"Is this you being anxious to have grandchildren?" she asked. "Because you didn't bring me up to believe I needed a man."
"Of course you don't 'need' one. I just want you to be happy. Being alone is..." His eyes were fixed straight ahead, but she didn't get the impression he was looking at the cars in front of them.
"Dad, did you ever think about remarrying?" There had been a few girlfriends who'd drifted through their life, but as far as Dani could tell, none of those relationships had ever come close to getting serious.
"Not really. Your mom was my one great love. I want that for you, too. I guess I've been so worried about this Tate thing because I was afraid you were like me. That you might not experience true love twice." A surprisingly boyish smile creased his face. "When I met Gina, I was so over the moon for her. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't think straight."
"And this is what you want for me?" she asked drily. She was already lacking sleep and appetite, and her train of thought had fallen off the tracks multiple times today. It was not an enjoyable state.
"Well. The infatuation part fades into something deeper," her dad said. "Something everyone should have."
That definitely didn't describe what she'd had with Tate. And Sean? If he hadn't lied to her, would the all-consuming, gotta-have-you-now attraction between them have burned itself out or eventually evolved into something more? Guess we'll never know. For the first time since he'd walked out of her apartment yesterday morning, she felt a flicker of relief. After almost marrying the wrong man, she was skittish about getting seriously involved with anyone else, not ready to trust her judgment on anything more than a casual fling.
Whatever might have happened between her and Sean, it was impossible to imagine it being casual.
* * *
SEAN WAITED AS his friend fished a quarter out of his pocket so they could flip for break. The bar was pretty dead on a Tuesday night, so they'd had their pick of pool tables. Although, they could have just stayed upstairs and had a drink-Sean wasn't deluded enough to believe he'd be able to concentrate on the game.
"How'd you find this place?" Alex asked. "It's...quaint." He wasn't being condescending, only expressing genuine surprise. Like Sean, Alex Juarez was single. This was more the kind of neighborhood place they frequented when they were out with the married guys on the crew, instead of bars where women tended to be looking for company.
"A friend brought me here. I liked it." The real question was, what had drawn him back here tonight? Had he subconsciously wanted to relive the memory of shooting pool with Dani, or was he hoping to engineer an "accidental" run-in with her? As if she wouldn't see through that lameness in about two seconds flat.
Well, he'd failed with the direct approach at her office yesterday. And she'd already thrown him out of her apartment. He was running out of options. This is sad, man. Keep it up and you'll be getting a restraining order as a belated birthday present.
Alex flipped the coin, which landed on tails, leaving Sean the break. But his muscles tensed, and it was a crap shot, barely disrupting the balls.
"Hijole." Alex glanced at him with wide eyes, then snickered. "What happened to the great Gray? My nine-year-old niece breaks better than that. No one on the crew's gonna believe me."
"Maybe you should have recorded a video on your phone," Sean grumbled, stepping aside.
"What's going on with you?" Alex tapped a pocket, took his shot and missed. "You're preoccupied. Like right there!"
Sean blinked. "Right what?"
"You were busy staring up there." Alex pointed past the railing toward the top half of the split-level bar. "Didn't even see me make my shot," he said slyly.
"Nice try," Sean countered. "You missed. Good aim. Not enough follow-through."
The other man shrugged. "Worth a try. What are you looking at, anyway? Hot girl? Did you bring me here because you're planning to make a move on one of the waitresses?"
"No." He couldn't even say with certainty whether the woman who'd brought them their drinks had been a blonde, a brunette or a redhead. He'd been too busy glancing toward the entrance, fingers mentally crossed.
"So what gives? You were distracted on the site today, too."
Distraction and power tools were a bad combination. Most of his duties these days were supervisory and administrative, but, still, his crew deserved better from him. He just needed to find a way to stop obsessing over Dani. She was like a splinter under his thumb he couldn't reach. Or a song stuck in his head. He fell asleep with the tune playing on a loop and woke up with it still there. It had been a long time since a woman had gotten to him like this.
Was his extreme reaction because of guilt? He recalled the way she'd moaned when he was inside her, the way she'd arched against him, unashamedly craving his touch. Nope, guilt was definitely not the only reason he couldn't stop thinking about her. "Ever have a woman you couldn't get off your mind?"
Alex stilled, his expression disbelieving. "Is this about that high-maintenance blonde you were dating?"
"Tara? Hell, no. She's out of my life for good." More or less. He'd see her in passing next weekend. She'd wheedled a favor out of him before they broke up, and since it was for a good cause, he'd decided to honor the obligation. But aside from their paths crossing that one last time, he doubted he'd run into her again. She spent about as much time in his favorite bars as he did buying designer clothes at Lenox Square. "I was talking about someone different."
Different was accurate on many levels. Dani's mannerisms were unlike many of the women he'd dated. No other one-night stand had ever affected him like this.
"So you're hung up on a new lady," Alex surmised. "Have you told her? Women dig that, makes you seem vulnerable. You could get very lucky."
"She knows." It was almost cringe-worthy, the way he'd opened up to her yesterday and been shot down. "And she's not interested."
Alex whistled. "Failing with women and at pool? Damn. Well, if she isn't interested, you know the saying. Best way to get over someone is under someone else."
Far from convincing him to seek out another woman's attention, the statement only reminded him of meeting Dani. "My fiancé eloped last weekend with the woman he was seeing on the side... I need to have a really good time and forget the whole mess... Want to help generate a little amnesia?" She'd been incredibly, disarmingly candid.
Too bad he hadn't returned the favor.
With that sour thought, he resolved to focus on the game. He could count on one hand the number of times Alex had beat him at pool, and he didn't intend to simply hand him another victory. Several turns later, when Alex lifted his cue a fraction too soon after a draw shot, Sean saw his opportunity to pull ahead. But then he heard a man upstairs call out, "Hey, Danny," and he knocked the cue ball off the table. When he turned around, he saw that the guy had been greeting another man. Not Danica.
Alex won the game handily, his grin mocking when he asked, "Play again?"
"Nah. We have an early morning."
"Plus, you can't play for crap tonight."
"That, too."
They paid their tab and headed for the exit. On the way out, a curvy redhead grinned in Sean's direction. He tried to muster an answering smile, but the effort was so weak Alex cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Whoever this new woman is," Alex said in the parking lot, "you must really be hung up on her."
"Seems like." The question was, how did he win her forgiveness? On the surface, Sean might not be as overtly successful as his brother, but the truth was, he simply cared about different things. When he set his mind to something, he was persistent. And nine times out of ten, he accomplished what he set out to do.
It's only been a couple of days. With a little patience and luck, he'd figure out something. Granted, Dani was stubborn. But perhaps she'd met her match.
* * *
THE FIRST STREET in the Magnolia Groves subdivision was lined with luxurious new homes. Colorful flowers bloomed along front porches, and a trim woman in yoga pants pushed a stroller along the sidewalk. But as Dani turned onto the second street, manicured lawns gave way to red Georgia dirt, unfinished wooden structures and cement foundations. The pristine model home looked almost out of place amid the active construction.