to the bone and never failed to make me smile, though the ache that it generated in my chest cavity every time never got any easier. But, I couldn’t think about that now.

If ever.

With a sigh, I fed myself while he made a mess with a teething biscuit, and then cleared everything away, including the mushy, drool covered bits that were all that remained of said biscuit. The room we were staying in was decent sized, but if I didn’t keep things put away, it would look like a bomb had exploded baby paraphernalia and clothes everywhere.

Once that was done, I stretched out on a blanket on the floor for some much needed play time with the baby before I finally laid little man down for a nap and pulled out my laptop to start my daily research and to put out any new fires that may have popped out overnight in internet land.

A hour later, I was half-way through my to-do checklist when a knock sounded at the door.

I jerked my head toward the baby to see if the noise had woken him, but it hadn’t. I hurriedly answered the door, stepping out into the hallway after patting my pocket to make sure I had my keycard, my mouth already going a mile a minute.

“Cara, I’m so sorry, I forgot to tell you last night that I wasn’t going to need you to-” I paused, my mouth hanging open in shock as it finally sank in just who was standing in front of me.

“Need me to what, Red? And you can still call me stud, if you want. You know, since you can’t remember my name is Calland.”

He was just as mouth-wateringly handsome today as he was last night in the bar. Maybe even more so…I couldn’t decide.

I swallowed hard, the sound loud in the silence surrounding us as he waited for a response, I assumed. I steeled myself, shoving my shock and nerves down as I leaned casually on the door frame, crossing my arms across my chest and raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Stalking me now?”

He shot me a rueful smile and had the grace to look a little ashamed, but he still answered. “I figured you had to be staying at a hotel somewhere around here. Not many options to choose from, especially by the highway, which is the most obvious area someone traveling through would stay, and this is the nicest one.”

“And you just happened to guess my room number, too?”

“Ahhh…I know the front desk employee that’s on today.”

“Really,” I answered, trying to tamp down the barrage of emotions rising up in me. Shock and surprise that he found me and showed up, annoyance at the small thrill of excitement that it caused, anger that my privacy had been breached, and yearning for things that I just didn’t have time for. “Cute blonde, bubbly personality, with a cutesy, frou-frou name?”

He ducked his head and managed to look hot and still more so adorably ashamed at the same time. Jesus, my hormones were on overdrive! I shook my head at myself, but when he opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off.

“And let me guess. You just so happened to date her at one time or another, and you charmed her into giving up the goods once you got her to confirm that I was here. Especially when you didn’t even have my last name.”

His head came up. “Yeah, I did. Remember? Dani Rose.”