Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

“I know,” she replied, softly. “It doesn’t help that you still haven’t met him.”

He nodded.

I cleared my throat. “We could go. He’s at Emma’s.”

“In time,” T.J. answered. He glanced back down at his sister. “Dani, Calland asked you a question. Have you been happy here?”

“Taylor.” Her voice was still soft, pleading.

But he wouldn’t let her off the hook. “Answer, Danielle.”

She closed her eyes. “Fine. Yes, I’ve been happy here.” Her eyes opened, finding mine and holding my gaze. “I’ve been really happy…I am happy. But…”

“No buts, Dani,” I said, firmly. “One day at a time.”

“But…why?” she whispered, stepping closer to me.

My mouth opened and the words fell out, shocking all of us. “Because I’m pretty sure I love you. No, not pretty sure. I do love you, Dani.”

The room went silent.

Finally, T.J. broke the silence, saying wryly, “Well, damn. Guess I get to be part of the family for real now, not just honorarily.”

No one laughed, but I saw Dani’s lips twitch, and I thought, just maybe, that things were going to turn out alright.

A thought crossed my mind then. Turning to T.J., I asked, “How did you not know about Kaden, or even figure out that your sister was in town? She was hanging out with everyone, they’d all met her except for you.”

T.J. shot me a rueful grin. “I really was working on a piece that kept me pretty busy, but then Luke mentioned something about Dani and I froze up, thinking that she’d actually gone crazy and traveled cross country to finally track me down. But then they mentioned she had a baby, so I blew it off. I knew that she never would have gotten knocked up and gone through all that without sending me an SOS. She’s all the family I have left, so I definitely wouldn’t have left her alone like that. I knew she wanted me to come back, that she wanted to find me, but…she was giving me time like I asked. I checked in on her…called every now and then from different numbers. But I was a shitty brother, because even though I checked in with her, I never really gave her the time to talk to me, to let me know important stuff, obviously. But I know that’s because she felt that telling me I had a son was something that needed to be done face to face and not over the phone.”

He looked over at his sister again. “Then she walked into the shop one day and, like a jackass, she thought she was protecting me by not letting you guys know.”

“Ahh.” The silence was back, then.

T.J. finally shifted towards the door. “Look, I just wanted to check on Dani, so…”

“Wait!” Dani cried, reaching out and grabbing his arm. She looked back at me. “Do you think we could just do dinner in tonight, have T.J. come over to meet Kaden?”

“Of course,” I replied instantly. “He can go with you, if you want, to go get him from my sister’s, if you don’t want to wait?”

T.J. opened his mouth to answer, but this time Dani cut him off. “No, I think I’d rather it happen here, with just us. Okay?”

T.J. and I both nodded, and I could have sworn I saw relief in his eyes.

He hugged Dani then, whispering something to her before he turned, nodded at me, and left.

We were left standing in the middle of the living room, staring at each other like we were strangers. It was awkward, especially because there was a heaviness hanging over me. I’d bared myself to her, and got nothing but dead silence in return. Until T.J. tried to lighten the mood, but…

This is why I’d never wanted to get into this whole love thing.

It sucked.

When the silence continued, I checked my watch, noticing that I could still get some work done if I left right now. I didn’t feel like leaving, though. Not with things left unsaid, yet I didn’t know exactly what to say, or what I wanted her to say.

I mean, I knew what I wanted her to say. I just didn’t know if she ever would.

She finally moved, crossing the room until she stood in front of me, her hands braced on my chest, looking up into my face.

“Did you mean it?” she asked, her voice shaking. “What you said earlier?”

“What did I say, Dani?”

“That you love me.”

I rubbed my hand over my hair agitatedly. “It’s crazy, right?”

She didn’t answer, just kept staring up at me, her eyes wide and searching.

“Yeah, I meant it. I mean it, Dani. God fucking help me, but I love you.”

She bit her lip, tears filling her eyes once more. “God fucking help me, too, Calland.”

My eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to say, Dani?”

“Are you dense?” she asked, sarcastically. “I’m trying to say I love you, too, you idiot.”

My heart stopped. “You do?”

She nodded and I jerked her against me roughly, picking her up and swinging her around before claiming her lips in a heated kiss.