She held out her hand, and John shook it. To the best of his knowledge, it was the first time they’d ever touched. Her skin was smooth and soft, but her handshake was firm and confident. Like the woman herself.
“I’ll write everything down so there won’t be any misunderstandings between us,” she offered.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
Dani glanced down at his hand and John realized his fingers continued to clasp hers. Embarrassed, he released her abruptly, and returned his attention to the ledgers.
“If you give me half a chance, you might learn I’m not so bad,” she said softly.
“I didn’t think that,” he muttered, hating the way his heart and head reacted to a tiny slip of a woman who’d be in and out of his life in a matter of weeks. Already he’d started to lower his guard with her. What his instincts had told him in the beginning were true. Dani Beckman was a dangerous woman.
* * *
Dani wished now that she hadn’t agreed to this dinner with John’s mother, but Mamie had insisted. Saturdays were the busiest day of the week. The shop had been full of customers from the moment they opened the door until John turned over the Closed sign at six o’clock.
It amazed her that customers would purchase hundreds of miles from home.
She left the store at six-thirty and wondered how much longer John would end up staying. When she’d mentioned she had a dinner appointment, he frowned and all but escorted her out the door. For no reason she could decipher, Dani was left to feel she’d done something wrong. It had been on the tip of her tongue to inform him that her dinner engagement was with his mother, but she stopped herself in the nick of time.
Dani hurried back to her small rental home, showered and changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater.
Mamie Osborn greeted her as if she were a long-lost relative. “Welcome, welcome,” Mamie said, hugging her. “I hope that son of mine isn’t working you too hard.”
“Not at all.” The smells coming out of the kitchen were enough to make her stomach growl.
“I hope you’re hungry.”
Dani pressed her hands against her abdomen. “I’m famished.” She walked around the oceanfront home, admiring the view. The sun cast pink-tinted shadows over the water. She envied Mamie, living on the beach. The shop had a wonderful view, but she’d been so busy that there was rarely an opportunity to admire it.
“I certainly hope John has been treating you well.”
“He’s loosening up a bit,” Dani said, turning away from the window. “His main problem is that he seems to think I’m going to leave him high and dry come autumn.”
“Really? One might think such a thing had happened in the past.”
Mamie said it in such a way as to leave Dani wondering. “Has it?”
Her employer’s mother hesitated. “Perhaps it would be best if John told you about Patricia himself.”
“Patricia.” Dani repeated the name softly under her breath. Was it possible John had experienced the kind of disappointment and pain she had? If so, he’d certainly never let on, never hinted, but then, there was no reason he should. Nor did he know about Bob.
“We all have reasons for the things we do,” Dani said, surprised by her willingness to defend John. Especially when he’d been a thorn in her side from the very first day.
“And our excuses,” Mamie added, bringing Dani a glass of white wine. “By the way, I passed the shop this morning and noticed that the cradle hasn’t sold yet.”
“Not yet.” Dani looked down, hoping to hide her guilt. She’d done everything she could to keep customers distracted from the piece. Selling the cradle would be like letting go of part of her own dream. And as ridiculous as that sounded, Dani couldn’t make herself do it.
A car door closed, the sound carried with the wind from outside. Dani looked to Mamie. “You’re expecting someone?”
Mamie set her wineglass aside. “Excuse me a moment, I need to check on the roast.”
“Mamie?” Dani called after the older woman.
The door opened, and before Dani could fully turn around she knew who the other guest would be. “Hello, John.”
“Dani.” He stood frozen, just inside the doorway. “What are you doing here?”
CHAPTER THREE
It was apparent the moment John walked in the front door of his mother’s house that he didn’t want Dani there. “I’ll leave,” she offered. She could think of no reason for the two of them to spend an uncomfortable evening in each other’s company.
It hurt. Dani was just beginning to think that she’d made some headway in her relationship with John, but it was clear that she’d misjudged the situation.
He looked appalled by the suggestion. “You’ll do no such thing. Stay here.” With that, he disappeared into the kitchen. Although she couldn’t make out what was being said, it was obvious John wasn’t happy.
After the first few words, Dani was able to make out a phrase now and again. It wasn’t that she wanted to eavesdrop, but she found it impossible not to.
“I only thought…” This part came from Mamie.
“You’re matchmaking again, Mother, and I won’t stand for it.” There was more, but John had apparently lowered his voice or had turned away.
Matchmaking? Her and John? Clearly the woman saw something Dani didn’t. John was no more interested in her than the man in the moon. She definitely wasn’t in the mood for another romance. Not after the last experience. It would be a good long while before she laid open her heart for another man to break.
“…lovely girl,” Mamie continued.
“…not my type.”
It was a good thing Dani’s ego wasn’t riding on John being romantically interested in her, because she was sure to be disappointed. Not that it hadn’t happened before. Disappointment was a mild word for what had happened between her and Bob.
