Good with His Hands(27)

Dani draped an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Or, loosely translated, ready to go?"

"That, too."

"Why don't I walk you ladies out to your car?" Sean volunteered.

Meg stuck her hand out in the apparently sudden realization that they'd  never officially met. "I'm Meg Rafferty, Dani's best friend in the  world. And if you ever make her cry again? I have more than enough  siblings to provide me an alibi and help hide the body."

He flinched. His gaze darting back to Dani. "You cried over me?"

"Um...no comment." Dani had grown up never quite comfortable sharing  her more sensitive moments with the Major. As an adult, she preferred to  keep that side of herself hidden.

Dani and Sean each gave their vehicle tickets to the man at the valet  stand. They stood on either side of Meg while they waited, in case she  needed the physical support.

Over the top of Meg's head, Sean gave her a look of such fierce  anticipation that it warmed her to her toes. "How soon can I see you  again? A guy on my crew is having a birthday party tomorrow, but I'm  free Monday night."

She bit the inside of her lip. "I have some evening showings for a  client who has trouble getting away during the day. Tuesday?"

His face fell. "I'm supposed to- You can come with me," he interrupted  himself. "My parents came back from Hawaii with a ton of pictures, but  the last time I went over to look at them, Dad fell asleep midway  through. According to Mom, we still have one hundred and forty seven to  go. In the interest of full disclosure, Bryce might be there, too."

The idea didn't bother her as much as it would have a week ago. After  all, noticing Bryce had led her indirectly to Sean. Despite the  convoluted path, she was inclined to feel grateful. "Your parents won't  mind a total stranger horning in on a family night?"

"Are you kidding? My mom will be thrilled."

She returned his smile, suddenly very eager for Tuesday and way too many tropical photos. "Then it's a date."

* * *

"DO I LOOK OKAY?" Dani wanted to look nice, but not overdressed. She'd  pulled her hair into a curly ponytail and paired a deep green  short-sleeved top with black jeans.

Sitting at the foot of Dani's bed, Meg laughed. "I can't believe how  nervous you are about this. The guy's completely smitten with you. You  could show up in a burlap sack and flip-flops, and I'm not sure he'd  even notice."

"I don't know about that. Besides, it isn't just Sean. It's his  parents." When he'd asked her to go with him to their house, she'd been  so eager to see him again that she'd automatically agreed. But now she  was second-guessing herself. Who agreed to meet the parents on the  second date?

Then again, not everyone got naked on the first date. Lord knew, she  usually didn't. "Everything about this relationship seems out of order.  Chronologically, speaking."

Meg shrugged. "You did everything in normal, logical order with Tate. Maybe it's good you're shaking things up."

A knock sounded at the door while Dani was fishing through her jewelry box for earrings.

"I'll get the door." Meg stood. "It's a perfect opportunity to give my 'hurt her and I'll end you' warning."                       
       
           



       

"You already did that," Dani reminded her. "On Saturday."

"Oh." Meg's forehead crinkled as she tried to remember. "Well, now he can hear the sober version."

Dani chuckled. Meg had been making more jokes over the past couple of  days and seemed to be regaining her appetite. She was definitely doing  better her second week post-Nolan than she had her first.

In the next room, Meg and Sean exchanged pleasantries. Just the sound  of his low voice made Dani quiver inside. Even during the weeks when  she'd told herself she shouldn't be thinking about him, she'd never been  successful at banishing him from her mind. Now that she'd given herself  permission to pursue something with him, he was always there, at the  forefront of her thoughts.

She frequently found herself smiling for no reason. Although no one at  work had said anything directly, she knew they'd noticed a change in her  demeanor. And at softball practice, when the volunteers split the girls  into two groups to work on different skills, one twelve-year-old had  declared, "I want to go to the station with the happy coach."

That's me. The happy coach.

A broad smile on her face, she went into the living room, loving that  everything she felt was mirrored in Sean's expression when he saw her.

"Have her home by eleven," Meg teased. "It's a school night." She then  disappeared into the kitchen, giving the two of them a chance to greet  each other with more than smiles.

Sean crossed the living room in two long strides, and her pulse  quickened. He crushed her to him, his hands sliding beneath the hem of  her shirt and along her lower back as he kissed her. Shivery pleasure  danced up her spine, and she gave in to the impish urge to grab his  butt.

He pulled back with a raised eyebrow. "Keep that up, and we will be very late to my parents' house."

She grinned. "Complaining?"

"Begging."

She was still laughing when they left her apartment. They talked about  work during the drive. She told him about a subdivision she'd been to  today, and he sniffed in feigned derision.

"Sounds like an okay place if your clients want substandard. We both know Magnolia Grove is superior."

"It definitely has a sexier builder. But I'm not sure my clients are  going to factor that into their decision. By the way, if Lydia Reynolds  shows up again, you might want to discreetly let her know you're taken.  That woman has designs on you."

Sean gave her a purely male smile, self-satisfied and irresistible. "Taken, huh?"

"I don't share." While it was impossible to know where seeing each  other would lead, as long as they were dating, he was hers. "Probably an  only child thing."

"Not necessarily. I grew up with a brother, and I have that selfish  streak, too. Want you all to myself." The look he flashed her from the  driver's seat was so hotly possessive her breath caught.

"Stop it," she muttered. At this rate, she'd be too turned-on to manage conversation with his parents.

"What am I supposed to stop doing, exactly?"

"Looking..." So sexy that she wanted to lick him up with a spoon? "At me," she finished weakly.

"Not a chance. It's my new favorite pastime."

"Okay." Since she felt the same about him, she couldn't really  complain. "But do you have to keep looking at me like you're picturing  me naked?"

His smile was wolfish. "You're not always naked. Sometimes there are shoes. And corsets."

She filed that information away for the next time she was in Meg's shop.

Whenever Dani arrived at a house she'd never visited before, it was  habit to evaluate the curb appeal. The Graysons' modest ranch home sat  on a well-maintained lot. The grass was verdant and freshly cut, and  although the time-worn porch could use some TLC, potted flowers and a  set of padded wicker chairs added an attractive splash of color.

"My brother's car isn't here," Sean said as they rolled into the driveway. "Maybe we'll be lucky, and he won't show."

"The two of you really don't get along, huh?"

He removed the key from the ignition. "A month ago, I would have told  you that we get along in a strained sort of way. We weren't fighting,  but we hardly spoke. The day I met you, I was leaving a birthday present  in his office. Looking back, it feels like it was my last ditch effort  to close the gap between us. I don't even know if he liked it. Things  are getting worse lately. We argue more."

She considered this. "Are you sure that constitutes 'worse'?" At his  puzzled look, she added, "Arguing involves talking. It's a kind of  communication." Very loud communication, if the periodic disagreements  between Rafferty siblings were anything to go by.                       
       
           



       

"That's an optimistic way of looking at it."

Grinning, she opened her car door. "I've been in a much more optimistic mood the past few days."

As they walked up the sidewalk, fingers interlaced, Sean said,  "Usually, Mom doesn't even wait for me to get to the front door. She  just meets me on the porch. This is her showing restraint because I've  brought a guest. She's probably going out of her mind with curiosity on  the other side of the door."

Sure enough, his knuckles had barely touched the wood when the door  swung open. A woman with silver-streaked hair and youthful eyes beamed  up at them.

"Hey, Mom." Sean bent down to kiss her cheek. "Dad knocked down any walls lately?"