Besides, making this thing work with Daeg Ross was impossible. What she had with him was just sex. He’d re-up as soon as his leg healed and he’d be shipping out. Somehow, though, Rick’s ring wasn’t as
appealing as it had been.
Rick waggled the diamond at her. “Put it on?”
She was still staring at the ring when Daeg pulled into the driveway.
Hello, surprise visitor. He was wearing worn canvas shorts and an equally battered T-shirt, but there
was nothing casual about his expression. He looked fierce. And more than a little upset.
She was immensely happy to see him, though, and that was a problem.
“Who’s this?” His cold gaze shot straight to Rick, before dropping to the ring. No hello or “hi, how are you,” either. “Jewelry salesman?”
Rick stood up, the move putting him nose to nose with Daeg. “Rick Lane.”
He extended his hand, but Daeg ignored it.
“I’m Dani’s fiancé.”
“Not anymore,” she interjected, because making that clear was now particularly important. Daeg looked
tired, so he’d probably been going from dawn to dusk.
“Nice.” Daeg snagged the ring, turning it in the light. Whatever he was thinking, he kept those thoughts to himself.
“Two and a half carats, emerald cut. It’s a good investment piece.” Rick smiled at her, his gaze meeting hers in a silent reminder. He’d joked when he gave her the ring that they could fund their retirement with it.
Somehow, though, she couldn’t imagine herself waking up next to Rick in fifty years. Or even tomorrow.
That was Daeg’s fault, she thought, glaring at the man in question.
He didn’t notice her stare. He merely turned her ring over in his fingers before popping the glittering band back into the velvet. “Because an engagement ring should be a financial asset. You putting this on?”
He held out the box to her with a small smile.
“That’s my job, buddy,” Rick said smoothly, lifting the box from Daeg’s hand. He turned back to Dani,
shutting Daeg out. Dani recognized the move, a slick gesture she’d seen him perform a thousand times
before. Daeg’s amused smile said he didn’t care. He didn’t say anything, though; he just stood there on her porch like he watched another man propose to his lover all the time.
She inhaled sharply, strangely hurt. Daeg looked familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The white
edge of a bandage on his thigh peeked out from beneath the edge of his shorts, but he moved easily, and the only visible damage she could spot was the long scar from his previous injury. Still, she wanted to hold him, ask him if the past five days had been hard on him and if there was anything she could do, but he
probably wouldn’t want that.
“No,” she said. “It’s no one’s job.”
She glanced at Daeg, and that could have been anger or sadness making her stomach lurch. He hadn’t
made her any promises and she hadn’t asked for any. As for Rick, he was too late.
She wanted to be wanted.
She wanted Daeg to open his arms and then she wanted to run into them.
And how messed up was that?
The tension between the two men was apparent, like two junkyard dogs coming face-to-face. She didn’t
need this. Not now.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do. You gentlemen can continue this conversation by yourselves.”
Turning, she headed back into the office. That she shut the door carefully rather than slamming it went into the victory column in her book.
MEETING DEEP DIVE’S obligations had kept him running flat-out. He’d swung by today to grab some
clean clothes, uncertain how to face Dani or his own feelings. He’d planned on avoiding her until he had a plan.
Yeah. He was a real hero.
Because what did he say to the woman who’d shaken his world? He didn’t know how to have a long-
term relationship. He didn’t know where to start, although talking was probably a requirement. Maybe she didn’t want to start anything with him? That was a distinct possibility, but as long as he avoided her, he could keep on wishing and dreaming she’d still want to have something to do with him. And that their one night hadn’t been their only night. He’d ask her, but only once he found the right moment. The moment
when it looked like she might say his name when he asked what she wanted.
Meeting the ex-fiancé wasn’t helping his calm any. This was the man Dani had deemed Mr. All Right.
Clearly, the loser toting the ring box had ruined that relationship beyond redemption—or so Daeg sincerely hoped—but there’d been a reason why Dani had been attracted to him in the first place.