Gathering her resolve, Dani squared her shoulders and walked into the kitchen. Both Mamie and John abruptly stopped talking and stared at her as if she were the last person either one of them expected to see.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s apparent my being here is causing a problem. I’ll come for dinner another time, Mamie. Thank you for thinking of me.”
Dani didn’t stand around and wait for them to change her mind. She turned and was out the front door before they had a chance to react to her words, which was exactly the way she wanted it.
“Dani, wait.” John caught up with her before she got inside her car. “Listen,” he said, sounding breathless, “I behaved like a heel. Mom’s gone through a good deal of trouble for this. If anyone should leave it’s me.”
The wind off the ocean buffeted against her, tossing her short hair against her cheek. They stood facing each other, and for the life of her Dani couldn’t move. She was tired and her feet hurt and it seemed that everything she’d tried to do was for naught.
“Don’t go,” John added softly. It was as if he’d read her thoughts and knew how close she was to tears. It was as though he understood that it was tenderness and warmth that she needed just then.
“What about you?” she asked. The words had a difficult time working their way around the lump in her throat.
His eyes held hers for the longest moment and it seemed to her that something dark and deep showed itself there. Something she couldn’t read or understand.
John sighed. “I’ll stay.”
She smiled briefly. “I take it your mother’s plotting against us.”
“Just be aware she’s the world’s worst matchmaker. Somewhere along the line she got the notion the two of us are perfect for one another. She’ll make our lives miserable if we let her.” He touched her elbow to guide her back to the house.
“Luckily we both know the truth,” she reassured him.
John hesitated. “We aren’t the least bit suited.”
“Besides, according to you, I’m leaving,” she reminded him.
“Precisely.” The g
host of a smile formed brackets at the edges of his mouth. “As I recall, we’ve got a wager riding on this.”
Mamie appeared in the doorway. “I certainly hope you two are going to listen to reason.”
“Go inside, Mother,” John called over his shoulder.
“Are you staying for dinner?” she demanded first.
“Yes.” Again it was John who answered for the both of them.
Mamie clapped her hands. “Great. I’ll get the roast on the table.”
“Shall we?” John asked, offering Dani his arm.
* * *
John wasn’t blind. He was all too aware of the attention Dani had generated among the single men in Ocean Shores. Nor was he fooled by Brent Anderson’s sudden interest in antiques. The school-teacher stopped by the shop and claimed he was looking for a birthday gift for his mother.
His mother! John nearly laughed out loud.
Brent wasn’t the first man to develop an unforeseen curiosity in antiques, either. Charley Sooner and Doug Foster were making routine stops at the store with one questionable excuse or another.
Their purpose should have been obvious to Dani, but if it was, she never said a word. Not that she was likely to confide in him.
John didn’t like all the attention she generated, either. Naturally he couldn’t say anything. It was none of his damn business who Dani chose to date, but the subject occupied far more of his thoughts lately than it should. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he brought it into the open.
“That’s Charley Sooner’s third visit this week, isn’t it?” he asked, doing his best to sound nonchalant and disinterested. He wandered over to where she was standing and leaned against the desk. He crossed his arms and met her gaze.
The Closed sign was in the window and this was the first time all day that they’d had the opportunity to speak without interruptions.
“Fourth,” Dani corrected.
“What’s he looking for?”
“He claims it’s a crystal doorknob but…”
“But,” he prodded when she hesitated.
“What he really wants is a dinner date.”
Her directness surprised him once again. It shouldn’t, he supposed; the woman said exactly what she was thinking and had from the first.
“Are you going out with him?” John could be just as blunt when the need arose, and frankly he was curious.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Laura Noble’s had her eye on Charley for months now.”
“Laura?” This was news to John. “The pharmacist?”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“But she’s shy and uncertain. We’ve been talking, and I gave her a few pointers. Charley’s never going to notice her if she doesn’t say something.”
“Charley and Laura?” Personally John couldn’t picture the lumberjack and the pharmacist as a couple. Charley was about as subtle as a Mack truck, while Laura was a quiet, delicate creature. If he’d been in the market for female companionship, John might have considered asking her out himself.
“What’s so odd about the two of them?” Dani wanted to know. “They complement each other very nicely.”
John scratched the side of his head. Frankly he didn’t care who Charley Sooner dated as long as it wasn’t Dani.
As soon as the thought formed, John realized how close he was to making a fool of himself over his assistant.
“What about Doug Foster?” he asked next. “Doug’s a decent guy and as far as I know there aren’t—”
“You want me to date Doug?”
“Sure,” he said without conviction. “He’s a great guy.”
“Yes, I know.”
Doug wasn’t that great, but John couldn’t very well claim otherwise now. “Are you going to date him?”
Dani looked away from him. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” John pressed.
“Well, for one thing, Doug hasn’t asked.”
It was downright ridiculous the way his heart reacted to that piece of information. “Is that a fact? I would have thought Doug would have been Johnny-on-the-spot by now.”
