The words were surprisingly easy, now that I gave myself subconscious permission to say them. And you would have thought it was the worst possible time to say them. If I was waiting for the romantic time to blurt out declarations of love, I surely should have kept waiting. But there was something about Daniel’s facial expression that let me know just how worried he was that he was losing me. And that in itself made me want to do everything in my power to reassure him he still had me.
That he had captured me, heart and soul; that no matter what he did, or I did, I would keep coming back to him, if he would only let me.
Daniel stared at me for a beat longer and then took a step closer, cupping my cheeks between his palms, kissing me gently. He pulled back, brushing his thumb along my cheekbone. “I know that kisses can’t make everything right between us,” he said. “But I just can’t help myself.”
I laughed, unable to help it. “Kisses are all right,” I said, leaning up on my toes to kiss him again until we were both breathless this time. When I pulled away from the kiss, I still leaned into his body. “I know you had a lot on your mind,” I told him. “And I wish there were something that I could do to make the Duncan situation better. I really am sorry about that.”
Daniel shook his head, leaning his forehead against mine. “Forget about that,” he said, brushing my hair back behind my ear, his fingers lingering there for a moment. He sighed and pulled away. “We have a lot to talk about. But just promise me that we will talk and that you won’t keep shutting me out like this. This weekend has been hard, I have to admit.”
“It’s been hard for me, too,” I said softly. “But I promise I won’t keep ignoring you.”
Matt cleared his throat from nearby, before Daniel could lean in to kiss me again or vice versa. I blushed brilliantly, pulling away. What my brother must be thinking right now? I had told him that Daniel and I would talk, of course, and Matt had been the one to convince me of that. He had told me that he believed Daniel was a good guy.
But all the same, I felt embarrassed, almost, that I had caved so easily. A few gentle words, and here I was, ready to get in over my head again. I supposed that was another thing I needed to talk to Daniel about. This getting in over my head thing, I couldn’t keep doing that. It was what had undone us the first time, because I’d panicked about the media coverage. I knew better than to do that again.
Except that with all the drama I’d been through, I still wanted Daniel. And I knew that I would regardless of what happened. It was the only reason that I’d been willing to let the press know about us in the first place. I trusted Daniel. And I trusted that he wasn’t making drama because he wanted to.
All media things aside, he needed someone by his side, just like I did. And it wouldn’t be fair to leave him on his own just because I was nervous that one day he might want to leave me.
“Leanne’s putting the kids to bed in a minute,” Matt told us. “How about the two of you come into the living room for a glass of wine?”
I knew immediately what he was trying to do: get us out of the hallway, where the kids would have to pass us on their way upstairs, as well as getting Daniel further inside, where he and I would have no choice but to talk, where Matt and Daniel could talk as well.
But Matt didn’t ask any of the horrible questions I imagined as we headed into the living room. Instead, he poured us each a glass of a nice red cabernet and sat us down in the cozy living room. “How’ve you been, Daniel?” he asked easily.
Daniel made a face and then glanced over at me, like he was wondering just how much I had already told my brother. “I’m sure you’ve seen the news,” he finally said.
“Some of it,” Matt agreed, shrugging. “And I’m sure the trial sucked. But that’s not exactly what I asked.” There was the hint of a smile at the corners of his lips, and I suddenly realized that Matt was teasing Daniel.
And wasn’t that the surest sign I could get that Matt and Leanne had accepted Daniel?
Daniel glanced over at me. “Things are okay,” he finally said. “Not great, but okay.”
Matt grinned at him and then transferred his grin to me. “I know that feeling,” he said. “What happens now?”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked in surprise.
“Now that you’re done with the trial,” Matt clarified. “What happens next?”
Daniel shrugged one shoulder. “I guess I go back to work as usual,” he said, with another glance over at me. “That is, as long as Abby is willing to come back to work as my advisor. Otherwise, I guess what happens is that I have to start interviewing for someone new. But that’s not what I really want to be doing.”
Matt snorted, and Leanne, as she entered the room, started laughing. Daniel grinned at them. “The thing is, this trial didn’t turn out as badly as it could have. They slammed me with the maximum fine, but not to sound like an ass, that money is nothing to me. As for the anger management courses, well.” He looked over at me, raw honesty in his gaze. “I’m still not sure that I really need them, but they can only help, right?”
I smiled back at him and reached over to rest a hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly.
“And the two of you are doing all right?” Leanne asked carefully, her eyes full of concern as she looked over at me. I knew I probably hadn’t been subtle about my mood through dinner, and I wondered how much Matt had filled her in on while I was out of the room. Not that I really minded. When it really came down to it, the only reason I had held off on telling Leanne about this was that I wanted to do some thinking of my own before asking her opinion, and I felt embarrassed about the mistake I had made. Daniel and Matt had helped me feel less embarrassed about the whole thing, and now I was just glad that things seemed to be okay between the two of us.
Daniel had even said that he loved me. Not in the heat of passion, but he had just said it, like it was fact.
“We’re doing all right,” Daniel said, and I realized that everyone had been waiting for me to answer Leanne’s question. But while I thought about our earlier conversation, Daniel answered effortlessly. It made relief rush through me. We really were okay, then. He wasn’t mad at me. I hadn’t lost him.
“Actually,” Daniel continued, glancing over at me, “one of my top priorities going back to work will be training Abby up to be a CEO.”
I stared at him in surprise. “You don’t have to do that,” I protested.
Daniel rolled his eyes as he grinned at me. “Of course I don’t have to,” he said. “And don’t make the mistake of thinking that I’m excited for the day you quit your job as my advisor so that you can take a CEO position with some other company. But I think it’ll be good for you.”
I grimaced. “Because then the next time you need me to step in and help out, I won’t make such a stupid mistake?” I guessed.