Daeg had never sized another guy up before this, but there was a first for everything. He eyeballed his competition and had to admit that Dani had taste. Good-looking, tall, broad shouldered. Yeah, the man
wasn’t a slouch in the looks department, and he seemed as if he might have put some thought into his
clothes, or, at the very least, employed an iron.
Rick also came bearing gifts, and the ring in the box hadn’t come cheap.
Daeg wanted to hit something—someone—and then he wanted to carry Dani back to bed. For at least a
week. He rubbed a hand over his face. Doing something that dumb wouldn’t help his cause any, and there
was still enough to clean up for a small army. It meant his courtship of Dani had to wait.
“You come all the way out here to give her that?” He nodded at the ring box. When he’d pulled into the
driveway, he hadn’t anticipated this scenario.
“I did.” Rick’s level gaze met his. He scooped the ring box up, tucking it into an expensive leather
messenger bag.
Daeg had known Dani had recent history. He just hadn’t expected that history to be standing on Sweet
Moon’s front porch bearing jewelry. Or that Rick Lane would look like the complete package.
“You really think she’s happy here?” Rick matched Daeg step for step, clearly unwilling to lose his last connection to Dani. Or maybe he was just lonely, bored or wanting to chat.
Because until Daeg spoke to her, how would he know anything about how Dani felt? He knew he
wasn’t sticking around the cabins much longer, though, so he started back to his own. Unfortunately, ol’
Rick tagged along.
“Dani seems fine,” he answered cautiously.
Rick laughed. “I mean, look at this place. You think a woman with her skills would be happy working
the check-in desk at a two-star motel?”
Daeg picked up the pace, but Rick didn’t get the hint.
Or wouldn’t take it.
He eyed the other man. “She’s helping out her grandparents. Dani’s got a strong sense of family.”
“She’ll take me back,” Rick announced when they reached his SUV, which was conveniently parked in
front of Daeg’s cabin. His battered vehicle seemed muddier and more dented than ever in comparison to
Rick’s sleek number.
“You really sure about that?” Daeg asked.
“Pretty sure.” Rick didn’t look worried, just pulled out a key fob and flicked the lock button. Who
locked up a car on Discovery Island? “You making a move on her?”
Wow. Daeg hadn’t seen that one coming.
“Because she won’t choose you over me,” Rick continued as if they were discussing menu choices at
the local diner. “Dani likes a sure thing. Steady. Predictable. And between you and me? You don’t look like you’re any of those things.”
“People change,” he said, although he had to agree with Rick’s assessment. Dani was a by-the-numbers
girl. Problem was, Daeg wasn’t. At all. He liked risk—and she liked certainty. Finding a compromise there was going to be hard. And when had he developed an interest in compromising with Dani? “And it’s none
of your business what my interest in Dani is.”
Rick shook his head and popped the trunk. “It is. Dani’s my fiancée.”
“Not yet.”
“She will be.” Rick lifted out an expensive leather duffel bag. “Look. I wrecked my first chance with
her. I’m not blowing my second. If I were you, I’d move along now. I’m going to go see if Dani will let me check in. You might want to think about checking out.”
Gritting his teeth, he watched Rick stroll away. This was his second chance and he was blowing it, he realized. He and Dani had shared a really hot night of sex, but had there been anything more? And was he really thinking that he wanted more?
Get in. Get out. Save the day and ride off into the sunset.
That was who he was.
What he’d spent a lifetime training to do.
Except now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go. And that meant he had no idea what to do next, because
sticking around wasn’t something he was good at, or even familiar with.
14
“I NEED A plan of attack.”
Tag didn’t look up from his laptop when Daeg slammed into the dive shop, just waved Daeg toward an
empty spot on the counter. “Take a seat. The doctor will be right in.”
Daeg shoved aside a pile of salty wet suits. “You should rinse those, hang them up,” he observed.
“Feel free.” Cal shot him a wide grin. “Partner.”
Right. He’d been happy to volunteer the cash when Cal and Tag had come to him with the idea for Deep
Dive. Cash was easy. He had plenty squirreled away and he’d always lived simply. And he had a gut feeling that Deep Dive was going to be a success. He’d never intended for his involvement with the business to go much beyond a check and the occasional helping hand.