“If Amelia turns me away tomorrow, I promise you I won’t give up. I’ll fight until my goddamned dying breath, and I’ll fight you if you stand in my way. Make no mistake about that.” Daniel’s hands shook at his sides. He stared at the other woman, his nostrils flared and seething. If she made one remark about him not being worthy for Amelia, he’d admit it, but if she put up a fight he’d damned well argue until the sun came up and Amelia exited her room.
Until eternity.
What she said next shocked him.
“You’re willing to fight for her.” Gabby straitened, smoothing a hand over her shirt. “Not even her parents would put up a fight for her. You knew her for two weeks.” She nodded her head, like she’d just worked something out. “Okay. If you love her, Daniel, I won’t’ stand in your way. But if you hurt her, I’ll cut your fucking dick off and shove it so far down your throat you’ll taste your own balls until your stomach acid eats through them and you shit them out. Got it?”
Jaysus. The visual she painted would no doubt strike down his libido for a good long while. Holding his hands over his bollocks, Daniel mumbled, “Oh, aye, we’re grand.”
“Good,” she said, giggling. “Now. Let’s get drunk. I want to hear all about how in love you are with Amelia.”
“Eh…what makes you think that?”
“Please.” Gabby waved a hand. “It’s obvious. You stared at her all damned night like she’d vanish if the wind blew too hard.”
“So you made me spill my guts, even though you knew…” Daniel shook his head.
“Of course. I had to know the truth, for sure. Would you rather I acted a bitch until I drove you away?”
“You wouldn’t,” he deadpanned. “You can’t push me away from Amelia, no matter what you do. Nothing and no one can.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Gabby started on her second glass of wine.
And Daniel braced himself for a long night.
The first rays of morning light came through the cracks between the blinds and Amelia stirred. She’d had the most wonderful dream about…
Daniel.
Amelia sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking around her room. It must have been a dream. If it happened, Daniel would be here with her – but she was alone. Flinging off the blankets and letting out a sigh, she pushed her feet into a waiting pair of fuzzy pink slippers, Gabby’s gift, of course, and found her housecoat on the back of the door.
The scent of bacon met her nose with approval. As if on cue, her stomach growled.
But…
Gabby didn’t cook breakfast. And Gabby didn’t usually get out of bed until well after dawn came to greet the world.
She wanted to run out and see if Daniel was really there, but Amelia took her time, for her baby. Slow and steady. Walking less than a third of the speed of her pulse, Amelia made her way down the hall. Nerves trilled like staccato notes on piano keys. Time passed at a snail’s pace, setting off a cataclysmic explosion of anticipation in her gut.
At the end of the hall she spotted him, standing at the stove in her kitchen wearing just a pair of jeans, giving her an unobstructed view of his broad muscular shoulders, right down to his narrow waist. Her heart danced in her chest at the domestic sight. Hope flared in her belly.
Yesterday Daniel said he wanted to stay forever. Did he meant it? Was this his way of showing her?
“Oh, g’mornin’ lass.” Daniel set the tongs down and moved swiftly to her side. Devilish lips curled in the kind of smile a man reserved for the bedroom. His hands slipped under her jaw, cupping her face. “How did you sleep, love?”
A girl could really get used to this, she thought, melting into his touch. Her eyes drifted shut. “Fine, I think. I didn’t wake up at all until just now. I thought…”
She didn’t continue and Daniel whispered next to her ear, “You thought what, Amelia?”
“I…I thought it was a dream,” she admitted, easing into his embrace.
Daniel laughed, wrapping her in the comfort of his arms. “Not a dream. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. Well, except over to the stove to turn over that bacon before it burns.”
He released her and ran over to take care of the breakfast. Amelia shuffled to the sink to fill the kettle. And a smile crept over her lips, spreading like warm summer sunshine through her soul. She could easily see this becoming a regular occurrence. But for how long? He mentioned the word forever and then nothing else.
They ate breakfast in silence, sitting across from each other at the table. Amelia stared out the front window at the rolling and rocky peninsula. The ancient coastline hid behind a layer of fog this morning. She watched it recede out onto the water, dissipating up into the atmosphere, nursing her mug of herbal tea. Avoiding Daniel.