“All right, Doug hasn’t asked me recently.”
John’s hands tightened into fists before he realized what he was doing. “You should accept when he does,” he said with a complete lack of enthusiasm.
“Frankly, John, I’m not interested in dating anyone at the moment,” she said, and lowered her gaze. She stiffened slightly as if bracing herself against some pain, and when she spoke, her voice was lower by several decibels. “I…recently ended a rather painful relationship.”
John hesitated, uncertain how to proceed. He was curious, but respectful, too. He knew what it was to have someone pry into a fresh wound on the pretext of helping, and almost always doing further damage.
“I’m sorry, Dani,” he said with genuine caring. “I didn’t know.”
She shrugged, a gesture he’d done a hundred times himself after Patricia had walked out on him. It was supposed to say that it really didn’t matter that his heart was broken. A shrug that said that everything would turn out for the best, when he didn’t believe it himself. It was supposed to reassure everyone else, when he felt as if his future resembled a bottomless black pit where his dreams lay shriveled and dying.
“It’s for the best,” she said in a small voice. “I was in love with a man who didn’t exist, building the future on a shaky foundation.”
“That’s why you moved here?”
She nodded, and looked up suddenly, her face tight. “Do you mind if we change the subject?”
“Of course, forgive me.”
She glanced at her watch as if she had places to go and people to see all at once. “I’d better get home.”
“Sure.” As it was, he’d kept her an extra twenty minutes, but he found himself wishing he had an excuse for her to stay. She gathered together her purse and a sweater, and headed for the door.
John followed, intending to lock up for the night. “Dani,” he said, stopping her.
She looked back, her eyes incredibly sad and round.
“I didn’t mean to pry.”
A soft smile touched her lips. “I know.” She left him then and John stood for a long time at the window, watching her walk away.
As crazy as it sounded, he found it one hell of a temptation not to hurry after her, wrap his arms around her and pull her into his embrace.
* * *
Something was different about John. Dani couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was, other than the fact he was more friendly and open. She discovered, to her delight, that they worked well as a team.
It surprised her how often they laughed together. They talked often, too. Although there were plenty of subjects on which they agreed, there were more that set them at odds.
John always heard her out, even when he disagreed with her. He respected her opinions and wasn’t averse to expressing his own. More often than not, at the end of the day they spent an hour or more after work just sitting and chatting. All on the pretext of closing the shop for the night.
When she’d first come to work for John, Dani had viewed him as unfriendly, dull and unimaginative. He’d defined the term “stuffed shirt.” It wasn’t that he’d changed into jeans and sneakers overnight, but he’d relaxed enough for them to become friends.
Dani liked it that way. A friend was safe and secure.
“Dani,” John called from the other side of the store, disrupting her thoughts. “Could you give me a hand with this?”
“Of course.” John had spent the better part of the day unloading the shipment of antiques he’d purchased on his buying trip to San Francisco. Dani had done what she could to help him between customers, but they’d both been so busy that neither had taken time to eat lunch.
“Hold this ladder steady for me, would you?” he asked.
Dani looked up. “What are you going to do?”
“The problem
with this building is that I don’t have enough space. These boxes are an eyesore and I want to store them in the attic.”
“There aren’t any stairs?”
“No. Just hold it steady and I’ll be fine.”
It took him three trips to get everything he wanted up into the high cupboard.
“I want to see what you have stored up there,” she said after he’d climbed down. “Sometimes I’m convinced you haven’t got a clue what’s hidden away.”
“Really?”
“Really,” she teased, enjoying the way his eyes brightened when they became involved in these verbal sparring matches.
Not waiting for him to give her permission, Dani climbed up the first five rungs of the ladder.
“Dani, damn it all, be careful.”
“Don’t sound so worried,” she berated him. “I’ve been climbing trees since I was a kid. This is a piece of cake.” With her hands against the sides, she looked up, eager to discover what buried treasures lay tucked away in his attic.
It would have been, easy, too, if her foot hadn’t slipped and she hadn’t lost her balance.
With a small cry of fright, she lost her footing and her balance. Before she could catch herself, she went catapulting backward into the empty space. Dani was too shocked to scream.
How John managed to catch her she’d never know. One moment she was in the air and in the next she was tucked securely in his arms. Both were breathing hard, and John’s eyes closed momentarily with what she suspected was relief that she hadn’t hurt herself.
It was on the tip of her tongue to crack a joke about her usual lack of grace, to laugh off the entire incident and claim that for her next trick she’d leap over a tall building. But the words never made it past her lips.
John’s gaze pinned hers and his eyes held a haunted look. Emotions flashed across his features, from fierce, burning anger to a relief so great it left him weak. Then his eyes softened to another emotion, one equally strong, equally potent, that she was sure she’d misread.
John wanted to kiss her.
Her feet remained several inches from the floor and still he didn’t release her. She could feel the heavy thud of his heart and knew her own beat just as hard.