Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Emma had dropped onto Luke’s lap and kept going.

“Nope. Don’t buy it. You don’t usually show up unannounced for no reason. You’ve always got some cockamamie story or idea, or I have to call and invite you over. So, give,” Emma had said as Luke nodded his agreement.

“Emma, I swear. It’s nothing!” I’d mumbled, knowing I might as well just give in. For all the hell I put her through, she’d always been the one I could talk to about stuff and I had managed to find my way over here to kill time. Seems like my subconscious had been telling me something, right?

I’d sighed and she had smiled knowingly.

“I met this girl-” I began, but immediately had gotten cut off by Emma’s loud crowing.

“I knew it! Ha ha ha!”

“Jesus, simmer down, asshat. See if I tell you anything again with you acting like that,” I had muttered. “Anyway, she’s fucking gorgeous, and she’s…I don’t know. Different.”

Emma had sat back against Luke, threading her fingers through his in a practiced move without thinking about it. “Different how? Where’d you meet her?”

“Griff’s. She was there-”

“The red-head?” She’d asked, sitting forward again. “No fucking way. No way! She was totally going to shut you down.”

“Well, I didn’t really hit on her,” I had started, only to be cut off again when she snorted. “Well, that was unladylike,” I’d uttered through clenched teeth, glaring at her for laughing again. My eyes had narrowed as something struck me. “You weren’t there that night. How the hell do you know about her?” I had asked her, already knowing the answer.

Her reply had been, “Leah, duh. You think she wouldn’t talk? Anyway, spill. We were all counting on her taking you down a peg.”

I had sighed. “You didn’t even see her…you have no idea if she’d be likely to-” I had cut myself off then, then finished, sullenly, “And yes, she turned me down.” I had continued, my tone lightening as I tried to sound nonchalant. “But then we talked, and I walked her out…and then met up with her at her hotel, the grocery store, and Griff’s again last night.”

“Hold on. The hotel? She told you where to find her?” my sister had asked, looking slightly impressed, but then her face dropped and she’d shot me a suspicious look. “And she invited you to go grocery shopping with her and out for a night cap? After she turned you down?”

“Uh,” I had stalled for an answer. “Not exactly. She hinted where she might be staying and Buffy just happens to work at one of the nicer ones, so I checked to see if that’s where she was. Turns out, it was.”

“Holy shit, Calland! What the fuck are you thinking? You’ve gone stalker on us, and that’s not cool,” Emma had shrieked. “And my God, using one of your exes to do it?”

“I WASN’T STALKING!” I’d roared back at her, wincing almost immediately as I remembered that Everly was asleep upstairs.

Emma had winced, too, raising her hands in supplication. “Okay, okay! Please don’t wake up my kid, you oaf!”

“Oaf?” I’d repeated, looking over at Luke, who’d just shrugged.

“Just go with it. She’s been pretty creative with new words in her attempts to clean up her language around Everly. What was it you called me the other day, sugar?” He’d smirked before continuing, “Son of a motherless goat, I do believe it was.”

I had snorted with laughter while my sister glared at me. Rightfully so, though. “Yeah, that was something I taught her. Well, I taught Mom, unwittingly, but…you know, that’s kind of a long story. Anyway, I guess I’ll just be taking off now.”

It had taken some doing, but I’d managed to escape after that, though I’d caught my sister gazing out the window at me with a worried expression as I waved goodbye and pulled away from the house. That kind of surprised me, especially as most of my family was pretty exasperated with my ‘man-whorish ways’, as they so (or not so) fondly called them.

But now, standing in the lobby of the hotel, waiting on the elevator to take me up to Dani’s room, my nerves were back in full force. And they only intensified when the doors opened and there she stood, looking so good that my pants immediately got a little tighter in the front.

I shifted nonchalantly, trying to inconspicuously move things to a more comfortable position as I greeted her. “Hey! I was just on my way up to get you. Where’s Kade?”

She huffed out a breath and shook her head. “He was really cranky and just laid down. I know it’s not the greatest time for him to take a nap because he’ll probably keep me up all night now, but…I didn’t have the heart to wake him up to come with us. Cara’s watching him for me until we get back.”

“Okay. Are you sure you’re good? I mean, we can do this another time.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Dinner?” she asked, cocking her head up to look at me.

I smiled and tugged her toward the door, still not letting her hand go once we got outside. I counted it as a victory that she didn’t pull away.

I took her to Manny’s, hoping that she liked Italian. God knows my family did.

Seriously, you should have to sign a waiver before committing to any dinner engagement with my sisters, especially Emma. She once stabbed me with her fork just for daring to try and swipe a bite of her chicken alfredo. And it’s always wise to leave the table before she orders dessert, too. Luke swears that’s how Emma ended up pregnant with Everly.

Don’t ask.

In short order, we were seated and had ordered. I’d gotten the duo plate, which consisted of monster sized portions of chicken marsala and fettuccini alfredo. I grinned when Dani ordered the same thing without hesitation.

She saw me do it, and as soon as the waiter walked away, she smirked.

“What? Should I have ordered a salad and water?” she asked, sarcasm heavily lacing her words.

I shook my head quickly. “No, not at all. It’s nice to have someone actually eat for once when I take them out.”

“Yeah, well, you also saw me hoover a whole order of pizza rollers, plus one of yours last night. Not to mention that whole conversation we had about my weird food quirks. Anyway, do you take women out to dinner often?” she asked smoothly, and I found myself answering without even thinking about it. Which didn’t happen often because I’d burned myself once too many times like that.

“Sometimes. I haven’t for a while, though. The ones I’ve dated lately have all been too…”

My words trailed off as I tried to think of how to say it without seemingly insulting her and/or all women.

“Vapid? Self-centered? Insecure?” Dani responded.

“Yes.”

She laughed. “Which one?” she asked, reaching for her water and sipping as she waited for my answer.

“All of the above. I mean, don’t get me wrong. They’ve been good girls, nice ones, but not much of a challenge.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I was rushing to back-pedal. “Not like…I don’t mean that…” I floundered, not wanting to give her the wrong impression, but she only laughed and waved me off.

“I know what you mean,” she said, laughing. But she was totally tongue-in-cheek when she finished, “I’ve met Buffy, remember?”

I groaned. “Don’t remind me. You’re a far cry from...hell, anyone I’ve ever dated.” I winced. “That was a compliment, you know, just in case you couldn’t tell with my head up my ass.” I paused, then went for broke, figuring honesty is the best policy. “You fluster me.”

She blinked at me. “I fluster you? Is that something guys even admit?” She was laughing as she said it, but I could see the surprise in her eyes.

“Not usually, no. But, I don’t know. You definitely intrigue me. You’re not like anyone else I know. You’ve got a hard edge about you, but then sometimes, I can see past that to the warm and sweet person hidden underneath.”

And with that, I could almost visibly see the shields being locked back into place.

“Well,” she said, brusquely. “you don’t know me. So don’t pretend to think that you’ve seen anything about me. Excuse me for a second, please. I’m going to call Cara and check on the baby.”

She pushed away from the table and strode outside without a backwards glance, leaving me more confused than ever.

“She’s a tough nut to crack, that one. Yes?”

The words came from behind me, over my shoulder. I glanced back to see Manny himself watching Dani push through the doors. I shrugged.

He clapped me on the shoulder. “Eh, but sometimes the toughest nuts to crack are the best ones to savor, so sweet and perfect once you get them open. Worth the work, no?”

I reached up and patted his hand, answering him with, “I guess we’ll see, Manny. We’ll see.”