“Ian and I are actually together,” I said. “I know you’re not going to be thrilled to hear that.”
“Wait—you’re seeing him again?” Caroline asked. “He’s not coming here now, is he?”
“No, he’s not, I thought we could use a little girl time, but I would really appreciate it if you would try to give him another chance.”
She gave me a skeptical look and didn’t say anything.
“Come on, Caro!” I said, laughing. “I’m just asking you to give him another chance, not peel your own fingernails off.”
“That might be more appealing, actually.”
“I would do it for you,” I said. “If I knew that you felt about some guy the way I feel about Ian, then I would certainly at least give him another chance for your sake.”
She threw up her hands. “Now you’re going to guilt trip me! Fine—I’ll give him another chance, but I really do think this is the worst idea in the world. Well, maybe second to worst. Probably the worst would be going out with Noah.”
“Oh yeah, speaking of Noah—he was there waiting for me when Ian and I were getting home and there ended up being this confrontation. Ian said he’s going to have a couple guys keep an eye out for me, just to make sure that Noah stays away.”
“Like, there’s going to be security guys following you around?”
“Sort of . . . It’s not going to be like I suddenly have this entourage or anything. They’ll be way more discreet. But that makes me feel a little better about it.”
“I can’t believe it’s gotten to the point that you need security guards. This whole thing is messed up. Don’t even get me started on the fact that you’re willingly choosing to get back with a guy who’s having a baby with someone else. I think that’s really the story here. There are sooooo many other guys out there, Daisy! You don’t have to do this.”
I knew that I didn’t have to do it—what Caroline didn’t realize was that I wanted to.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ian
It’d probably be fair to say that up until I met Daisy, I didn’t really have any idea about the notion of being in love. The idea of it still sort of freaked me out, but what other explanation was there for this excitement I felt whenever I was around her, or on my way to see her?
Before I’d stopped by her apartment a few days ago on Sunday to give her those flowers, I’d been hoping against hope that she’d be able to look past all the shit with Annie. I’d bought the flowers on a whim and had hoped she’d at least take them from me, though it wouldn’t have surprised me if she slammed the door in my face. But that hadn’t happened, and I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d felt more relieved about something. It surprised me, in a way, to be feeling this way to begin with, but I actually rather liked it.
At work though, it still made sense to keep things quiet, which really only enhanced the sexual tension between us. Just watching her from my desk as she went about whatever it was she was doing, only to have her look up and catch me made me want to pull her into my office and have her right there on my desk, door open for all to see, I didn’t care. Being in the office when she was there was a good exercise in restraint.
That Wednesday, though, I packed up my stuff on time and got ready to leave.
“You’re heading out?” Daisy asked.
“It’s Wednesday,” Jonathan said. “He’s got to go visit his stepfather.”
“Oh, that’s right. Could I come with you?”
“Uh, sure,” I said, because she’d caught me completely off guard. Why the hell did she want to come with me? Not that I wouldn’t mind her company, but it seemed like an odd request . . . until I remembered that she thought I was doing this because I actually cared about Pete. “It might not be the most exciting thing, but . . .”
“I bet it’ll be great,” she said. “Let me just run and use the bathroom.”
“I just talked to Dan,” Jonathan said, “and they’re down at the harbor, waiting for Martin and his group.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “I don’t anticipate there being any issues. Weren’t they planning on leaving earlier? I thought I heard something about early afternoon.”
“Yeah, but th
ere was an issue at Logan, something about lost luggage. It’s getting sorted.”
“All right, I’m ready,” Daisy said when she returned.
I tried to ignore the look that Jonathan was giving me as we left. And as we were driving to the Eagle Hollow, I was thinking that “great” might not be the exact term I’d use to describe it, but who knew; maybe it would be.