Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

“I’m in.”

“Knew you would be,” he chuckled, but it was low and deep and oh-so-sexy…an almost laugh more suited for seduction…but NO! Chinese food. Hang out. No hanky panky. Agenda. Stay on track, damnit, Dani!

“Okay?” I heard Calland asking, and I realized he’d been talking to me while I reprimanded myself in my head.

“Uh…” I said, stalling as I tried to think if any of what he’d said had registered. Of course, I didn’t want to just up and agree to whatever he’d said because, really, I could find myself in trouble with that one.

I heard him breathing as he waited for me to say something, until the silence was broken by his laughter. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you.”

I wanted to protest, but I couldn’t. “No, I’m didn’t. Sorry,” I told him with chagrin.

“S’ok. I just said I’d be there about 6:15, 6:30-ish to get you. Okay?”

‘God help me, cause I’m gonna need it,’ I thought to myself as I answered him, “Okay.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” His voice dropped, the tone intimate and low, and my body flushed with heat as he finished with, “Sweet dreams, Dani,” and hung up.

I put my phone back on the nightstand, clicked off the light, and flung myself backwards on the bed, staring up into the darkness for a long time before sleep finally claimed me.

***

The next morning came early, as Kaden decided it was play time at five a.m., and he was still going strong at noon with no sign of a nap in sight. He played in his playpen for a little while, thankfully, so I could get some emails answered and do a couple things that needed done. After that, I loaded him and our dirty laundry up and headed to the laundromat I’d previously scouted out in town. That killed about an hour and a half; add in the time spent through the day for breakfast, lunch, and getting ready and…we still had hours to wait until Calland came to get us.

Since I had time to kill and Kaden was wide awake, I decided to take him down to the heated, indoor pool at the hotel, a really nice one that was part of the reason I’d picked this hotel. I sat on the steps in the shallow end and let him splash around in my lap, grinning every time he laughed when I sputtered and gasped playfully as water hit my face.

We only stayed down there for about half an hour, simply because I didn’t want Kaden to get chilly; even though the water was warm, the air outside the pool was cool, as I knew the hallways would be on the walk back to the room. I wrapped him up in a dry towel after I dried him off, and then, awkwardly (since I still had him in my arms), wrapped my own towel around my waist before we headed back up to the room to get ready.

Thankfully, after a snack of a teething biscuit and a bath, Kade finally went down for a nap, so I was able to shower and dress for the evening, as well as restock his diaper bag and straighten the room back up.

It was about five that my phone rang and I answered it, thinking it would be Calland. It wasn’t.

“Danielle. How much longer are you gonna be doing this? Just fuckin’ give up, because it’s obvious that we’re the only ones that care anymore. It’s been like this for the past three years, and nothing’s changed.”

“Alex…” I sighed, wishing I wouldn’t have answered. “You know I have to do this. I can’t keep it a secret, I can’t just let it slide. It wouldn’t be right. And I really don’t give a flying fuck about the rest of it. I’m done. I told you that before, but you and the rest of the guys just won’t let it go. It’s not really even them anymore, it’s just you. And I, I can’t-I won’t…not without…” I trailed off.

I hated even talking about it, because it hurt too much. It was because it hurt too much that I was always second guessing myself about every move I’d made in the past year, but what I said to Alex was the truth. Just as I told Calland. I had an agenda. I had a purpose. And I had to see it through.

I blew out a breath at the frustrated growl that came through the phone.

“Goddamnit, Dani! It’s been two years! Give up!” Alex screamed. “We’ve got a chance to get it all back, to go on, but you’re fucking convinced that it won’t work without-”

“It won’t,” I cut him off, coldly. “You and I both know it. We all agreed, Alex. Every single one of us. It was for the best, especially with everything that happened. We agreed maybe one day we’d go back, see if it all still clicks, but not now. Not yet.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a brief moment. “You’re cold-hearted. Both of you.”

A harsh laugh escaped my lips, echoing through the room. “We all are. Remember?”

The line went dead. Alex was good at hanging up. And I was really good at getting in the last word, even if it hurt.

I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, my elbows braced on my thighs, head in my hands. I blinked, trying to hold back the tears that had flooded my eyes. Damn Alex, and damn me for letting him get to me, just like always.

But this had been a long time coming…and I wasn’t backing down.